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Texas Episcopalian • November 2009
1
Volume 112, No. 9 Houston, Texas November 2009
INSIDE
Bishops’ Calendars ........................19Bishop’s Column ............................2Calendar of Events ..........................7 National & International ........14-16Parish News ................................3-6Sam Todd’s Column .....................18Features:Execution Date Set for Painter’s Son ....20Parish Assists Sudanese Clinic.................5
Organ Recipient, page 17
sick enough to stay in bed. Tests showedelevated liver enzymes so I cut back on saltand alcohol. I’m 6’8”, and today I weighabout 320 pounds, but in the first half of 2006, I started to gain weight rapidly,eating and drinking myself to more than400 pounds. I was too stubborn to admitsomething might be seriously wrong withme even though my wife Linda begged meto go to the doctor.A fever sent me to the ER in September2006, which led to months of treatment formultiple suspicious ailments–some liverrelated, some not. My health continued todecline even as my weight continued to rise. While my western doc prescribed Lasix,my Chinese advisor doubled the dosage of herbal tea. By June of 2007, I was losing depth perception, experiencing memoryloss and fatigue. Finally, tests at the TexasMedical Center revealed that my liver wasdying.A week of tests revealed nonalcoholicsteatohepatitis (NASH), combined with afatty liver. The amazing group of doctors atSt. Luke’s Liver Center and Baylor Clinicbegan to evaluate me for transplant. On days that I was nottoo sick, they tested my blood, my heart, my veins and myhead. They did x-rays, endoscopies and ultra-sounds; they performed psychological evaluations. By the end of summerI was experiencing encephalopathy, which is caused by toomuch ammonia, normally filtered by your liver. It poisons thebrain, and on one occasion I didn’t know who I was or whereI was.As I battled accumulating fluid in my body, I tried tolose the 100 pounds that would allow me to have a transplant.I had eight to nine liters of fluid drained from my chest cavity
Organ Donors’ Legacy is Life for Others
Texas Ranks Last in Registered Donors
By Rex Maus
D
onor Sabbath, November 15, is a special day for me and all of my fellow transplantrecipients. On this day, recipients, donors and caregivers--in our communities of faith--remember and celebrate our donors and their families for the second chance at life wehave received. It also is a time when we encourage people in our congregations to be a registeredorgan donor (www.donatelifetexas.org).
My Story
Donor Sabbath also allows me the opportunity to share my personal transplant experience,in hopes of inspiring someone else to register.In 2005, I was having occasional bouts of nausea. I missed a few days of work but wasn’t
Rex Maus and his wie Linda (right) with daughter Emily, ollowing his liver transplant two years ago.
New Anglican Health Network to Pilot Micro Health Insurancein Tanzania page 15
Texas Episcopalian •
November 2009
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The Texas Episcopalian
(since 1897) is an officialpublication of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Mission: In the name of Jesus Christ, the
Texas Episcopalian
seeks to inform the people in the diocese of events andphilosophies which affect the mission and life of the Church.
Publisher: The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew DoyleEditor: Carol E. Barnwell, cbarnwell@epicenter.orgParish News Editor: Nancy Sallaberry, nsallaberry@epicenter.orgLayout: LaShane K. Eaglin, leaglin@epicenter.org
The Texas Episcopalian (ISSN# 1074-441X) ispublished monthly except July and August for $15 a yearby the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, 1225 Texas Ave.,Houston, TX 77002-3504. Periodical postage paid atHouston, Texas. Deadline is the 10th of the monthpreceding publication. Articles, editorials and photosshould be submitted to the editor at the above e-mailaddress. Photos will not be returned. Address changescan be made at www.epicenter.org/infochange.
