A Miraculous Journey

In the chart-topping contemporary Christian song “God Is in This Story,” Katy Nichole sings:

“God is in this story.

 God is in the details.

 Even in the broken parts

 He holds my heart; He never fails.

 When I’m at my weakest

 I will trust in Jesus.

 Always in the highs and lows

 The One who goes before me.

 God is in this story.”

God is in this story.  It is a story of two men who needed each other more than they ever knew.  One man was sharing the good news of His Savior, and another needed saving during a dark time. These two men’s paths would collide, and as you turn the pages, you will see God was in this story, even in the broken parts.

Orville Farren, 71, a resident of Nash, Texas, was born and raised in Redlick, Texas. He is the current pastor of Grace Church, a non-denominational church in Nash, Texas.  Farren was the founding pastor of Grace Church in 1988 and has severed as their pastor for 32 years. He married Robbie Howell Farren in 1971; they were 18 and 16. They bore three children, Michael, David, and Stephanie, over the next 12 years. Orville and Robbie would later add to their family when their oldest son, Michael, would wed Alisa Sinclair; their youngest son, David, would wed Meredith Morriss, and their daughter, Stephanie, would wed David Brooks.

The couple enjoys six grandchildren today: Madison (29), Mykah (26), Avery (24), Abby (20), Gavin (17), and Grayson (7).

Colt Freeman, 23, a resident of Texarkana, Texas, was born and raised in the Liberty-Eylau area of Texarkana. He is a dispatcher and rides on the ambulance for Pafford Medical Services in Hope, Arkansas. Although Colt is unmarried and without children, he enjoys the blessing of having his parents, Wesley and Mandy Freeman, and both sets of grandparents living and is fond of their close bond. He considers his church family at Grace Church his extended family and an inherited blessing.  

So, how would these two men’s paths collide? It all started with an undesirable doctor’s report and a man looking to end his life.

Orville had been fighting a diabetes diagnosis for several years and his bloodwork began to show that his kidneys were starting to fail in 2014. A local doctor had been warning him to begin dialysis, but Orville had yet to start the process.  Orville was still stable in 2022, and after a great discussion with Dr. Armando Aponte-Velez, a nephrology specialist practicing in Paris, Texas, Orville began to receive options for his medical condition. Dr. Aponte-Velez suggested Orville have a dialysis fistula placed in his arm for in-clinic dialysis if needed and, in the meantime, begin the process of getting on the kidney transplant list. Dr. Aponte-Velez’s office started the paperwork for the transplant list. Time would take its toll, and Orville’s kidney function would decrease to only seven percent. Nearing dialysis, Orville became weaker and weaker and needed a kidney transplant.

As the Farrens weighed the risks of this fatal disease and failing kidney, it would become imperative that Orville needed a kidney transplant. Without this transplant, Orville would spend the rest of his life on dialysis. Orville was familiar with this disease as his father, JW Farren, also had kidney disease, but he refused the dialysis treatment.  As a result, his organs shut down on him. Orville was not against taking the dialysis if it would keep him alive for his family.  “I knew from my dad that it was serious, and I also knew people on dialysis that live a full life. However, a patient on dialysis has to spend four hours a day, three days a week, inside a clinic receiving dialysis, which takes away from your regular life. When Dr. Aponte-Velez gave me the option to have the peritoneal dialysis catheter placed in my stomach so I could receive dialysis overnight while sleeping, that is the option we went with until a kidney transplant was available,” Orville said.

As the days passed Orville would become weaker and weaker. His creatinine levels were at an all-time high of 9.8 mg/dL (a normal range is 0.7 to 1.3mg/dL). Pastoring the church became challenging as he would move from standing while preaching to becoming so weak that he would have to sit on the altar to finish his sermon. His energy was dwindling, and his wife Robbie stated that Orville would sleep for about 95% of the daytime hours. “If you would have seen me a year ago, I would have been home asleep right now,” Orville said.

Kidney transplant patients can wait up to five years or more for a deceased donor; however, Orville would find a living donor in just one year with the help of God and a willing young man.

