Indiana — Members of the South Bend Church have formed a fund-raising committee to help a very special child in their church, Jesús Navarro.

In April of 2003, physicians at Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis examined Jesús and learned he was a very sick boy in need of a kidney transplant. They determined his kidneys failed to grow with the rest of his body, resulting in illness where his kidneys are functioning at only about five percent of normal capacity. Since that discovery, Jesús has been dependent on dialysis four times a day, requiring 30 to 40 minutes for each session.

Jesús' mother, Ernestina, is willing to be the kidney donor, but the operation will cost $75,000 with an additional $1,000 for medicine in the months afterward.

The South Bend Church family has planned a series of fund-raising events and is also working with the National Transplant Assistance Fund (NATF), a non-profit tax-exempt organization dedicated to providing fundraising assistance to families who incur financial challenges due to organ/tissue transplant or other catastrophic illness.

For more information about this South Bend Church project, you may call Pastor Luis Beltre Sr. at (574) 251-0625.

Diane Thurber, Indiana Conference communication director