"Midweek Devotion: So Why Did She Give Away a Kidney?" Pastor Cindy Hickman 10/14/2020

 

Hello everyone--

Last week in my sermon I talked about a woman who donated a kidney.  I wondered why someone would give such a generous gift.  Seems like a risky sacrifice to me.  This week I had an email exchange with the woman who made this incredible gift.  Why did she give away a kidney to a stranger?  it?  Here’s what she said: 

"Well, that’s a good question.   Originally I was going to give it to [a friend], but then she got one from someone who died-the day after we found out we were a match.

Then I didn’t think about it again until last year right around this time. I read a post from a friend who had reposted from someone who used to be her cousin by marriage. She was married to a man who had Parkinson’s and wanted to be able to take care of him. But she needed a kidney.

I had an extra one because we only need one!

Long story, but my results from Methodist went to Iowa City. [My husband] and the kids knew it was important to me and said they supported my decision. Then IC said we weren’t a perfect match and asked if I was OK with going on the National Kidney Registry. They would be able to find a better match for [the other person] and my kidney would go to someone else on the registry.

Then COVID put a halt to things until May. We both got a match and surgery was scheduled for both of us on June 3rd in Iowa City.

Through a Facebook group that I belong to, I learned that my match was a lady in NC that had been waiting exactly a year. She must have been waiting for me. I don’t know who she is, but her friend who contacted me said that I was her miracle. It’s very humbling to know that someone thinks of you that way. It was a decision that brought about a lot of conversations with God. In my sixty years of life, it’s the single best decision I’ve ever made. Two months later I was back to my old self. So very minimal effort on my part to hopefully enrich someone else’s life for many years to come. Oh and we were part of a chain- not sure how big - but many people gave and received a kidney to keep it going since January 2020. The little things we do to change the world are awesome but sometimes you get the chance to do something bigger ."

And that’s her story—to be part of something bigger.  Something big—like the kingdom of God.  A life-giving sacrifice that makes the lives of others possible.  I am in tears by the end of her story. 

So now you know why she did it.  This month at West Des Moines United Methodist Church our focus is Together for Joy.  How much more together can one be than donating an organ?  And how much joy there must have been in that hospital room when someone received a new opportunity for health.  And how God must have laughed with delight. 

Obviously, we cannot all give a kidney, but we can all read her story and be inspired to do what we can. 

Thy kingdom come, God.  That’s what we pray.  Through our lives may your kingdom come. 

Blessings, friends,

Pastor Cindy

Pastor Cindy Hickman

West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Avenue
West Des Moines Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

We worship at 9:30 on Sunday morning on Facebook and all week long our website.  Join in together for joy!

 

This week at WDMUMC!

Midge is celebrating her 100th Birthday and who doesn’t want to be part of that!  A drive-by celebration, led by a vintage firetruck, will be held by her home Sunday, October 18, 2020, from 12:00-2:00 pm. Midge will be at her home, with her family, greeting everyone. Meet up in your car at Fair Meadows Elementary School parking lot, located at 807 23rd St in West Des Moines. And follow the parade.  Decorate your car! And bring a greeting card to drop off as we go by.  And did you know that Midge swam across the Mississippi River when she was a teenager! 

Watch your mail for our Generosity Campaign!  Your financial support strengthens our church and makes our kingdom work possible.  Together with God, we change the world.  

 

"Midweek and Working With the Missions Committee" Pastor Trevor's Devotion 10/07/2020

 

Hello Church! I want to say thank you for all the prayers surrounding COVID in our home. We are all feeling better and looking forward to isolation ending this weekend. Your prayers and thoughtful emails were very uplifting. 

I get the honor of working with our Mission Committee. We spent some time educating ourselves about healthy mission work. We read the book. “The Hole in the Gospel” together - you will see it referenced in some of the comments below. In this process, we asked ourselves a few questions. I want to share some of those responses and ask y’all to respond to these same questions!

1)Why should we be "fired up" about doing missions?

“This goes to some to core tenets of my being a Christian and being a follower of Jesus.  If we love Jesus, we will do our best to follow his commandments. This reminds me of the adage ’What Would Jesus Do?   Jesus instructs us to love others as ourselves and to ’feed my sheep’.  Wesley exhorts us to ’do good’. God has created us to be his caretakers of this world. He had given each of us different talents and expects us to use them to His glory for benefit of others. We have been given many blessings and must share them. There is much suffering in this world, I believe each person can do there own small part in their way to make someone else’s life a bit better.”

“I am fired up because it is part of being a Christian. Doing mission work is addressed in the Bible. My favorite quotes from the book are ‘When we do the gospel - the whole gospel - the world takes notice and likes what it sees’ AND missions is a ‘non-negotiable commitment’. I grew up in a middle-class family and always had what I needed...my family always helped others, so it is how I still operate.”

