This is my buddy Nikko… we met at Wakefield Baptist. Nikko has pretty much always been in the Sunday School class I taught, or in the VBS groups I taught the Bible story to, and he was in Team KID this past school year with me.
I have always known that Nikko has health issues and has had them since he was a small child. The kids at Wakefield as well as various prayer groups have always prayed for him and his family. It seems like a year ago or so, on the prayer list they were specifically asking for a kidney donor.
Little did I know, all those times of praying for him…God was going to call me to be a living donor.
In the middle of March, I had just finished reading my Bible and I went to spend time in prayer. I was calling out to the Lord about many things going on in my life at the time, and then all of a sudden out of no where… I heard a voice.
This voice (The Holy Spirit) clearly said, “Look into donating your kidney to Nikko.”
I must admit I was really taken back by several things… 1- the Lord was speaking to me, 2- this season in my life was a crazy time, and 3- out of no where He asks me to do this!!!
I went out and told Scott what the Lord had said. Scott was even taken back by it, but we did not even know my blood type…so we didn’t think anything would come of it.
The Lord has been teaching me a lot over this past year about being obedient to Him, even when it is hard. I really thought this may be Him testing to me to see if I would follow through, and that nothing would come of it.
Well, I find out the next week that Nikko and I are the same blood type. I had also filled out forms through the Living Donor office at Duke and found out the following week that my medical history is a perfect match for kidney donation.
It started to get real fast. 🙂 Scott and I discussed dangers….like if I got in a car wreck down the road with one kidney and it was damaged, that was it for me. To that, I just said…I will be happy to be with my Lord!
Then we discussed, what if one of our kids needed a kidney and to that we prayed and decided that Nikko’s life is just as valuable in God’s eyes as our own kids’ lives. And that if one day, one of them, should need a kidney…I know God would provide someone else to donate, just as I intend to.
Nikko, his mother, and I went to Duke last week for some tests. They drew a lot of blood from the both of us. Over the next couple of weeks they will be fusing our blood together to see how it reacts together. We will know the results about a week from now.
While at Duke, the Lord gave me an opportunity to share His awesome power with the nurses I met. They were telling me that they appreciated me and my willingness to donate. I quickly set them straight… this is not about me, but this has everything to do with the Lord. He was the one who told me to do this and He was the one who was going to work it out.
You see, Nikko has had the opportunity to have 5 kidneys now. But none of them have worked out…all because of various circumstances that would not have been positive for Nikko.
While getting blood drawn one of the nurses explained that they are looking for 6 markers in my blood to match Nikko’s. They also explained that even if I didn’t have all 6 markers that I could still donate, but 6 markers would mean the best for Nikko.
Well, I put it all back on God… I told the nurses I would not be surprised if all 6 markers matched, because God had orchestrated this whole thing and that’s just how He works. His work and timing is PERFECT…so there would be a perfect match.
I thought to myself…Okay, God do it! Show out! 🙂 I know He can!
Nikko and I still have a long way to go. Even if my blood is perfect I still have to undergo about 4 more tests. So at anytime, my kidney may not match and it more be taken out of the equation.
Originally, I was not going to tell people this, because there is such a high chance it will never work.
But then a nurse at Duke (who I don’t think is a Christian) told me since I was a person of Faith, she thought I should have people pray about it.
So, I thought about it some more and I thought she was right. God’s people praying can do some mighty things. How awesome would it be for me to go back and tell this nurse about all the people praying and what God has done!
So, get to praying my friends. Please pray that my kidney will pass every test and that God will work all of this out to His glory and for Nikko’s life.
I would love it if you would comment under my blog by writing your name to let me know you are praying. I am going to start a list to let Nikko’s family and the nurses at Duke know how many of God’s people are praying!
If you are seeing this on facebook…You can also comment on my blog or comment on my face book and I will add you to the list!