On a beautiful sunny April fifteenth, I met with two men in their backyard sitting on lawn chairs talking to Jon and Jeremy, one of which is to receive the other’s kidney.
Jeremy Jacoby, came back to Colorado after finishing college at Concordia University in St. Louis, Mo, and his first pastorate somewhere in Nebraska. He led a local congregation in Northglenn, Colorado before coming to Frederick, Colorado to start a church in April of 2007 to reach folks who have left church or who have never attended. At 36 years old with a wife and two kids, he joked with the doctors about doing a little lipo during the surgery. I was trying to figure out which one of these men was sick enough to qualify for a kidney transplant.
On the other hand, 33 year old Jon Adams, from Milwaukee, has been here in Lochbuie, Colorado for 2 ½ years after finishing school at Regents University in Denver. Both men looked healthy with good color and a positive attitude.
The recipient was told he needed a new kidney and has to be on dialysis three times a week for four hours each time, after which he is totally wiped out for the rest of the day. He can only have two small glasses of water a day because his body does not get rid of it until his dialysis appointment. Yet, this young man is able to work three full days a week and he works on his laptop during dialysis.
The donor, Jeremy, was chosen after the patient’s father, mother and siblings were dropped from the list because of various health reasons. Statistically, donors live longer and are healthier that the general population. The hospital and the patient’s insurance pick up the bill for the donor. Please consider being an organ donor.
Jon is with out words to express how thankful he is to Pastor Jeremy and his church family who bring meals and help watch his kids. “There is no way I can ever repay those people, especially Pastor Jeremy.”
In conclusion, Pastor Jeremy’s comment was, “ If I could help Jon and did nothing about it, then everything I had preached about unconditional love wouldn’t mean a thing.”
…Than a man lay down his life for his friends.
Contact Pastor Jeremy Jacoby:
http://familyofchrist.com
6145 E. 123rd Way
Brighton, Co 80602
303-518-4370
Keywords: kidney transplant
