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| Letter to the Editor Jan. 7 |
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| Opinion | |
| Written by Staff | |
| Wednesday, 07 January 2009 09:00 | |
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There are no words to express our gratitude to you — our community. You, as a community, have stood behind us and supported us spiritually, emotionally and financially. One month after we accepted the pastorate at The Osawatomie Wesleyan Church, our lives would never be the same. On May 19, 2005, we found out that our daughter, Hannah, would have to have a liver transplant to survive End Stage Liver disease. You all rallied around us! Hannah received her second chance at an earthly life on Oct. 21, 2005, and since that date, she has grown into a healthy, beautiful young lady who just turned 15 years old. Then, July 1, 2007, when we lost our home to the Osawatomie Flood, you again came to our rescue. Many could not understand how our family could turn down a possible chance at receiving a new home from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” We told our casting director at “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” that we would accept the chance to win a new home if they would come help our entire neighborhood build back from the flood. They could not grant that request, so we backed out of the contest. Breakpointe Community Church in Overland Park found out about our situation, came forward, and their desire was to build us a house at no cost to us and help our neighbors. About $65,000 in funds were raised for the entire Osawatomie Project through Breakpointe Charities: a lot less than they had hoped to raise. Those funds helped many build back their homes, including some of our neighbors on South Fifth Street, South Fourth Street, and also some that were not even our neighbors. Our home is the last one to be completed, since we had to have a new home built from the ground up. We were notified by Breakpointe Community Church that they only had about $3,500 left for us to use after finishing the other homes. Rob Roberts with the Salvation Army came forward with great advice concerning a company that could build our home at a discount. Ironically, this company built the last “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” home in Kansas City. These homes are built in sections and then delivered to the property to assemble. We realized more funds were needed if we were going to be able to finish constructing our home. We were devastated and had tried so hard to avoid any more debt. First Option Bank of Osawatomie has been wonderful working with us making it possible to get a construction loan, which means we borrow the money as needed. We have tried to keep costs down by accepting donated labor, cutting back on the frills, and trying to be a good steward with the financial assistance that we have been approved. Our hope was to keep our house payment as low as possible, especially with the state of the economy, a son getting ready for college, and a daughter who will have a lifetime of health care checkups and medications. Through our journey these past few years, we have met many friends, grown closer to our neighbors and truly learned the meaning of contentment. There is no way to list every single individual, church and organization that has helped because we don’t want to leave anyone out, but you know who you are — and we thank you! You were the arms, hands, legs and feet of Jesus to us! May God bless each of you! Pastor John, Angela, Joel and Hannah Wastlund
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