Colt Freeman was not raised in the church and had experienced a bad relationship and severe depression.  He attempted suicide three times. “Each time I heard a voice, ‘Just wait, and you’ll see.’ I heard it all three times,” Colt said. Hard times continued, and Colt decided to try his suicide attempt a fourth time, although this time, he would be successful in his mind. Colt explains, “That week, there was a Harley-Davidson convention where they did stunt rides, and I ran into Grace Church members Frederick and Kathy Rounsavall. They invited me to church, and I thought, ‘It won’t hurt nothing, why not give it a shot?'” The following Sunday, in January 2023, he graced the steps of Grace Church and felt as though he was walking in the living room of his own home. He was welcomed with loving arms, unjudged, and everyone was glad Colt was there.  He asked Jesus to be his Savior within a month and was baptized a few Sundays later.

Colt remembers a specific passage Orville had preached, stating, “Nothing is ours; everything is His.” At this moment, Colt heard the same voice that echoed during his suicide attempts. “You can do this,” was the voice Colt heard loudly and clearly. “I immediately had goosebumps and started to freak out,” Colt said. After service, Colt picked up his phone, and the first thing he saw was a Facebook post that would change both his and Orville’s life.  Earlier, Orville’s wife, Robbie, had made a plea on Facebook for friends to call Medical City Transplant Institute in Dallas, Texas, to see if they would be eligible to donate a kidney for Orville. Colt questioned himself, “Is that what God is really showing me to do?” However, Colt did not think long, believing it would work if it was God’s plan.

Colt immediately began the work to see if he would be a match as a living donor; however, he would keep this information to himself until the right time. He began by contacting Medical City in Dallas to learn the steps he would need to take. He was introduced to Katie, a transplant coordinator, and she was very helpful in Colt’s process. Two days later, Colt visited LabCorp in Texarkana, Texas, to begin testing to see if he was healthy enough to endure this process. Within a week, Katie called Colt with the excellent news that he was healthy enough and would need to return for additional blood work to see if he was a match for Orville. “This time, it took a little longer for Katie to call me back, but I could tell by her excitement why she was calling me. She said, ‘I’ve got wonderful news – you are a match!’ She then asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with this, mainly due to my young age (22) and willingness to donate. Of course, I had not discussed this with the Farren family yet, but I had talked to my parents and grandparents, who were behind me 110%,” Colt said.

The next phone call was to Orville and Robbie Farren. “I called them and said, ‘Hey, what are you’ll doing? I need to come by and talk to you’ll after I get off work.’ Of course, they did not have a clue what I was doing as I had not told anyone except my family,” Colt said.  “I sat down in their living room in June 2023, and told them I had gone through the steps of becoming a kidney donor and am a match! Medical City is going to be contacting you!”

Joy and unbelief are how Orville would describe that moment when receiving the incredible news from Colt. However, knowing how God works, Orville believed it could and would be true. “I expressed thankfulness to God and Colt for his willingness and obedience to the Lord.  That was huge for a young man to do that,” Orville said. Robbie immediately began to question if Colt’s family supported his decision and after much reassurance, Robbie began FaceTiming the Farren family to share the excellent news.

Colt had never had any operation before this and now he was about to donate a kidney to Orville. Because of Colt’s young age, he would become the youngest willing donor ever to undergo this procedure.  The hospital made him complete two psychological evaluations by two different people since it was a non-emergency case. As they explained, this decision would impact Colt for the rest of his life. It would take years off his life, and he would have to change some habits, especially his love for sweet tea. “They told me I had 100% risk with no benefits. I would be prone to infection and would have to limit contact with people,” Colt said.

Excited with the opportunity that Colt could change someone’s life with his donation, he returned to work to inform his previous boss, from a different job, that he would be donating his kidney. “My former boss told me if I proceeded with this donation, I would lose my job.  I would be fired. That really set me back. I took two days to think about it and made up my mind. God has brought me this far; I know He has a plan.  I put all my trust in Him,” Colt said.

