From the Desk of the Pastor
Jesus said,
“for I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35)
Wade and Heather Apel were students in my Pastoral Care Small Group during our time at Southern Seminary. Heather is the Assistant to the Bishop and Wade is a Pastor in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. After losing their first son, Jedidiah Evan, at 31 weeks, they were thrilled when they found Heather was pregnant with Jillian. However, this pregnancy was not without complications. They learned that their baby has an omphalocele. This means that some of the baby's intestines formed outside of her body. This can be corrected surgically, but Jillian spent the majority of her first year in the hospital. She continues to return to the hospital for extended periods of treatment. When Heather and Wade were strangers, the Ronald McDonald House provided them housing.
In gratitude for Jillian’s life and to celebrate her second birthday, Pastors Wade and Heather are making the following request.
The Ronald McDonald House at Riley Children's Hospital has been such a blessing to us during the many months we spent at our daughter Jillian's bedside (as these RMD Houses are for so many families at children's hospitals around the country). They collect the pop tabs from soda cans, which they can turn into money to fund the RMD Houses. The cost for families to stay or use the facilities at RMD Houses is very low or what they can afford, thanks to generous donations from individuals and businesses, and these pop tabs.
We came up with the crazy goal of 'one million for Jillian.' That means we hope that our friends and family (and anyone else who hears about this goal) will help us bring in 1,000,000 pop tabs in Jillian's honor by her 2nd birthday (June 10, 2012).
Tell your neighbors, co-workers, family and friends to start saving pop tabs! We have been collecting them for a few months now and have thousands already. We will keep a running total as they come in, so if you give us a large amount at one time, it would be nice if you had a count for us that we could just add to the total. Thanks in advance for your support of us reaching our crazy goal (or get as close as we can).
My dogs, cats and I are saving all our pop tabs for “A Million for Jillian.” If you would like to join the fun, bring your pop tabs to church and we’ll send them all together to the Apel Family.
Cheers!
Pastor Pat Nabers
