wfn.org | Faith guides pastor's decision to give kidney to stranger

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Nov. 28, 2000   News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.     10-71B{533}

A UMNS Feature
By Andy Ellis*

Greg Nobles doesn't see what all the fuss is about. He simply believes he
did the normal thing, reaching out to a stranger in need.

That stranger, Doyce Reeves, sees Nobles' act much differently. Reeves
believes Nobles gave him the greatest of all possible early Christmas
presents -- the gift of life.

In September, Nobles, an Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference supply
pastor serving three churches in Perry County, Ala., donated a kidney to
Reeves, who suffered from a kidney disease that left his own organs covered
with polyps. Reeves, who lives in Pinson, Ala., outside Birmingham, had been
on dialysis for 23 months.

Nobles learned of the need through his wife, a sixth-grade teacher at
Thorsby (Ala.) School, who overheard a fellow teacher's conversation on a
trip home from a training event at Auburn University. 

"Terri, my wife, overheard one of the other teachers saying that she had
been turned down as a kidney donor for her brother," recalled the
45-year-old Nobles, who resides in Thorsby. "She was the last family member
available. All of the others either had the same kidney disease or had been
turned down for other reasons."

The decision to help was made quickly, Nobles said.

"I made the decision to be tested to see if I would be a match before we
prayed about it," he said. "When Christ is such a big part of your life, I
think you make decisions based on who you are and your relationship with
him."

After the decision was made to move forward, the prayers began.

"We began to pray with our Sunday school classes and our church," Nobles
said. Soon the word had spread, and churches throughout the area were
praying.

The first step in the process was a blood test, followed by three days of
more extensive tests at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Medical
Center. All went well.

"We went in for tests for three days at UAB and the tests were so positive.
The doctors had an optimum outcome, and each test came back at the top of
the line," Nobles said.

After it became clear that Nobles would be able to donate the kidney, the
doctors began to counsel him on his options.

"They seemed to overemphasize the fact that I could back out. Since I was
not a family member, they required a 90-day waiting period," Nobles said. "I
was told that if I decided to back out, that the Reeves' family would be
told that the tests showed I would not be a match. Doris and I talked about
it and prayed about it. This wasn't a case of giving a kidney to a friend. I
didn't know Doyce at the time. It was a case of someone having a need, and I
felt it was the right thing to do."

Nobles said he had no doubts about going through with the donation. "The
only twinge I had through the whole thing was when I went in the Monday
before the surgery, (and) the nurse told me that they were basically going
to cut me in half. I knew that it would be major surgery, but how do you
react to hearing something like that?" 

Still, Nobles never hesitated or reconsidered his decision. While he never
doubted his decision, one of his family members did. "We have a teen-age
daughter who had some doubts about this. But Terri and I sat down and talked
to her about it, and she began to feel good about it," he said.

Both surgeries went well, and Reeves continues to recover with the help of
anti-rejection drugs. Nobles' recovery went extremely well, and he had only
one unrelated setback, a return trip to the hospital for gall bladder
surgery.

"I never had any pain during my recovery," Nobles said. "It went so easily.
I think that if other people realized it was that easy, then more would be
willing to do this.

"I'll always have the scar, but I think my wife thought that I would have to
change my lifestyle considering I would only have one kidney left. The
doctors assured her that I wouldn't have to change anything."

Nobles was a lay speaker for six years, and after a training event at Frazer
Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala., he decided to take a
further step. 

"(Frazer senior pastor) John Ed Mathison made the comment that he wished
everyone would pray about whether God was calling them to ministry. I've
never felt called to full-time ministry, but I did feel the need to begin
the inquiry process," he said. He consulted William Calhoun, the Selma
(Ala.) District superintendent, who told him that if he was ready, there
were churches that needed preachers, he said.

Last June, Nobles, who works in truck sales for Capital Volvo, was appointed
to serve Heiberger, Bethlehem and Mt. Nebo United Methodist churches. 

Nobles credits his faith for his willingness to donate his kidney. "I
probably never would have considered doing this. Faith had 100 percent to do
with it," he said. "I don't know how a Christian could not do this,
especially with the sacrifice that Jesus made for each of us. I didn't know
this man, but I still wanted to do this because I felt it was the right
thing to do."

The whole process has been an eye-opener for Nobles. "There is a huge need
out there," he said. "I would much rather not have had all of this fuss over
this. I wouldn't be doing these interviews except for the chance that
somebody might see this and consider being a donor."

Nobles said he received a tremendous amount of support through the donation
process. "This was about a six-month process, and I was already involved
when I was appointed to these churches," he said. "I told them immediately,
and they were tremendously supportive. The whole thing has been a big plus
for me. There has not been a negative at all. If I had 10 kidneys, I would
give nine of them. I never felt like it was the courageous thing to do. I
just knew it was right.

"I'll never know of all the people who were praying for me through this.
Everything that happened tells me that there was never a time when God's
hand wasn't in this."  

# # #

*Ellis is director of communications for the Alabama-West Florida Annual
Conference.

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United Methodist News Service
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