Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and you’re listening to Joni and Friends.
As you know I love telling stories on this program, and I have quite a story to tell today about my friend, Mike Yuen – Mike has worked with Joni and Friends ever since 1989. After nearly a decade with our ministry, Mike went through a serious operation, donating his kidney to his brother, Geoff, who had kidney disease. When I learned about Mike’s decision to give his kidney, I forced myself to watch a television program that explained how a transplant was done – I was curious; I wanted to see what Mike had to go through. Well, I had no idea! I don’t know what kidney transplants look like nowadays, but back then (and we’re talking more than a dozen years ago), doctors had to hacksaw through a person’s ribs… it gave me such an appreciation for Mike’s love for his brother, as well as the extraordinary value of his gift; several years later though, the news was not good.
There was the typical transplant rejection coupled with complications from diabetes. Geoff was aware that his life was on the line. And it was hard. It was hard for Mike, too. And so I asked him, “Mike, would you give your kidney again, knowing now the outcome?” His answer gripped me: he said, “Joni, I would do it again without hesitation because I’m grateful that Geoff has been given extra time with my kidney.” But Mike had something else to say. He added: “You know, Joni, a gift is a gift! When I gave my kidney to my brother, I let it go. That’s what you do with gifts, and I gave that kidney with no strings attached. It’s not mine… it’s my brother’s.”
Many years have passed and Geoff is still surviving, although there have been some close calls. It makes me think about the sacrifice Mike gave, especially when I see him get all suited up to bicycle home from work many days of the week. Mike also takes our staff members who want to go on weekly hikes in the spring. And if that weren’t enough, he also leads the outward-bound hiking program over at Azusa Pacific University. God has really safeguarded this man’s health – and Mike knows that without a kidney, he has to be especially careful about diet and exercise.
He is such an example to so many, because there are those who do take better care of our cars than we do our bodies. We can affix a dollar figure to a luxury automobile, but who can put a price on the ability to see, or think, or walk or talk? Who can put a price on a kidney? First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” So think about it: what can you do today to better maintain your physical health? Have you been putting off a check-up? Ignoring your body’s warning signals? As a Spanish proverb says, “From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health.” And Mike would say amen to that.
But there’s another lesson we can gain from Mike. And that is, when you give a gift, friend, let it go. Don’t be looking over the person’s shoulder to see how good they’re taking care of what you’ve sacrificed, because that gift is not yours anymore. Remember that God so loved the world that he gave… he gave his Son with no strings attached, and realizing full well many would think lightly, if thinking at all, of the sacrifice. God shows us that a gift is supposed to be free… so follow God’s lead… follow Mike’s example and freely give. This is Joni Eareckson Tada and until next time on Joni and Friends, thanks for listening about my friend, Mike Yuen.
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