Topics:<\/b> Caring; Community; Compassion; Conversion; Disabilities; Giving; Help from God; Love; Mercy; Sacrifice; Sickness; Teens<\/p>\n
References:<\/b> Matthew 22:37\u201340; Mark 12:29\u201331; Luke 10:27; John 15:13; Acts 2:42\u201347; Romans 12:10; Ephesians 5:2<\/p>\n
Jeff Leeland had just accepted a teaching position at Kamiakin Junior High in Seattle, Washington. The family had endured months of Dad\u2019s driving to and from work before the family could relocate from their previous home.<\/p>\n
As winter struggled toward spring in 1992, Jeff and his wife, Kristi, heard the devastating news: \u201cYour baby boy has cancer. Michael needs a bone marrow transplant.\u201d The good news was that Michael\u2019s six-year-old sister, Amy, was a perfect match for the transplant. But Jeff\u2019s insurance company wouldn\u2019t pay for it. A tiny clause in the contract stated that Jeff had to be on the job for at least a year before insurance would cover a transplant. He had only been teaching in the new job for six months.<\/p>\n
By March, Michael\u2019s need for a transplant became urgent. If he couldn\u2019t receive the new marrow soon, he would die. The Leelands needed to raise $200,000 by May.<\/p>\n
Fellow teacher Joe Kennedy told his class about Leeland\u2019s situation. Dameon, a seventh-grade boy who walked with a limp and struggled in special education classes, heard about Mr. Leeland\u2019s son, Michael, and made a visit to Jeff\u2019s house. \u201cMr. Leeland, if your baby is in trouble, I want to help,\u201d he said. The kid others teased then stuffed twelve five-dollar bills into the hand of a teacher who had made a difference in his life. It was the boy\u2019s life savings.<\/p>\n
Word got out about Dameon\u2019s gift. Some kids organized a walk-a-thon. Others called a local newspaper with the story. Some held a car wash.<\/p>\n
The Kamiakin kids\u2019 wave of compassion poured out across Seattle. On Friday, May 22, a man walked into the bank with a check for $10,000. One week after Dameon\u2019s gift, Michael\u2019s fund grew to $16,000. By late May, area TV stations picked up the story. By May 29, Michael\u2019s fund grew to $62,000. The Leelands were boosted with hope when the hospital moved Michael\u2019s transplant back by two weeks. By June 5, the fund had grown to $143,000; by June 8, $160,000; by June 9, $185,000. Only four weeks after Dameon\u2019s gift of $60, the Michael Leeland Fund contained more than $220,000.<\/p>\n
Michael got the marrow transplant and lived. Dameon accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, partially due to his interaction with Michael\u2019s family. Soon after that, Dameon died from complications following an infection in one of his legs.<\/p>\n
Dameon, the unlikely hero, gave his all to save the life of another. In the process he received life everlasting.<\/p>\n
\u2014Based on a phone interview and Jeff Leeland\u2019s account in One Small Sparrow<\/i> (Multnomah, 2000)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Topics: Caring; Community; Compassion; Conversion; Disabilities; Giving; Help from God; Love; Mercy; Sacrifice; Sickness; Teens References: Matthew 22:37\u201340; Mark 12:29\u201331; Luke 10:27; John 15:13; Acts 2:42\u201347; Romans 12:10; Ephesians 5:2 Jeff Leeland had just accepted a teaching position at Kamiakin Junior High in Seattle, Washington. The family had endured months of Dad\u2019s driving to and … Continue reading “DAMEON\u2019S
\n GIFT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}