Living in a world of negative news can tax the soul of everyday Americans. Whether its gun violence in Chicago, political mudslinging in Washington, D.C., or persecution around the world, reports about acts of kindness tend not to make big headlines. But that does not mean acts of Christian kindness are not happening all around us. They most certainly are.
For every attack on faith and humanity, there are good, hard-working Christian Americans willing to make the teaching of the Gospel a reality. These recent news reports may have flown under some media outlets’ radar, but they overwhelmingly reflect the values of American Christians.
Teachers Support Colleague with Cancer
When a Florida teacher battling cancer ran out of sick time, his fellow teachers and staff members stepped up and came to his aid.
Palm Beach Gardens High School teacher Robert Goodman found himself caught in an administration tangle while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. Since April, he faced chemo twice per week and had to take 38 days out of work to complete his treatment. Unable to muster the post-chemo energy to work a full day, he found himself still 20 days short of the school district’s catastrophic sick leave policy.
“It just happened to coincide with when summer began too, so I had just enough days to make it through the surgery recovery and then I had to start chemo in June and throughout the entire summer,” Goodman reportedly said. “I have never had the energy for a full day. It felt awful. Each chemo treatment takes at least a week for me to feel just 70 percent.”
That left Goodman in an administrative no-man’s land and potentially without an income.
After posting his dilemma on Facebook, his friends and colleagues filled the gap by donating their precious sick and vacation time to Goodman. The history teacher received 100 sick days from other school employees. He now has more than enough to help his battle against cancer.
“I asked for help. I just didn’t expect to get the help in four days,” he said. “Teachers always give. It’s a profession of giving, but it was extraordinary that so many people were willing to donate those days to me.”
“They could have cashed those days in when they retired if they didn’t use them,” Goodman reportedly said. “They were in a sense giving me their retirement money to help me heal.”
Paying it forward, Goodman has been using the media exposure to encourage others to get regular checkups. Of his colleagues, he says they “threw their love” at him.
Teacher Sacrifices to Save Sixth Grade Student
A technology teacher at Grace Christian Academy in Powder Springs, Georgia, recently gave a sick child his kidney and may have saved the young boy’s life.
According to news reports, Georgia tech teacher William Wilkinson acted as a donor for 12-year-old Kaden Koebcke who was struggling with kidney disease. The sixth-grader was diagnosed when he was 2 years old and received a transplant from his father when he was five. The first organ did not take successfully and had to be removed within days. The boy had been on dialysis ever since. The family’s prayers for a donor were answered after posting “Kaden’s Kidney Search” on Facebook.
After years of waiting for a qualified donor, the Christian school teacher was a match. Koebcke’s mother reportedly said, “I know we can get through anything, no matter the outcome because I know that God has a plan for him.”
Her son will no longer be hooked to a dialysis machine and is expected to lead a normal life.
Christian Koreans Reunited
The international flare ups between North Korea and other nations appears to have a silver lining after all. The escalating rhetoric between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un led to joint peace talks between the United States, North Korea and South Korea.
The pair of Korean countries recently signed a proclamation officially ending the open declaration of war and that opened the door for estranged families to reunite. Since then, the inter-Korean Red Cross has been bringing families back together.
For some, it’s been 68 years since the two nations broke families apart. Recently, 89 families received permission to meet with loved ones they had not seen in decades. Many of them are Christians. One member of the contingency was reportedly 101 years old.
During the last 18 years, the countries have only held 20 such family reunification events. They are expected to become more regular as hostilities are reduced and political treaties are brokered. On the Korean peninsula, the glass looks half full these days.
~ Christian Patriot Daily
