UMTV Web Brief 11/6/02 -

Welcome to UMTV’s web brief. I’m Reed Galin.

Nine months ago, the phone rang in Dylan Brown’s home. It was terrible news...about Dylan - the kind that changes the lives of everyone in the family. Their son and brother had been severely injured in a car accident. Dylan was paralyzed from the chest down. That might have been the tragic end of the story - but it was just the beginning of one family’s journey of faith.

Dylan Brown: “I remember I had my legs in the front seat, and my body was in between the back seat. And I fell out of the car and it was an eerily calm feeling, knowing I couldn’t move.”

TEN DAYS LATER, WHEN THE MEDICATION HAD WORN OFF…BUT NOT THE SHOCK OF IT ALL…22-YEAR-OLD DYLAN FACED A HARSH NEW REALITY - LIFE WITHOUT THE USE OF HIS LEGS.

Dylan Brown: “I remember apologizing to my mom. I just wanted to let everybody know that we’re going to make it through this.”

DYLAN’S MOTHER WAS HAVING GRAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THE FUTURE.

Karen Nelson, Dylan’s mom: “He was in ICU for 25 days, and I wondered if I should be praying a prayer for his life as opposed to let him go in peace. I couldn’t imagine that he could accept living without being able to be very, very active.”

BUT TODAY, DYLAN IS LIVING EACH DAY TO THE FULLEST - TAKING COLLEGE CLASSES, TEACHING SUNDAY SCHOOL, GOING THROUGH RIGOROUS THERAPY…AND TALKING TO HIGH SCHOOL KIDS ABOUT SEATBELT SAFETY.

Dylan Brown (speaking to high school classroom): “Odds are if I would’ve had my seatbelt on I wouldn’t have broken my neck.”

Dylan Brown: “I have to confront these handicaps. I don’t have time to allow the little things in life that chip away at all of us, they have far less meaning for me now.”

DYLAN AND HIS FAMILY HAVE A NEW SENSE OF PURPOSE…AND A NEW DEFINITION OF STRENGTH.

Karen Nelson: “I am just amazed to find that he can meet this challenge without anger, without doubting God, without tears. He’s shed so few tears you wouldn’t believe it.”

Dylan Brown: “I’ve really been able to see the best of people through this. And I think somehow the best has come out of me through this.”

Pam Morgan's story is similar to Dylan's, though her life circumstance was different when she was in a car wreck in June of 2000. Pam was a wife, a mother of two, and part of a music ministry with her husband, Phil. Her neck was broken, and doctors told Pam she'd never walk again. But Pam says a miracle happened - through physical therapy... and prayer.

Two weeks after the doctors gave us that prognosis I started moving a toe, and then a knee just really slightly. And one year after the date of our accident, Phil and I both walked into a Nashville studio and recorded our newest project called Living Proof. It basically says that I’m living proof that God still works today.

I can reach people now whose lives are falling apart. And I know what it’s like to be down when you think that you just can’t make the next step. I know what it’s like to depend completely on someone else. It is awesome to see the hope that I am able to give other people.

I can’t tell you how my fellow paraplegics and my fellow quadriplegics have given me hope in just watching them and seeing that, even with a disability, that life goes on. And that even with a disability, God can use you in such a mighty way.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be doing this today.

Cities have been known to build brand new stadiums trying to lure a major league team to town.

Build it, and they will come. A small United Methodist Church is trying the same kind of thing - on a much smaller scale, of course…and not for a sport. Kim Riemland reports this congregation is trying to recruit a spiritual leader.

IN A CORNER OF WASHINGTON STATE, ON THE NOOKSACK INDIAN RESERVATION, IS A SMALL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH THAT COULD BE EASY TO DRIVE RIGHT PAST.

AND FOR MANY YEARS, IT WAS.

WHEN CHARLOTTE OSBORN TOOK OVER AS LAY MINISTER SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE CONGREGATION HAD THREE MEMBERS; THE PARSONAGE WAS IN DISREPAIR; THE CHURCH WAS IN DANGER OF DYING.

BUT NEW LIFE HAS BEEN BREATHED INTO THIS CHURCH BECAUSE OF A NEW PARSONAGE, BUILT BY FAITH AND FELLOWSHIP.

John Miranda, Nooksack UMC Member: “If it wasn’t for the volunteers, it probably would have never happened.”

WHEN THE CALL WENT OUT FOR HELP, VOLUNTEER TEAMS CAME FROM CHURCHES AS FAR AWAY AS FLORIDA.

IT’S HOPED THE NEW PARSONAGE WILL DRAW A NEW PASTOR. AT 74, CHARLOTTE OSBORN IS TRYING TO RETIRE. BUT THE LOW PAY AND RURAL LOCATION MAKE A REPLACEMENT HARD TO FIND.

Charlotte Osborn, Nooksack UMC Minister: “But at least we have a house to offer and that we hope will attract somebody to come here.”

A NEW PASTOR WOULD INHERIT A COMMUNITY IN NEED OF SPIRITUAL ENCOURAGEMENT - THOSE WHO LIVE HERE SAY POVERTY, ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE STILL HAVE A POWERFUL GRASP. BUT HE OR SHE WOULD ALSO INHERIT A GROWING CONGREGATION WITH A FAITH FUELED BY THE SHOW OF SUPPORT IN THIS PROJECT.

Lois Gladstone, Nooksack UMC Member: “In me, my faith was built a little more.”

Elenanor Gabriel, Nooksack UMC Member: “For me myself, I’m a recovering alcoholic, so it helped me out a lot to be connected to something that has a good, strong foundation.”

A GOOD, STRONG FOUNDATION - COURTESY OF CARING STRANGERS - HAS GIVEN THIS ALMOST-FORGOTTEN CHURCH SOMETHING TO BUILD ON.

I’M KIM RIEMLAND REPORTING.

Laying a spiritual foundation is something quite literal in that community. Church members hope a new pastor will enable them to do more community outreach and help the church continue to grow.

On the next UMTV web brief, making a difference in the remote regions of the world.