"God moves in mysterious ways" says CAK after miracle match

The Christian hymn 'God moves in mysterious ways,' rang true for the Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) family when its long-time Director of Special Events, Monica Rogers, chose to leaver her job to spend quality time with her family.

Although she was leaving, CAK had no idea how connected Monica would remain.

Her replacement, Missy Standifer, stepped in during the summer of 2019. As a parent to a CAK student, Missy was known by those on campus. But there was one thing most at school didn't know about her family. Her husband, English Standifer, or 'E' for short, had a genetic condition that required a kidney transplant.

His condition worsened just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Standifers decided to share their story in hopes of finding a donor.

Eventually, their post on Facebook reached Monica, the woman who Missy Standifer replaced at CAK. Monica shared the post with her husband Tony, who had the 'O' blood-type necessary to be considered as a donor.

"I’ll do it! I’ll be tested!" Tony said.

COVID-19 slowed the process, but the Standifers said Tony didn't waver. After a series of tests, he was given the green light to donate a kidney to English Standifer.

Missy Standifer said, "E and I have both cried many times between that day and today, just in awe that someone would love us/him/and the Lord so much to do this for our family!”

Monica said the story is a testament to her faith, “I’ve always known we serve an amazing God. Tony and I are completely humbled to be a part of His miraculous plan to give English a healthier and richer life. There is no doubt the Lord hears our prayers and wants the best for each of us. To have witnessed His divine hand in every detail of this story has been truly amazing...Please share this amazing story of how God knew, when He called me to CAK a year ago, that He would use my friendship with Monica to birth a desire in Tony to help save English’s life.”

The surgery is set to happen on June 3rd of 2020.

If you or anyone you know are interested in organ donation locally, you can contact the UT's Living Donor Coordinator, Ashley Dennis, at 865-305-5340 or adennis@utmck.edu.