Postmaster: Address changes: THE TEXAS EPISCOPALIAN,1225 Texas Ave., Houston, TX 77002-3504
Recently I hearda new rector address ameeting o the EpiscopalChurch Women abouttheir importance, inuence and witness to others. He shared withus the story o how three women,over a period o years, inuencedhim through prayer, support andencouragement during his aith journey and intothe ordained ministry. When he was a teenager,one older lady would seek him out eachSunday during the Peace and give him a kiss,greet him and tell him o her daily prayersand love or him. Another woman, through hergenerous scholarship, helped support him duringseminary. Te nal person he mentioned wasa member o the Standing Committee o hisdiocese who wrote him regularly, called him andprayed or him all during his seminary years.He was blessed, encouraged and strengthenedby these three women who have had a lastingimpact on his lie. While listening to his story, I began to recall severalpersons in my lie who have made a huge dierence in my aith journey. As a teenager growing up at St. Mark’s, Houston,I was cared or and inuenced by two people I rememberspecically who made it their business to pray or me,encourage me, support me, point and lead me in a betterdirection. During my teen years, I, like many o you, oundmysel in trouble a good bit o the time. June Holly was one o my Sunday School teachers andyouth sponsors who would always encourage me to be morethan I thought I was capable o being. She raised the bar orme. Yet, she would always accept me where I was in lie andnever gave up on me as a child o God. Since those juniorhigh school years, she not only has kept in touch, but alsocontinued to hold me up in prayer. June has been a powerulexample to look up to and ollow. Another person who inuenced my lie was a mannamed Al Enderle (a member o the Brotherhood o St. Andrew). I remember that Al was not timid about sharinghis aith in Jesus Christ and was eager to pray or others;and I knew he accepted me and cared or me in spite o my ailures.Te stories o these aithul Christiansremind each o us o who we are as Discipleso Jesus Christ. Yousee, or many in oursociety, we are the only Christ they will everknow. We, throughour words and actionstoward others, say tothem who we are and what we are: ollowers o Jesus Christ.So, my sisters and brothers, young people and childrenin the Diocese o exas, remember we inuence so many people, whether we like that or not. Let us prayerully andintentionally be attentive to our calling as ollowers o JesusChrist and be sensitive to others. You and I are Christ’s lightto our world, examples and models or countless others.
Bishop Suragan Rayord B. High, Jr.
Cloud of Witnesses
he Rt. Rev. Rayord B. High, Jr.Bishop Suragan o exas
Several clergy rom the Diocese o Texas attended a church planting conerence at Kanuga Conerence Center in North Carolinarecently. “For me the conerence emphasized practical tools to help a clergyperson in congregational development,” said theRev. Stephen Whaley, campus missioner at Stephen F. Austin in Nacagdoches. “Some o the more practical resources had todo with engaging the community, assessing it’s needs and answering the question: ‘How then can our local congregationmeet some or all o those needs,’” he said.“In that sense the conerence was much more than just about planting a congregation, but rather providing to toolsto grow a congregation in numerous contexts,” Whaley continued. He also said the conerence ocused on strong diocesansupport or church plants. “[They] really stressed the importance o the bishop’s backing or church planting, nancially andinvolvement in the ongoing development o a new church,” he said. Pictured are: Whaley, Janet Gilmore and Patrick Hall.