Orville and Colt received the surgery date soon after: October 3, 2023. That same day, Colt was fired, but that did not deter him from going through with the transplant. Colt spoke with Katie again, and she was able to help him with a program that pays for kidney transplants, from hospital bills to food, lodging, and more. Those programs were approved, and the two men would head to Dallas for the extensive surgery in mere months.

Colt and Orville arrived at Medical City the day before the surgery to check-in. Their families would join each other in fellowship that evening for dinner. “Yeah, we knew we weren’t going to be eating for a while!” Colt said. Orville adds, “We spent that time together and prayed together. Some had never met Colt before and this allowed time for that.”

As the sun rose on October 3, 2023, the day of the kidney transplant was finally at hand. Colt would go back for surgery a couple of hours before Orville would. As they wheeled him towards the operating room, Colt was able to see both families in the waiting room. “They talked to me, hugged me, loved me. I had never seen my dad cry, until that day. It was not until that moment that I realized their thoughts about the situation and how much it meant to everyone,” Colt said.

As Colt sat in the pre-op room with his mom holding his shaking hand, the hospital staff asked him one last time if he was sure he wanted to proceed. “They said, ‘If you want to back out, we can come up with a reason. Medical reason or anything.’ I told them no, that it had been laid on my heart to do this, and I am going to proceed with it,” Colt said.  

The surgery lasted four to five hours for Colt, and it was successful. Colt would experience pain for the next 24 hours and soreness for a couple of weeks. Six days later, Colt arrived home in the most comfortable fashion, a private helicopter transport from his friend, Tyler Hawkins. The kidney transplant into Orville’s body was accepted but the healing would take some time. “I woke up pretty sedated and had a little more pain from the incisions. The greatest aggravating pain was the PICC Line (peripherally inserted central catheter line) in my neck, and the way they had it taped was worse than the actual incision. It was really tough to deal with it and I had to have it the whole time I was in the hospital. Don’t misunderstand me. I knew I was going to get well, and I knew it would all be better, but just having to deal with the process of healing was hard.  I didn’t get up as quick as Colt did, and walking for me was tougher on my incision,” Orville said.

Orville would continue to walk, and walk, and walk.  His surgeons constantly encouraged him to do this often menial-to-us activity. This Farrens would move into an Extended Stay Hotel just four days after the transplant and remain there while Orville recovered over the next four weeks. Orville’s medical team believed this was the smartest choice in case complications arose and the couple could return to the hospital quickly.

“I would continue to walk the halls of the Extended Stay Hotel, gaining a few steps more each day. I had a lot of nausea after the surgery and lost 35 pounds following the transplant. I had a lot of fluid and toxins coming off now that I had a working kidney. I also had no appetite during that time.  My wife would ask me what I wanted to eat, and I would say, ‘Surprise me.’ I didn’t want anything,” Orville said.

However, the couple would continue to trust God, even in the highs and lows, and their unwavering trust would result in another miracle.

The amount of time the Farrens would have to spend in the Extended Stay hotel would cost them money they did not have, and insurance would not pay for it. “My daughter in law, Meredith Farren, set up a GoFundMe account with a goal of $7,500.” Orville’s wife elaborates on God’s willingness to take care of this financial burden as she explains, “Meredith texted me and said she received a GoFundMe alert that we’ve reached our goal. Our goal was only halfway met the day before the surgery (October 2, 2023). She gave me a lady’s name, Mandy Elmore, and then asked if I knew her. Later that night, after the family dinner, my son Michael said, ‘Mom, a lady sent me a message through Facebook messenger, and she is trying to contact you.’ So, I checked my messages, and sure enough, this lady was trying to contact me and wanted me to hear her story.”

Two weeks before the kidney transplant, Mandy had a dream. In her dream, she talked to one of her friends, and her friend told her that she had been helping a lady named Robbie Farren and that Mandy should help her, too. As Mandy began to wake up, she said Robbie’s name repeatedly so she could write it down. Mandy proceeded to Facebook, trying to find Robbie Farren.  However, Robbie’s Facebook page was set to private, and the only posts Mandy could see were the public ones asking for a kidney donor and Meredith’s post about the GoFundMe account.

