The Lord went before us!
I know in my head and from experience that Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, wants us to take all our anxieties and frustrations to Him in prayer. Over 50 years ago, my rector told me that William Temple, who was Archbishop of Canterbury (1942-44), had said, “When you pray about something, coincidences happen. When you don’t, they don’t.” So why do I continue to try to do things in my own strength, using only my own skill and experience? Recently I have been reminded about how our Heavenly Father can solve our problems if only we trust Him and hand them over to Him in prayer.Since 2006, I have been Chairman of the Board of the Perth Bone & Tissue Bank (now called PlusLife). This is a not-for-profit organisation which is one of the 3 major tissue banks in Australia and the only Bone Bank in Western Australia. It has provided a continuous service to the health sector for 21 years – at no cost to the State or Federal governments. Some 15,000 grafts have been distributed to more than 8,000 patients. Amongst the recipients are children and adolescents with spinal deformities, bone tumour patients (who have been saved from amputation of a limb by receiving a graft) and many patients with arthritic joint disease where mobility and general wellbeing have been improved by receiving bone grafts from PlusLife.PlusLife has occupied an old building at Hollywood Private Hospital (HPH), but this building has twice been severely damaged by storms and HPH advised us in April 2010 that if further storm damage occurs, the building will not be repaired. Consequently the board of PlusLife has been seeking alternative accommodation. The main problem has been to find 2,500 square metres of floor space near a major medical centre. In August, we found a 2,500 square- metre site with a heritage-listed 2-storey building, completely refurbished by Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA). The site is close to the St John of God Public and Private Hospitals in Midland which are due to open in late 2015. PlusLife could move its 21 personnel into the MRA building without spending a cent and develop the required clean rooms and associated laboratories in a stand alone steel framed building connected to the MRA building by an enclosed corridor. We met with the Acting Director General of Health, Prof Bryant Stokes, on 9th September and he said he would do his best to find a suitable relocation site for PlusLife.At a midweek Communion, Malcolm asked if we had problems that needed prayer and I said that PlusLife was anxiously waiting to hear from Prof Stokes about a relocation site, so Malcolm prayed about it. When I arrived home Rosemary said that Prof Stokes had phoned and wanted me to phone back. When I phoned back I was put straight through to Prof Stokes (a most unusual thing in itself) and he told me that he was setting up a meeting with Kieran Kinsella, Chief Executive Officer of the MRA, on 14th October. I was amazed to have such a quick answer to prayer.On Sunday 13th October I told Malcolm we had an appointment the next day which I expected would be difficult and unpleasant and might not result in a solution to the problem. Malcolm put his arm around me and prayed that the Lord would go before us and then told me that he was convinced that the Lord would ensure that the meeting would go well. I slept well that night.When the two other representatives of Plus Life, both of whom are believers, met with me before the meeting in the Health Dept, I told them about the prayers that my rector had made for us and that I was confident, not in my own strength, that things would be all right The meeting went incredibly well, far better than I would have thought possible. The Lord went before us. PlusLife was given the opportunity to buy the Midland land and building it needed on favourable terms. This experience has strengthened my faith in our great God - and encouraged me to pray more!John Pearman