Supporting The Big Country Through The “Give Hear Program”

“This last year has been a rough one for me and my family. We have had to deal with a lot including the total loss of our home to a fire. When my world was so overwhelming with stress, God heard my prayers! He placed a perfect stranger in my life to remind me that there’s still good in this hectic world. This man, Mr, Moore, donated a pair of hearing aids. His kindness blows my mind. He changed my world so much! You never realize how bad your hearing is until your hearing aids are fit and your hearing once again. I am blessed with hearing all conversations with my grandkids now, and a lot of sounds I forgot about. I can’t express my appreciation enough. Thank you! You will never know who or when God will place an earthly angel to help us and answer our prayers. Thank you for everything and giving me a better quality of hearing and life. I also wanted to thank Sue Ann and the staff. They are amazing! Sending love to all! Thank you.”

“To the person who gave their used Hearing Aids to me, I thank you with my whole heart. Let me tell you a little bit about me.

My name is Elsie Collett. I am best known as Rosie to my friends. I have loved roses as long as I can remember. I still raise some roses out on a small farm that I own. My age is 81 and will be 82 in June. I was divorced a lot more years than I was married, raised my blood son and an adopted daughter as a single parent. I was able to educate my children.

I am fighting cancer for the 3rd time around. This last battle started in early 2019. Had surgery in 2019 and again minor surgery in 2020. I had been cancer free for over 42 years, so wasn’t expecting it to come back. But it did.

Unless God sends me another miracle, I most likely have only months left to live, I will live my life to the fullest as long as I can. I made the choice after listening to my cancer team, not to take their advice. They wanted me to have Chemo, radiation and kill all of my hormones. I know a lot about cancer and dying. I worked for a while taking care of dying patients who choose to die at home, instead of hospital. So, I know the good, bad and ugly of cancer and treatments. If I chose any or all of the treatments that was suggested that I do, I would live maybe a few extra weeks or even a few extra months, but I would be too ill to enjoy any of my life. So, I refused. If God wants me healed, HE will do it, if not then I have to accept whatever God chooses to do with my life.

I have kept up with the latest Cancer Research that is published every 3 months. Don’t get me wrong, I do not consider myself brave, just a stubborn old woman who intends to keep doing the things that I love to do. I did count up the money cost that it would be to fight this cancer again as my team suggested. I would cost over 1 ½ million dollars and I would be sick, most likely the rest of my life, just so I could stay alive a few more months. I know where I am going when I die. So, in the meantime I intend to keep doing what I do for God.

I am a lay preacher for the United Methodist Church. What this means is that I do not get paid any money for all the things that I do, except I do get God’s blessing for doing it. My membership is currently with Avoca United Methodist Church. I started preaching in a local jail, not in this area when I just turned 12 years old. I have continued to preach any chance that I get. I spent 2 years teaching by mail to four prison systems, 3 in Texas and one in CA. No one that I knew was teaching the Old Testament, just the New. I believe with my whole heart that the OT should be taught because the background of it makes the New Testament make more sense. I had to figure that one out on my own, because most of what I was taught was in the N.T.

I wanted my students that was in prison to be able to see the people as possible great, great, great Grandparents. I wanted the students to see the people as human beings and see them when they made mistakes and how God forgave them. I wanted them to understand what God expects of us as his children and his creations of us.

So, in affect I have preached off and on for over 70 years. I have taught Sunday School for 63 years and retired as a teacher and now only teach when a teacher needs to be gone. I still teach Children’s Church several months of the year. I teach any class that the teacher needs to be out for their own personal reasons. I no longer lead Vacation Bible School, but still teach a class that no one else chooses to teach. This Sunday, I will be teaching the Nursery Children. Lay Preachers do not get paid for their services expect we receive God’s blessing for the work that we so freely give.

Because I live in a small area as far as churches go, two Baptist churches and the Methodist church plan to do Vacation Bible School, we take turns which Church it will be held in every year. Before C-19 hit, many churches got together and had all church singing with a large Supper on every 5th Sunday. Now the singing is on hold. Hopefully, we can start back before the end of this year.

The gift of the hearing aids means I can continue doing what I love most in life! And I am sure that my medical doctors, nurses and the lab thank you, so they don’t have to keep repeating what they have said to me. Usually, they give up and print up from their computer what they want me to understand.

I have asked God to send you extra blessings because you have blessed me with the hearing aids you could no longer use. I had been trying to get a set from the West Texas Rehab for many months. I thank God that Holland Hearing Center chose to help me and all of the people that I had to ask what did you say? Thanks again.