”John 3-16. I think this means not just believe but to follow Jesus by helping others in need no matter the circumstances.”

“Because it works!  Because one person can make a difference! Because God gave us our talents to use to do His work on Earth. By tithing, using our talents, and giving of our time can make a difference. The HOLE in the Gospel book identifies there is more to being a good Christian than going to church. The Hole to me is caring for our neighbors in need and poverty and educating and helping them to find a way out. The book shares examples of extreme poverty and a lack of care for disease around the world. That part was overwhelming but made me think of what I have and I am doing about this.  On a positive note, it also identified the difference Mission work has made. In 1990 40% of the world people in poverty and 2018 down to 10%. The book also demonstrates how one person can make a difference and how funding helped people to get out of poverty and pay it forward.”

”We as Christians should be fired up about anything God asks us to do. We are to spend our lives striving to live and be like Jesus. We should spend our lives wanting to please God. One way to do that is to follow Matthew 25 by helping those in need by loving God, ourselves, and our neighbors. We should get ‘fired up’ because we know not enough is being done and we should have a goal to reach out to our congregation and show the way how so much more can be done. It’ll be our job to encourage the desire for people to want or do more. Of course, it will have to start with communication and guidance and I think our team needs to develop a plan with our pastors. Then we can go on from there to develop a more specific plan for our church.”

“Matthew 25 calls us to action.  Feed the hungry, clouting the naked, caring for the sick, visiting the prisoners, etc. Fulfills the Great Commandments -  Love God, Love Yourself, Love my Neighbor. There can be a fun factor,  relationship building with folks we don’t know, it’s an adventure in living out God’s call for each of us.”

 

2)What are you doing now?

• Member of Missions Team.
• Participate each fall in Des Moines Hunger Hike to help raise funds for hunger projects locally, nationally, and around the world.
• Participate in Habitat for Humanity projects to assist a family in securing an affordable home.
• Participate in mission trips.
• Financially support my local church and various church agencies such as UMCOR.
• Financially support local relief agencies such as DMARC, Hope Ministries, and Urban Food Ministries.
• Filling Little Food Pantry daily
• Shopping for personal hygiene items every month for Bidwell Riverside
• Helping neighbors as needed.
• A few months ago, I was also a Hillside reading buddy
• Bidwell Riverside volunteer
• Care facility volunteer
• Funeral lunch co-coordinator 
• Involved in Wesley Woods cleanups
• Habitat builds
• Meals From the Heartland.
• I tithe to our church with additional money going to missions and other charities.
• I am on the prayer chain.
• I live below my means and am giving away material things that I don’t need.
• Supporting our church.
• Being more involved in UMW. 
• Working with other Churches through COG (Church Outreach Group) to lead our Church to assist in providing a Thanksgiving Meal
• Provide chaperones and assisting with Youth shopping for Christmas Holiday
• Providing school supplies for youth
• Hosting a Senior Luncheon
• Donating money to Faith Grace Garden
• Pack meals for Summer meals program
• Member of Team Mark to make and serve Wednesday night Meals.
• This is a tough area for me. Due to my health issues, I no longer can do what I want to do. I miss the days when I was very involved. So now I’m one of the ones who support where I can monetarily. I’m on the church prayer chain so I am praying weekly for others. I bake for Wednesday dinners and functions my Circle is involved in. I do take some people I know to their doctor appointments although that’s not affiliated with the church.
• Supporting UBFM (Urban Bicycle Food Ministry) financially.

 

3)What topics do you want to learn more about?

• Root causes of poverty - especially in this country. 
• Explore ways to better communicate what we find about these issues. 
• How to gain a better sense of how members of our congregation view missions work and their role in it.  How can we encourage their participation?  The Missions Team cannot operate in a vacuum.
• Explore ways for more pastoral and church leadership involvement in missions work 
• Explore how members of our congregation can support missions work in ways other than financial. 
• I want to learn what things do not end up helping others in reality.
• How to find more personal courage to get out of my comfort zone.
• The best ways to fire up and teach more members in our church about serving others.
• How to help decrease the severity and number of needs in our community.
• What do members of our Church feel passionate about as far as Mission work?  
• Find out what or church members are already doing beyond what we know already.
• What more is going on locally to assist and educate those in need.
• What is available to do worldwide to assist in helping and educating those in poverty?
• What can we learn about the spiritual aspects of doing mission work?

 

Sooooooo...... what are your thoughts? Can you respond to these questions for us? We want to hear from you ad we envision the future of Missions! Just reply to this email and I’ll share responses with our missions team.

 

Grace and Peace, 

Pastor Trevor

Pastor Trevor Vaughn
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave.
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

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