Doylestown church embraces Zimbabwe couple in crisis
The notion paralyzed Lisa Chifokoyo with fear. She had three hours to come up with $2,000 - or her husband could die.
The notion paralyzed Lisa Chifokoyo with fear.
She had three hours to come up with $2,000 - or her husband could die.
Rob Chifokoyo's kidney was failing. He was weak, couldn't eat, and wasn't responding to treatment.
He needed emergency dialysis, and Lisa, 27, had tracked down the only nephrologist in their native Zimbabwe who could perform the procedure.
But the doctor wanted money up front: That's how it worked in Zimbabwe. And he gave them a deadline.
"Pretty scary," Lisa said through tears this week, recalling the moment that Rob called "rock bottom."
Lisa, pregnant with the couple's first child, had no clue that that December day would bring the first of multiple miracles keeping her husband alive. And neither she nor Rob knew the trail to survival would lead from southern Africa to Doylestown, where a group of strangers from Covenant Church would fuel the Chifokoyos' quest for life.
But two hours later, with the doctor's deadline approaching, hope arrived in an envelope. Lisa received $2,000 from an anonymous donor at the couple's church in Zimbabwe.
She delivered it with 10 minutes to spare.
Rob got his dialysis the next morning, which wouldn't cure him, but would at least stabilize him for a few days.
In the meantime, members of Covenant went to work.
Rob and Lisa Chifokoyo were known to Covenant members, Pastor Bob Myers said this week, but few had actually met them.
Making connections
On Valentine's Day 2010, Chifokoyo and a few friends had handed roses to prostitutes on the streets of Harare, the country's capital, talking with them about God and spreading a message of love, Rob Chifokoyo said this week at the Doylestown church's offices.
Over the next several years, Chifokoyo, who has a broad, gap-toothed smile and jovial manner, organized other methods of sharing his faith through service. He held "spa days" at homes of the elderly, he said, and brought water to street vendors.
The work gained momentum, attracting dozens of volunteers, and Chifokoyo organized a well-attended annual conference, including teaching and service elements and a concert.
Eventually, he left a teaching job to run his outreach group, Dare2serve, full time.
In 2012, Myers and a group from Covenant visited Zimbabwe, searching for a mission partner, and were drawn to Chifokoyo's organization for its service orientation and his infectious enthusiasm.
After the two groups partnered, Chifokoyo visited Doylestown to talk about his mission, and a team of Covenant volunteers traveled to Harare to help with one of the conferences.
In December, after Chifokoyo's illness reached crisis stage, Myers shared Chifokoyo's story during a Sunday service. Members quickly rallied to help.
One, Robert Mino, a Doylestown Hospital urologist, began working with Myers to organize free treatment for Chifokoyo, persuading James Brexler, the hospital's chief executive officer, to approve the plan.
Similar acts of generosity have surrounded the Chifokoyos since then. In late January, the church paid for their flight to the United States. The couple have been living in the in-law suite of a church family, and Lisa Chifokoyo has been receiving free medical treatment for her pregnancy. Her baby is due April 14.
"My own life looks different," Rob Chifokoyo said, "because ordinary people have done something out of the ordinary to help me."
He called his benefactors heroes.
Not out of the woods
Still, Rob Chifokoyo knows he's not out of the woods.
Doctors in Doylestown determined he needed a kidney transplant, an expensive procedure requiring months of rehab and pricey medication for life.
Tom Sullivan, a church member and health-care marketer, said the congregation was aiming to raise $200,000 - just to cover the transplant and the first year's expenses.
While Doylestown Hospital does not perform transplants, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden has indicated a willingness to help, Myers said.
The terms of that assistance are not yet clear.
Perhaps most important, Chifokoyo has not found a matching kidney donor, though he's optimistic, since his AB blood type makes him widely compatible.
The emotional roller-coaster for the Chifokoyos has twisted and turned since Rob first fell ill in November. But the experience has also reinforced the couple's faith.
They have spent time in Bucks County at dialysis sessions and reading religious texts, sharing their story last month with the Covenant congregation.
Lisa Chifokoyo says the experience has taught her to be thankful for even the smallest nuggets of positive news.
Rob Chifokoyo describes each obstacle he faces as a pair of automatic sliding doors, convinced that as he approaches them, his faith and the people around him will make sure the doors open.
As he says: "We've just seen miracle after miracle after miracle."
how to help the Chifokoyos, contact Covenant Church
at 267-880-3713.
609-217-8305