Dan might be down… but he’s not out.

Matt DiFilippo is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Two-Twelve Ministries and Dan Dúet. Matt is a member of the Board of Directors for Two-Twelve Ministries.

As a Board Member of Two-Twelve Ministries since its inception (2008) and as a friend of Dan Dúet for over 17 years, I would like to go beyond the current situation, which I will put into a summary of sorts, and go deeper into the ministry and the person. (I am in the midst of conducting an interview with Dan so I may use some of the excerpts.)

THE CURRENT SITUATION

Like millions of Americans Dan is without health insurance. The financial losses to Two-Twelve Ministries since COVID-19 have limited their resources greatly, to the point of having to go without certain necessities.

In early April Dan began having discomfort/pain that eventually was attributed to kidney stones. By the end of May, after having expelled at least one large stone, the pain was unbearable and on Memorial Day, May 29, he was admitted to the ER at University Hospital.

After several days of treatment and the CT scan showing only a few miniscule stones, he was released on June 2. The pain came back with a vengeance 36 hours later and he was back in the ER on June 4. This time a CT scan taken at a different angle showed a mass in his prostate that had gone undetected in the previous hospital stay. The good news was that it was not cancer but, instead, a 40ml infection that required two very invasive and painful procedures.

Released from the hospital for a second time, on June 10, Dan went home where one hour later he blacked out and was taken to the ER for a third time. (Luckily his neighbor was in Dan’s house helping him settle in when this occurred and called 911. His blood pressure had suddenly dropped to 62 / 50.) After being released from the ER he finally returned home and began the recovery process.

The three ER visits, one ambulance trip, seemingly non-stop bloodwork, CT scans, X-rays, follow-up appointments, medications, and other procedures totaled more than $100K. By the grace of God, there were resources he qualified for that brought the amount owed to $32,212.

[this situation also added $200/month of new medications]

SOME RECENT BACKGROUND

Dan has been trying for nearly a year to launch a new phase of ministry that focuses on lukewarm Christians (“Leaving Laodicea: Don’t Get Spewed!”) but it has been one setback after another for 10 straight months. Once again, now, he is focusing on getting this ministry off the ground and is determined to do so regardless of the financial burden hanging over him.

For 15 years Dan has traveled the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and as far away as Africa, making sacrifices all along the way to keep his promise of obedience to God: namely, to bring the Good News of salvation through every door that the Holy Spirit opened. The doors that have opened these 15 years have mostly been Catholic. But along the way, there have been numerous non-Catholic churches and fellowships who have welcomed this Roman Catholic into their faith communities to share the Gospel of Christ crucified: Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, an Assembly of God University, Pentecostal, Baptist, and numerous non-denominational churches.

Through Dan’s persistence, faithfulness, zeal for the Gospel, and his love of and for Jesus Christ, God’s ministry through him has helped many, many people. Now we have been allowed to help Dan during this very trying time. TTM asks you to pray about how you can play a part in getting this voice for Christ [or, as Dan would most likely put it, “this BIG MOUTH” for Christ! LOL.] back where it belongs: amid the sheep, helping to give a guiding hand on their journey Home.

Thank you for any consideration you offer. - Matthew DiFilippo, TTM Board of Directors

PS - [the fundraising is to assist with the costs associated with the medical challenges above.] However, Dan’s travails did not end there. A few days after ER visit #3, he had an additional three medical issues to contend with:

(1) Bruised Rib Cage: lost equilibrium the first week at home and fell, his left rib cage hitting the wooden arm of an arm chair. Painful and moderately debilitating for two weeks;

(2) Optical Migraine Headache (behind the right eye socket): while the rib cage was still very much in pain, a debilitating optical migraine set in behind his right eye socket; the worst of it lasted 3 weeks and was not gone for another 2 weeks;

(3) Dental Emergency: as the ribs finally healed but the migraine raged on, he had an emergency visit with his dentist, waking up one morning with a swollen jawbone and cheek. X-ray showed an infected molar that had to be extracted as soon as possible.

Let us pray that he has seen enough medical issues/situations to cover for the next 25 years!