Church takes up collection
to honor missionary nurse

By Mary Jacobs

One Sunday in October, the Knoxville News-Sentinel published a three-page photo spread featuring a birthday party for a 15-year-old local girl. A fan of the MTV program, "My Super Sweet 16," the girl and her mother spent more than $100,000 on her extravagant birthday festivities.

They invited 150 guests, rented a bed & breakfast and spent $400 to ship India silk paper for the invitations, which were delivered by hand from a stretch limo. For her birthday gift, Mom presented the daughter with a 2006 BMW Roadster in the exact shade of blue the girl had selected.

The Rev. Steve Sallee, pastor of Cokesbury United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., read the story that Sunday afternoon. Two hours later, he conducted a funeral for an 81-year-old woman in his church named Rachel Noble. In lieu of flowers, the family had requested donations to Red Bird Mission, where Mrs. Noble had served for 35 years of her life.

"I thought it was a shame, that this 15-year-old girl had three pages of the newspaper, and here we were, burying a woman who had given 35 years of her life, and the only recognition was the obituary which the family had paid for," Dr. Sallee said. "It bothered me all week."

In his sermon the next Sunday, Dr. Sallee contrasted the extravagant party and the relatively quiet funeral. In the middle of the sermon, he had a last-minute inspiration: "We ought to try to raise $100,000 to match what that girl spent on her party," he told the congregation, "except give it to Red Bird Mission in honor of Rachel Noble.

"About as the words left my mouth, I thought, 'What have I done?'" he recalled. But within seconds the congregation was on its feet, applauding the idea.

After the benediction, many of the 2,400 people in attendance came forward and started putting checks in Dr. Sallee's pockets. Soon, he had received more than $11,000.

The incident began to take a life of its own. The News-Sentinel ran a front-page story, and Dr. Sallee became a sought-after guest on local TV and radio talk shows. While the party had once been the talk of the town, now people were talking about Cokesbury's effort to raise $100,000 for Red Bird Mission.

Donations started to pour in. One former CEO, not a member of the church, sent $500 and a note calling Dr. Sallee his "Pepto-Bismol Preacher." "I've been nauseated ever since the paper ran the story (about the party)," he wrote.

A single mom sent a check for $100, with a note saying, "I can't afford this, but I can't afford not to. . . . The article reminded me that there are people in the world worse off than me."

One little girl, a member of the church, brought $124 in rolled up nickels, dimes and quarters. She had sold cookie and cakes at her school to raise the money.

By mid-November, Cokesbury had met its goal of collecting $100,000, with checks continuing to arrive in the mail. A check was presented on Nov. 19 to George Cherry, Red Bird's director of mission advancement. The mission plans to use the money to refurbish the clinic where Mrs. Noble worked and to put a new roof on the school.

Jill Nantz, Mrs. Noble's daughter, says she's been "flabbergasted" by the attention but glad that Red Bird is getting a much-needed boost in funds. "That's where I grew up," she said. "I know the need."

Red Bird, is a United Methodist-affiliated project based in Beverly, Ky. The mission operates in Clay County, one of the poorest counties in Kentucky. Per capita income averages under $10,000, and about 40 percent of the county's residents live below the poverty line.

The Nobles served as missionaries at Red Bird for 35 years, beginning in 1954. Mrs. Noble's husband, Walter Noble, now 82, drove the bus for Red Bird's school, carried coal to run the school's furnace and helped out in nearby Methodist churches. Rachel Noble worked as a nurse, helping in the mission's hospital. Later, when the hospital closed, she ran an informal clinic out of her home for minor injuries and illnesses.

"My parents were very humble, quiet people," Mrs. Nantz said. As for the flood of donations in her name, her mother "would have never dreamed anything like this was possible."

As a little girl, Mrs. Nantz remembers accompanying her mother as she made home visits to check on people who lived in the holler. "There were many people were very poor, but they were clean and they shared what they had," Mrs. Nantz said, recalling fondly the chicken and dumplings and bologna sandwiches she was often served on those visits.

"My parents were accepted by the community," Mrs. Nantz said. "Mom and Dad didn't treat people there differently. They did not have a 'We've come to fix you' attitude."

"I think Mom would be tickled to know that her passing would be remembered in this way," said Scott Noble, Mrs. Noble's son. "There are so many people who have given their lives in service and who get little or no recognition. To see what Cokesbury has done -- I would throw this out as a challenge to other churches."

Dr. Sallee cautions that he didn't intend the gesture as a way of "bashing" the 15-year-old birthday girl or her mother.

"We know the mother loves her daughter and it was done out of love. That's one way to spend $100,000. But this is another way," he said.

Mary Jacobs is a freelance producer based near Cleveland, Tenn.

Reprinted with permission of the United Methodist Reporter, where this article first appeared.

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