“I give thanks to God” – London pastor continues to serve despite health challenges

Rev. Kenneth Voege

LONDON, Ont. – Rev. Kenneth Voege, pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church, has had to endure many surgeries over many years. And yet, despite these challenges, he continues to serve his congregation faithfully.

Six years ago, Rev. Voege had his first hip replacement surgery after arthritis had ruined both of his hips. What was unknown at the time was that Rev. Voege is especially prone to infection. He had to undergo six surgeries on his left hip before everything was okay. His right hip has likewise had to be operated on four times, with at least one more surgery planned as the second of a two-stage procedure.

Trouble with infection was behind his most recent return to hospital. “I was working in my garden on the morning of my day off on May 24, and everything was fine,” he explains in a recent church newsletter. “I was a bit stiff and sore, but I just chalked that up to arthritis and the weather.” But it wasn’t just arthritis. “When I went to the washroom, I noticed a bit of redness around the surgical site on my right hip. It didn’t occur to me that there was a serious problem.”

As time wore on, however, the seriousness of the situation became apparent. The redness continued to grow and Rev. Voege and his wife Rebekah went to the emergency department. Very quickly emergency staff began to treat him with two IV antibiotics for a life-threatening infection. A few days later, after his condition had stabilized, Rev. Voege was back in surgery. Currently, Rev. Voege does not have an artificial join in his right hip, nor even a spacer, which is typical for this two-stage process. In the meantime, Rev. Voege continues to serve his congregation from a wheelchair.

“There is a temptation to blame God for bad things that happen to us,” notes Rev. Voege. “Every day before the infection hit, I had prayed for God to keep infection from coming back. At first I wondered what use those prayers had been. I wondered why God had abandoned me. But He had not, and He had heard every one of my prayers.”

“He did not cause the infection to return,” he continues. “That was due to the corruption of the flesh that each one of us has because of mankind’s fall into sin. God was always with me as my loving heavenly Father to help when my weak flesh failed me. His hand reached out to me when I needed help, providing me with an empty Emergency waiting room and giving me doctors who knew exactly what to do and when to do it. And He has given me a surgeon who is skilled and caring.”

Rev. Voege uses his health challenges to point to a deeper truth that all people are in need of healing spiritually, even if not physically. “Your dear heavenly Father sent you a Physician for your soul, to provide with healing that will last for all time,” he explains, speaking of the salvation Jesus has won for all people through the cross. “The cure is freely given for you to receive, but you have to know your great need and earnestly come to take the heavenly medicine.”

Your dear heavenly Father sent you a Physician for your soul, to provide with healing that will last for all time.

Rev. Voege expresses his gratitude to his Circuit Counsellor, Rev. Don Schieman, who brought him the “medicine of immortality” (the Lord’s Supper) the day after he entered hospital. He also thanks LCC East Regional Pastor Marvin Bublitz who came to visit him several times in hospital and also brought him the Lord’s supper. “Both of these pastors knew what I needed to strengthen me against the devil’s temptation, which would have me blame God for my troubles,” he says. “Through faith, strengthened by Christ’s forgiveness, I give thanks to God, my rock and my salvation.”

For the next two months, Rev. Voege will have no right hip joint or spacer, a step considered necessary to help eliminate the chance of additional infection. But on June 16, 2019, Rev. Voege was once again able to lead the sheep entrusted to him in worship, and to feed them Lord’s Supper. “When I entered the sanctuary and saw Pastor Voege vested and seated, prepared to lead the service, my heart jumped for joy,” notes Regional Pastor Bublitz. “But the greater joy came during the service as I received from his hand my Lord’s Body and Blood. In all this he has been a faithful example to me of enduring suffering while trusting in the Lord. I thank the Lord for His care of Pastor Voege and for the strength he has given me through him.”

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With notes from Rev. Bublitz

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