CARROLLTON, Texas — After 26 years as a Christian pastor, 64-year-old Dan Smith, of Carrollton, says it’s hard to remember every single person he has served over the years. But he will never forget the woman who made that phone call 29 years ago.
“I can never be grateful enough to her and the Lord for what they’ve done to help me,” Smith said.
Back in 1990, Dan was the director of missions at the Arlington Christian Center when the church’s phone started ringing.
Elizabeth Priebe says she made that call because she was stressed and scared. She was a first-time mom and her baby was sick. All she needed was formula, which is exactly what she told Dan over the phone.
“And there he was at the door,” Priebe said. “And he not only brought formula, but he brought diapers and stuff too. He would give everybody, anybody the world.”
Elizabeth was so grateful that a few years later when Dan became the pastor at a different church, she and her family followed.
However, that church closed its doors in 2004 after Dan was diagnosed with diabetes and his health started to decline. He and Elizabeth have not seen each other in the 15 years since.
But about nine months ago, Elizabeth found Dan on a GoFundMe page.
Since she last saw him in 2004, Dan’s kidneys had completely shut down. He was on dialysis but to have any chance at long-term survival, he needed a kidney.
“I was like, ‘I have a kidney. I can totally do this,’” Priebe said.
Unbeknownst to Dan, Elizabeth was tested to see if she was a match. And when she found out she was, she gave her pastor his miracle.
Their surgery was in April at Baylor University Medical Center.
“I can’t begin to describe to you how grateful I feel for being able to give the kidney to him,” Priebe said. “The gift is all mine. All mine.”
“Sometimes you don’t see the good that you’re doing until it comes back to give you a testimony about it,” Smith added.
When Dan gave a mother formula and diapers he had no idea he was meeting the woman who would save his life.
But with a new kidney, Dan learned a lesson. It’s the same lesson he’s been preaching all along: that the best way to serve others is to give of yourself.