Abilene couple shut business and embark on a ‘medical ministry’
By John Mangalonzo, Abilene Reporter-News, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Friday will be the last business day for Gene's Campers & Repair,
"I put in 35 1/2 years, and we started out with 10 camper shells, all on consignment,"
DIDN'T PLAN IT
"I was looking around for a wheelchair and a carrier for myself and when a person heard that I was looking for one, he gave me a wheelchair, a scooter and a carrier,"
Doris Smith, 69, said that by the time her husband didn't need the equipment anymore, "we gave it away and when we gave that one away, somebody else showed up and people started hearing about it."
Word got around that the Smiths are taking in donations of medical equipment and, before they knew it, they were in business again, albeit in God's business.
Their pastor at
"It all just kind of happened," Doris Smith said about their ministry. "We didn't decide to do it. We didn't plan it."
NOT A CHARITY
It didn't take long before the Smiths started getting all kinds of stuff: wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and hospital beds.
"One lady, her husband had been dead for eight years and she could not let go of his wheelchair and scooter,"
"My only request is that when they are through using it to return it to the ministry to be given to another, or give it away,"
For those considering donating equipment,
"We don't charge anybody anything at all -- we just give it to them," he said. "God told me not to question anyone (who asks for equipment) just give it to them: If they want it, just give it to them."
The only request
So far, the Smiths have given away 50 electric wheelchairs, 25 to 30 hospital beds and numerous potty chairs, walkers and canes.
"This is not charity. It's God's ministry,"
When equipment donations started to come, Doris Smith remembered looking at her husband of 51 years, saying "I think this is what God wants us to do."
"We're hoping it turns into a churchwide ministry," Doris Smith said. "These are expensive (equipment) and they were just handed to us so people who need it who don't have money or don't have insurance or whatever, they're just there and they can come and get it."
NOT DONE
He was always good with his hands and rebuilt wrecked trucks and trailers before he joined the military. He also drove a semitrailer for his father at one time.
Closing the business is bittersweet because he got to know his loyal customers through the years.
"I have learned that if you treat your customer right, he'll always either come back to see you or he'll always talk about how he was treated good at your business,"
Gene and Doris Smith have two sons and one daughter, eight grandkids and three great-granddaughters.
"When we got married, divorce was not an option," Doris Smith said. ""We of course, like any other couple, have ups and downs but you just work at it. You work together at it."
That they did, working side by side in life and in the business they built from the ground up.
But it's not over just yet for they have a lot more to do this time, traveling what the couple said is the direction God wants them to take.
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(c)2014 the Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Texas)
Visit the Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Texas) at www.reporternews.com
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