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Miracles do happen and Pastor Lileth Baugh is the first one to claim this. She has been the blessed recipient of a donated kidney on August 20, 2022. Waiting five years on the transplant list, she miraculously received a phone call around 6pm on Saturday night telling her that a donated kidney was available and to come immediately to Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia.

After the excitement of rushing to the hospital, she still had to pass the “ready” test related to her personal health at 63 years old, match a compatible blood with her blood type of A negative; and have a match for the size of the kidney. The donor was a 55-year-old donor, who was a non-smoker and had a good health record. All the critical factors on both sides were miraculously matched.

In an interview with Pastor Lileth, serving Bethel A.M.E. Church on East Linden Street for the past three years, she provided background to the condition that led to total kidney failure. In 2015 she was diagnosed with Wegener’s Syndrome.  Only 1 in every 200,000 people have this condition. In Pastor’s case, the condition affected her kidneys and in less than a year she needed daily dialysis.

After an unfortunate situation, when her dialysis was delayed and she developed a congestive heart condition that had to be resolved, Pastor LIleth decided to try peritoneal dialysis. This is a daily medical procedure that is performed at home by the patient. She worked part-time as a pastor during the day, then went home to 10 hours of dialysis.

She talks about her trust in God and how she told Him that if He could help her with this process and “make it easy”, then she would live with it. She took on the challenge of home dialysis thinking it was the best decision for improved quality of life. Home dialysis allows her to fully embrace her work at the church, while experiencing strength and help from her Faith.

The diagnosis of kidney failure placed a stress on Pastor Lileth‘s life. However, it did allow her to qualify for forbearance of her student loan payments until October 2022 at which time the remaining balance will be fully forgiven. This meant she would not have to work full-time. This coincidence, along with the fact that she decided to take her two weeks of vacation at the end of August, not knowing about the unsuspected need for time off for her kidney transplant recovery, were both things that caused Pastor to reflect on God’s timing in his intervention.

Part of the course of receiving a transplant is receiving immunosuppressive drugs. Pastor Lileth will be taking strong drugs at first, but the dosages will be reduced over time. She will have to be cautious not to be exposed to illnesses with this treatment.

As far as organ donors go, many of us have designated being a donor on a driver’s license and think it is settled. It is also important to put that designation in a Living Will and/or Will. Families, as well as medical providers sometimes struggle following through with the request from a driver’s license; the Will presents clear direction. Pastor Lileth said she hopes to be a donor someday, because her life has been saved by this tremendous gift.

Since Pastor Lileth has been in Kennett Square, she has reached out to other pastors to work on collaborative projects. She is looking forward to having more freedom to attend evening meetings, i.e., Bridging the Community and becoming more involved in the broader community.

She will return to work on September 18, 2022, if all goes well. In an effort to serve a wider cross section of the community, Bethel A.M.E. plans to place a job posting for a Spanish-speaking Associate Pastor. She also mentioned she plans to take Spanish classes.

Pastor Lileth Baugh praised the health care team that brought her through the kidney transplant. She also praised the family who agreed to have their loved one’s kidney donated. Most of all, she thanked her God in whom she trusts and felt she received a miracle of miracles.

“The Story of Kennett – Shaping the future one child at a time” Joan Holliday’s & Bob George’s book on Kennett may be purchased on Amazon and at the Mushroom Cap or Resale Book Shoppe in Kennett. You may contact Joan Holliday at: dochollisv@aol.com 

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