BURNSIDE, Ky. — A Pulaski County man is back to his busy life of ministry after having surgery.
A life of ministry is one that takes you places, and David Schaeffer is always on the move. Something as simple as a garden is an example of how Schaeffer gives back.
“I’ll probably get a 100 pounds of potatoes out of this or more,’ Schaeffer said of his modest garden.
Some of the produce will stay at home and will also go to the elementary school Schaeffer volunteers at.
“Burnside Elementary School, 93% of the kids are on ‘free lunch,’ we give a lot of food away to the school, our ministry does,” he said.
Inside Shaeffers’s barn are more tangible examples of the good work he does. There are stacks of reclaimed lumber, boards and floor tiling.
“I’ll make paneling for the walls with this wood, so this is ministry storage,” Schaeffer said.
It’s clear that Schaefer is a lot of things. He is a gardener, a carpenter, a mentor and a minister and in fact, the 67-year-old was born into a life of service.
“My father graduated from bootcamp in 1945 and the war was over and they gave him an early discharge and he went to Red Bird Mission, rode horseback as a doctor and was there 38 years. So that was my heritage. I grew up there. My mother and father were both very involved and did ministry at Red Bird Mission,” Schaeffer recalled.
Several years ago, Schaeffer’s faith brought him to Pulaski County and as his ministry grew, so did the pain in his leg.
“A couple years before the surgery I realized, ‘Hey, this is hurting every time I walk.’ It didn’t matter where I went I did it hurt all the time.”
Schaeffer had a bad knee and the pain eventually brought him to Louisville and the doctors at Norton Healthcare.
“This to me is the perfect scenario of look, this is not just you. This is something we can help you with,” Dr. Ryan Modlinski told Spectrum News.
Dr. Modlinski helped Schaeffer manage the pain and discomfort for the months prior to surgery. Dr. Sam Carter would before long serve as Scheaffer’s orthopedic surgeon.
“This is osteoarthritis,” Dr. Carter explained, looking at the initial x-rays of Schaeffer’s knees. “This is wear and tear of the cartilage covering those bones has worn away.”
Schaeffer’s doctors determined he would benefit from a partial knee replacement. And ultimately the motivation to go through with surgery could be found at Schaeffer’s roadside church in Burnside, Kentucky. You see, Schaeffer handles all the mowing around his church which sits on a very steep hill. There came a time when the pain and discomfort were too great to mow his church lawn.
“I said I’ll never be able to walk up and down this if my knee doesn’t function properly.”
In Nov. 2022, Schaeffer had a partial knee replacement, and the surgery was a success.
“I think in an ideal scenario, the patient almost forgets they have the partial knee. And they can do all their daily activities as they would have otherwise,” Dr. Carter told Spectrum News.
If every part of David Schaeffer’s life is an example of his faith, so too was his rehab. The gardener, the woodworker, the mentor and the minister is able to continue his work at full speed.
“I’ll do this as long as God continues to place me to do this ministry.”
And quite frankly, it’s hard to keep up.