In 2012 TAB Media shared the story of how God led First Baptist Church Jacksonville to pray for Jennifer Borders, a church member who needed a kidney transplant.
Pastor Derek Staples recalls saying to Borders’ husband, Jason, one night after a special prayer meeting for her health, “You and I are going to step back and be amazed what God does to bring healing to your wife.”
A group of people from the church volunteered to be tested to see if one of them was a possible kidney donor for Borders. Staples thought it was possible his wife, Julie, might be — she was the same blood type as Borders.
Finding a match
But when the results came back, she wasn’t a match. He was.
“With his being different, we knew it was a God thing,” Borders said.
Staples said he remembers the Sunday morning he told the church he was a match after they had been “praying intently” for God to provide a kidney for her.
“I remember the look on everybody’s face,” he said. “We all knew that the Lord was showing up and showing out. It was clearly of the Lord. We could not have orchestrated these events in any other way. There’s no other way you could explain it but that it was just the greatness of God.”
Gratitude for gift
Borders said it’s impossible to explain the gratitude she feels for people being willing to give her the gift of life — first her mom, who donated a kidney to her when she was 16; then a friend who donated another to her when she was 30; then Staples at age 40.
Their story is the second one featured in the newest season of the Stories podcast, Season 7: The Living Donor Story. You can hear more about how God’s sovereignty showed up in their story, how it changed Borders’ life and how it strengthened the faith of their church.
Listen at tabonline.org/stories or wherever you get your podcasts.
