(This article was submitted to us about a year ago. We felt that it fits now to share Jeff’s account of how he witnessed the LAC family working together to serve someone in need during our weekend service.)
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Saturday evening service with my wife. The Pastor began teaching on the stewardship of spiritual gifts.
About two-thirds of the way through the sermon, a man wearing a pale lime green t-shirt, got up and started walking down the side balcony aisle toward the front. I wondered where he was going. I hadn’t seen him before and thought that he could have been looking for the restroom.
There was one lady sitting by herself, as no one else was sitting in the south side balcony. This man stopped to be with her. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. It was at this point when the situation became clear to me. She was having a seizure and this man had not only noticed, but he had quietly decided to take action and offer his assistance. The tech crew in front of me noticed what was happening. Without saying a word to each other, the crew member on the left stood to call 9-1-1 and security, then moved out to assist. The guy on the right watched attentively, adjusted his Power Point board, and moved out to the scene. He positioned himself between her and the front edge of the balcony. It was like watching a symphony.
The woman was having an epileptic attack. Her second one was far more noticeable. I helped carry her stiff body to the lobby where paramedics were able to assist her. The single audio/video tech remaining moved between the three boards without making a sound and kept everything adjusted or changed as needed.By this time, one of the ushers showed up and moments later I could hear the paramedics coming down Lake Avenue. Fortunately, her seizure was mild and she was able to walk out on her own power escorted by a core of silent heroes.The pastor never missed a beat. Until now, I hadn’t realized that it’s part of my stewardship before God to use my spiritual gifts not only because he asks us to, but because that’s what he intended. I was impressed how smoothly the body of Christ came together to protect this woman from injury. I had thought the sound crew had been trained for just such an event, but no. They were acting on their own with the tools at hand, a hard phone line and personal training. The second sound tech is a 9-1-1 operator, and to the fellow in the green t-shirt, whoever you were, thank you for serving the needs of this woman. I am glad to be part of my church family—a family that cares and shows it by their actions.