Rev. Victor Church was reading when he suddenly realized that half the page was missing. There was no warning, no pain...and no vision in part of his left eye. “It was like pulling a shade down. Some of the page was just black.” Thinking it was a burst blood vessel, he waited a week before seeing his eye doctor. “My doctor took one look and said, ‘You have to have surgery.’ I said, ‘Slow down,’ and he said, ‘Today.’” That was at 10:00 a.m. By 11:00, he was at Baptist Hospital. Two days later, he was in surgery. “A lot of people have retinal tears,” he explained. “Most are 1/16 to 1/8 inch. Mine was a rare case: a full inch across.” Fortunately, he had rare care from Baptist Hospital.
After four surgeries, he was able to see again. And something he was seeing a lot of, was medical bills. Despite good health insurance, the family was faced with a burden of thousands of dollars. “Our son had just started college and we had a daughter in high school who was going to be driving soon,” he explained. “It was a tremendous worry. We didn’t know what to do, probably cash out our retirement plans or something. But, we had to face it, pray about it and just take it day by day.”
Their prayers were answered by compassionate and mission-minded NC Baptists through the Mother’s Day Offering. “I walked through a place full of uncertainty, thinking I could lose my vision. As a minister, it’s important to study, prepare messages and drive a car, so, it was pretty unsettling. But, that’s where faith comes into play, believing this journey had a purpose, that God was in control,” Rev Church concluded. “The Mother’s Day Offering puts hands and feet to what we say we believe. It’s how the gospel is supposed to be lived: true Christianity is loving in a special way, by giving, to make an impact in people’s lives. We’re so thankful. It’s such a blessing.”
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” –Philippians 2:4
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
–Luke 6:38