Mandy would donate to meet and finish the $7,500 goal. “God gave this lady my name, a total stranger, and she knew that it was so important, that God was speaking to her, that she wrote down my name and found me,” Robbie said. “Mandy is a part of the journey just like Colt is. I had begged God over and over and over to heal Orville’s kidneys; I didn’t want him to have to go through another surgery. Yet, looking back on the journey, if God had done that, we would have missed out on Mandy and Colt, seeing God provide and the miraculous things He did.  We would have missed all of that. There were hard times, times when I would have to force Orville to eat, but through it all, God was so faithful. When I asked Mandy if I could share this part of the story, she said yes, but there was a condition to be met: God had to get all the glory for our story. She would tell me that again, ‘You make sure God gets all the glory!'”

“All of us just want to give glory to God. This story is much bigger than a kidney transplant.” Orville said. Colt added, “Without Him, none of this was going to happen.”

God would continue this story as he brought along family, friends, and a church family to help Orville, Robbie, and Colt through this process. “Our church family helped us financially. They continued to pay our salary even though I was not here,” Orville said. “They kept everything going, provided meals dropped off on the front porch, and lots of intercessory prayer.” Colt added that a church member, Sandi Martin, got him a job as a MedTech, a position that allowed someone with limitations while recovering after surgery to work.  This became a huge blessing to Colt since he had lost his former job and vehicle due to this transplant.

The Farren family would be a great source of help in many ways. Their children and grandchildren would step up numerous times and care for everything they needed. Avery, their grandson, would drive the couple to Dallas for several trips, and Stephanie, their daughter, stayed in Dallas with them for a portion of the time. Meredith’s GoFundMe account and the family’s constant prayers and love carried the Farren family through this journey.

“It took me from October 2023 to February 2024 to feel like I had strength again. But from January 2024 to now, I am more energetic. My mental response is no longer delayed, and my wife cannot keep up with me,” Orville said. Just last month, Orville was on the church roof (over 20′ high) helping a team replace ten skylights with metal over the church’s family center. “I could not have climbed the ladder to get on the roof a year ago. After eating lunch, I got back on the man lift with a chainsaw, and for the rest of the day, I was trimming limbs out of the trees next to the building.”

With each passing day, Orville grew stronger, and his creatinine levels dropped into the normal range of 1.12 mg/dL. When it was time for Orville and Robbie to come home, Avery and Abby would make the journey to comfortably return their grandparents. Two weeks after returning home, Orville returned to the pulpit. A table was set up by the pulpit, where Orville would sit down and begin preaching once again. He could not physically touch people, and his church family was very understanding and gracious.

So why would a young, healthy, 22-year-old male put his life at risk and do something so significant, so giving, so tremendous for someone he barely knew?

“God. That’s all I can really say. Without Him, it wouldn’t have happened.  I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. More than likely, I would be dead right now. He had 99 sheep over here and I was the one sheep about to fall off the ledge.  He left that 99 and came and rescued me,” Colt said. “If you would have told me a year ago that I would be doing this, I would not have believed it.  I had never dreamed of this, but it has changed my life.”

What would Orville Farren like readers to know about his story? “I want people to know how good God is. Doing what He has done and providing this kidney for me was a miracle. God didn’t heal my kidney as Robbie had prayed for; he did it differently. This miracle taught me that God is not finished with me yet. He has given me a new vitality, a new vision, and stamina to preach His word. I don’t know how long I am going to live, but I just want every minute to glorify Him. God has saved me, He has healed me spiritually and physically, and He will never leave me,” Orville said.

God was and still is in this story. He is woven throughout the details, holding the hearts of Orville and Colt, never failing them, always going before them. This story details two men abiding in God’s will and waiting on His timing. Their journey is miraculous.