Texas Episcopalian • November 2009
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Ekanga Family Photo: Brenda Ransdell
By Brenda Ransdell
I
n late September, the Ekanga amily arrived in Austinlooking orward to settling in a new home, sae rom war, hunger and inhumanity. Good Shepherd, incoordination with Episcopal Migration Ministries, sponsoredthis amily o eleven, providing housing and urniture, ood,toys or the children and transportation to appointmentsneeded to ensure their ability to stay in the United States.On Sunday October 18, Leon Ekanga, the head o the amily, spoke to the parish about their ordeal getting to America.“From the time o my birth, Congo was a peaceulplace, but then the politicians began to ght,” Ekangatold the congregation. A war broke out in June, 1997, andEkanga, a tailor, hid his amily at home when the gunrebegan. During that month-long period, the amily ran out o ood and beore they could leave the city, Ekanga was beatenby the militia and threatened with execution. “Tey wantedto execute me in ront o my amily because they believed I was in the military. Tey let me with bruises,” he said. Ater hiding in a church, the amily walked 21 milesrom the city, hoping to return when things calmed down,but it only got worse. “Te trip was very hard. On the road we saw many bodies dead and wounded, abandoned childrenand raped women. I was so injured I could walk no more. Westayed two weeks in a village or my recovery,” he explained.Te amily walked another 37 miles to the train and atertwo days on the train, reached Lusie, on the Gabon border where Ekanga was hospitalized or two additional weeks.Te amily settled as best they could in Gabon. Te Ekanga’sound an abandoned house, with no oors or windows, andthey lived there or two years. Tere were ew reugees in thevillage but as the war spread, more arrived.For three years, there was no help, until aid rom theUnited Nations provided ood and some services in 2000.Te ghting continued to escalate and aid ceased. “Lie[became] harder,” Ekanga said, adding that the Gabongovernment did not welcome the reugees.“Very hard to survive. We were not documented andcouldn’t work. Te children could not go to school,” he said. When he was arrested while working as a taxi driver, thepolice searched his home and put him in a cell or eight days.“[Te cell was] so small I could not sit down. I stood up oreight days. I was tortured. It is hard to speak o, even to my wie. I was suspended rom a piece o wood and beaten. I was there our months. I had no contact with a lawyer or my amily,” Ekanga said. A prison ofcial told Ekanga the police had protectedhim by arresting him and he was released soon ater. Ekangaapplied or asylum in the United States in 2002 and in 2008,the amily was accepted.“I am grateul to you, to the United States, to GoodShepherd. We will never orget you. We hold you always
Asylum FollowsDecade-Long Ordeal
Parish Pump AddsDimension toChurch Newsletters
PARISH NEWS
By Carol E. Barnwell
P
arish Pump provides church newsletter and magazineeditors with stories and other resources to make themost o their church publication. Based in England,the company has more than 3000 subscribers in the UK andthe U.S.Monthly oerings, graphic and editorial, can bedownloaded to enhance the local copy o publications andinclude: cover designs, illustrations, cartoons and children’spages, book reviews, quotes and a crossword puzzle. Tereis also a wide range o inspirational and inormative articles.Simply download a le and drop it straight into anexisting publication, a magazine, newsletter or pew-sheet. A church’s magazine has a vital role to play in the lieo the local congregation and provides the ever-presentsilent witness to Christ in the community. It can encourage,console, inorm and entertain.“Te world-wide Christian church is a vast reservoiro spiritual rereshment and riches, o sparkling ideas andinsights. With parishpump.co.uk you can tap into it all, andchoose what you like,” says ounder, Anne Coomes. A member o the Anglican Church, Coomes has workedin Christian radio, newspapers and publishing, and did aseven year stint as a diocesan communications ofcer or adiocese in the Church o England. She writes daily notesor the Bible Reading Fellowship and has written severalbiographies on Arican church leaders.Coomes is backed by an impressive sta o writers anddesigners. Read more here: http://www.parishpump.co.uk/pages/about-us.Te material is available or a reasonable annualsubscription ee. Go to: www.parishpump.co.uk.in our prayers and hearts,” a grateul Ekanga told thecongregation.Te Rev. Denise Vaughn, priest or Outreach andPastoral Care at Good Shepherd, worked with parishionersto help bring Leon and his wie Elizabeth, their ve sonsGuerlan, 16, Fred, 14, Paul, 7, Leon, 5, Laurenti, age 3, andtheir daughters Princia, 22, and Milca, age 11 to Austin.Princia has a son, Destine, 5. Another cousin, Judicael, 21,ed Congo with the amily, and is also with them.Te Ekangas speak only French and other Aricanlanguages, so Good Shepherd parishioners uent in Frenchhave served as interpreters on several occasions. wo cousinsalready living in Austin now speak some English and havebeen very helpul in getting their amily members acclimated. As the Ekangas let ater worship, Vaughn expressedher sorrow or what the amily had gone through. ElizabethEkanga replied: “It is over. It is the past. We have a new liehere.”
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