A man in my church, Rich Thorburn, would like to give his kidney to his friend and brother in Christ, Ken Mick, Jr. Ken needs a new kidney.

Both the Thorburns and the Micks need enough money to support their families for the 4+ weeks it will take for recovery from surgery - otherwise, the kidney transplant cannot go forward. They need help from the Body of Christ.

Please read this letter from Rich, and perhaps you can help!

42 Elm Street

Claremont, N.H. 03743

December 1, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

A few months ago, I found out that I am a donor match for a kidney transplant for our friend, Ken Mick, Jr. It is an honor to have the opportunity to help a brother in the Lord, since my family and I have received so much more through Christ and His Church. Anna and I gave this much consideration, met with doctors, and got counsel on the matter. I am excited about going forward with kidney donation, and have no reservations. The surgery is planned for January.

For those of you who don’t know Ken personally, he is a husband, father of four children, and pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Savoy, MA. He also works another job to make ends meet. Ken has Polycystic Kidney Disease and needs a new kidney. Ken is working on fund-raising to provide for his family for the time off work after the surgery, and some of you may have also received a letter from him.

During our visit with the surgeon, it became clear to us that for this to happen, we could not do this alone. There is a recovery period of one month during which I will have to be off work entirely. If there are no complications, I can return to work “light duty” at first, after that time. If anything slows down recovery, the time off work will be longer because of the nature of my business and the physical work. The surgeon has assured me that if I follow recovery instructions, I can live normally with one kidney after that.

So, we come to you in the Body of Christ for some help, for us, and ultimately for Ken Mick Jr. Because giving a kidney also means being out of work for at least a month, I have to make sure that I have funding for our minimum obligations to keep home and business afloat for at least four weeks. I need to have this in place before I can go through with surgery. This amount is a minimum of $6000, which also includes lodging for Anna in MA. because I will need her at the hospital daily. If Anna finds a family home to stay in near Baystate Hospital instead of a hotel, the amount we need is reduced to $5542.13. A friend has already graciously offered to take care of our children in our home during the time I am in the hospital. Any help that God leads you to give will be appreciated by both families, and you will be partakers in something pretty neat for the glory of God. If God has not enabled you to help in that way, we appreciate your prayers and ideas. We know that if it is God’s will for this to go forward, God will supply the funds to make it possible. We wait expectantly for His answers and provision and will praise Him for it.

You can keep up with the funding progress if you check out the personal blog of a couple of our church elders at www.cafebiblia.com and find the category on the right side called Thorburn/Mick kidney donor fund. Checks for this purpose should be sent to the address above, made out to Richard Thorburn, with “kidney” in the memo. If not enough money is received in time to go forward with the surgery, or if we receive more than is needed, money that was sent to us will be returned to the senders. We welcome questions on this matter and you can email or call me at 603.542.3132, rich[@]thorburnfamily.com; Ken at 413.447.8127, kmickjr[@]verizon.net, or one of our elders, Craig Johnson, at 802.230.2010 (home), 603.675.5673 (church), cjohnson[@]redbarnchurch.org. [brackets were added to the email addresses to prevent spam; please remove the brackets before sending email]

Thank you for your consideration in this matter. May God richly bless you as you continue to seek Him.

Your brother,

Richard M. Thorburn

Thanks for reading. Please pray. Like the letter says, check back here for updates.