The Urge To Act

THE URGE TO ACT

We’re all used to 40acts turning up plenty of great stories of generosity in action. But 2018 took things to a whole other level.

One participant – Alex Elsaesser – emailed us to share the journey that he undertook in the run-up to last Easter. He explained how when he read Act 2 and its challenge to give anonymously, he left a generous gift for someone he knew was leaving work that day. And when Act 5 encouraged participants to give away something precious to them, and then Act 10 urged them to act on the prompts that the Holy Spirit gives, Alex started thinking.

Not long after, Alex was getting ready one morning when, out of the blue, came one of those Holy Spirit prompts: he knew he was being encouraged to give away one of his kidneys.

“Shaking, I Googled ‘kidney donation’ and found a website started by kidney donors. There was a special category: altruistic living kidney donation. You give to a stranger anonymously. Live donations like this are the most successful. They can allow the recipient to live without dialysis and can save the NHS up to £20,000 a year. I also discovered that a person even in their 80s could donate. I am a healthy 72 and retired a few months ago.”

Six months later, Alex is on his way to becoming a live donor, though the year-long process is appropriately thorough. “So far I have had an appointment with a clinical psychologist and a renal consultant. Then a chest X-ray, a renal ultrasound (to make sure I had two kidneys!), a lung function test, a CT scan (to make sure the renal arteries were long enough to snip one), a heart echocardiogram, a glucose tolerance test (no problem with my insulin), the injection

of isotopes to test my kidneys were working properly, and finally, in a few weeks, an exercise tolerance test on the treadmill. An amazing MOT to be sure. If I pass this test then I’m off to meet the transplant consultant and surgeon.”

As well as being assessed physically and emotionally, Alex is aware of the spiritual aspect of the journey that he’s on. He’s become aware that God is using his testimony to encourage others to give – even those who, like one of his children, were not so positive at the start. “One said, ‘Isn’t giving your blood enough?’

“That same daughter later said she and her husband were signing up to go on the bone marrow register.”

Though he’s preparing to give away a vital organ, Alex already knows that God is using the experience to deepen his faith. Speaking to his home church earlier this year, Alex reminded the congregation of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. “Philip had no idea what would happen when he obeyed the Holy Spirit to ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ Do you know today there are some 45-50 million members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the majority living in Ethiopia?

“So, what is my message about? Giving a kidney? Maybe. Or is it about as pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church calls it, radical generosity? Yes! Or is it about experiencing the Holy Spirit as a person, hearing Him and obeying no matter what the cost? Yes! Or is it about God having a purpose for your life no matter what your age? Yes!”

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