A senior associate pastor at the Bellevue Christian Center in Nebraska, who had been waiting for months to find a donor on the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s kidney transplant list, cried tears of joy before his congregation as he revealed their lead pastor was found to be a perfect match.
And come Aug. 2, Walter Hooker, a father of three and a grandfather of seven, will undergo surgery to receive a healthy kidney from his lead pastor, Andy Kaup, who is also a married father of three.
Hooker posted on facebook – “Because of the faithfulness of our God, Aug. 2, I’ll be in surgery.”
Finding a donor was not easy.
Once someone is added to the national transplant waiting list, they can sometimes wait many years to find a match.
Hooker’s Kidneys are functioning at about 10% and he has had to do dialysis three days a week. He began screening to be placed on UNMC‘s kidney transplant list in June 2021. He said while people around the country prayed for him to find a kidney donor, some 10 to 15 individuals stepped forward and applied to see if they could be that donor. And Kaup was among them.
Kaup told his congregation that God led him to become a kidney donor for his associate pastor. And he referenced James 2 saying – “What good is it if your brother has a need and you say, ‘go and hope that your need is met’ when it’s in your power to help?”