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Love Better!
August 13, 2020 (Week 22)
Brothers and sisters, good day!
I truly hope that this finds all our members and friends well, and excited by the opportunities God is giving us!
It’s been a challenging few months, and the situation that has precipitated those challenges continues to evolve. I am not at all sure we’re any closer to slowing things down in our country, and the political rhetoric seems to have one side demonizing the other for it. In any case, we are blessed to know that we are in God’s hands, as always, and God is, as always, in firm control. We can wobble and flounder, but God does not.
Online activities at ILC continue to flourish and I believe, are generally appreciated. We are grateful to all of the volunteers who continue to find ways to lend a hand at a time when things are pretty much closed off.
I do want to highlight a couple of things this week.
First, you will remember that several months ago, we began to talk about seeking a kidney donor for our member Joe Kozar. We had a good response, and eventually, one tentative donor popped up and I thought we were all set to go. But eventually, the rather rigorous process of testing and evaluation of the donor’s health and kidney function, etc., concluded that this donor would not ultimately be a suitable candidate. In the meantime, many months have passed, and Joe’s condition has worsened. He is now on nightly dialysis, and has had to deal with excessively long healing times (months instead of weeks) for dental surgery and ankle repairs, with all of the attendant logistical challenges. I have visited with Joe a couple of times in recent days, and he remains in very high spirits and has wonderful hope. But now, I want to ask for your help again as he seeks a kidney donor. If you or anyone you know would like to consider donating a kidney for Joe, please call any of us on ministry staff and we’ll try to get you in touch with people who know the path forward. There are two routes as I understand it. One is a matching donation. That is, if you match Joe’s kidney and blood type perfectly, it would be a direction gift to Joe. Joe wins! Another is a trading match. If, by example, someone, somewhere else in the country has a kidney to donate to someone and that person doesn’t perfectly match their candidate and matches Joe, but Joe’s non-matching donor here does match over there....there can be a swap. So even if you don’t match Joe, if there is a matching donor out there for him, and your kidney matches his intended candidate, there can be a trade. (I know, it’s confusing...). Joe still wins! I look forward to hearing from you! Thank you! (https://www.scripps.org/services/transplant-services/kidney-transplant)
Second, this coming weekend at our 10:00 online Sunday Worship, we shall be celebrating “Mission Sunday”, taking stock of all we have done in service to God and God’s children over the past year, and looking forward to what we can yet do...together! I hope you’ll tune in and join in the excitement. Never before have we been blessed with such opportunity. Let’s get at it, together!
Remember: You can continue to access all of our ministry initiatives online by going to our website (https://www.godamong.us) and clicking on the “ILC Online Activities” box. Get involved! It’s easy, and it’s worth it! We look forward to having you all join us.
Please take care of yourselves. Your health of course, but your spiritual well-being too. Reading just a few Scripture verses a day will keep your hearts and minds focused where they ought to be, and not wallowing in a place that does us harm.
If there is some need that arises for you, and you are just not sure how to manage it, please do give us a call at the church. We are there to offer support always, and where we can, to help. Please know that you all are in our prayers, daily.
Pr. Luther
- After worship, around 11 am, Darrell and Nancy Datte host our after worship coffee/donut fellowship time (BYOC/D) on Zoom, and look forward to welcoming everyone in our community. Please think about joining in and saying hi to your brothers and sisters. That gathering can be found here:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/3173666136?pwd=b21OU3p1L0laNjZYcmx2clJMbDRmZz09