November 22, 2007
Answered Prayers

By Linda Larson-Butler

Most people in Lincoln County are familiar with 18-year-old Isaac Gloeckner’s story. This is fact – because when his journey through recovery from a life-threatening stroke began in September 2005, the fine people of our little chunk of Nevada came together, and with the many offers of help, messages of hope, and thousands of prayers, Isaac is a walking, talking miracle. However, the cost of countless surgeries, different medications, visits to specialists and numerous hospitalizations has been financially devastating to his family, in spite of having insurance. It has been a struggle; his parents work fifty plus hours a week and the family lives without the luxuries most of us take for granted. Still, they barely make it.

Then on Sunday, October 28, just when everything was supposed to be all right, Isaac was hospitalized again. He has fully recovered, but the financial burden from this trip to the hospital was going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. So, Isaac’s mother prayed for another miracle.

Matthew Larson, Isaac’s uncle, had an idea. He is a member of a band, Evident, that regularly makes the rounds to various churches in Las Vegas and has even appeared in Lincoln County twice this last year. Why couldn’t they hold a benefit concert to raise money to help offset Isaac’s medical bills? He called his sister Anna Gloeckner. With Anna’s innate talent for promotion, they brought Evident to the Caliente Elementary School Gym and performed a free benefit concert on November 9. The money raised at the concert came from private donations, the raffle of an Ibanez PM 120 Pat Metheny guitar (graciously donated by Pat Fitzsimons), another raffle for a cord of firewood (the cord of wood generously donated by Bill Davis) and the sale of refreshments (kindly donated by Caliente Elementary and Patricia Christman).

At 6:30 pm, people began to trickle in and eventually grew into a decent crowd by the time the show opened at 7 pm. Anna Gloeckner and Lynn Wood warmed up the audience with beautifully performed versions of several favorite praise and worship songs. Then Evident took the stage and rocked the house until 9 pm, performing a mix of their own songs and popular Christian music. It was a big success, everyone attending having a great time while they danced to the excellent music. Evident then swung over to Utah’s Dixie the following night and performed another benefit, bringing the two-night total to over $4000.00.

At the concert in St. George, the winner for the guitar raffle was announced, with local Kristy Wood taking home the prize. Raffle tickets for the cord of wood are still available, the winner will be announced on the opening night of “It’s a Wonderful Life, a Radio Play,” in the Caliente Elementary Gym on November 29 at 7 pm and the fund for Isaac’s medical bills is still open to receiving donations at the Moapa Valley Federal Credit Union. In addition to the concerts, many people from not only Lincoln County, but also St. George, Cedar City, Las Vegas, and other places in the US, have bigheartedly donated before and after the concert, bringing the combined total to well over $15,000.00.

That just goes to show you, that through the love and unselfishness of the people that make up our great county (and many others), a mother’s prayers have truly been answered.