Sufficient Grace: A Family’s Calling in the Midst of Suffering
Sam and Sydney Larson. Children Alaska, Everest, Wren.
After complaining about a problem seeing things, Sam and Sydney Larson assumed a routine eye exam for their son Alaska would lead to a prescription for glasses. Their world changed forever as they received news that was much more devastating.
Sam and Sydney are church planters through the Send Network and were called to start a church in rural Nebraska. “We were driving around these small towns here in Nebraska and as we were driving we wondered ‘Where do people go in these small towns and rural communities to hear the Gospel?’”. Sam was well-known from his successful win on the History Channel’s extreme survival competition “Alone” and ministry was never on their family’s radar until that moment.
In just a few short years after their calling, they planted a church and began serving the community through outreach and bible studies. Their three children, Alaska, and daughters Everest and Wren, also participated in various ministries and were busy building relationships with kids in their neighborhood and school. One day, Everest mentioned to his parents that he suddenly could not see. “We went from just expecting to need some heavy prescription glasses to being diagnosed with a terminal illness called CLN3 Batten disease”.
Batten disease, also known as neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, is a group of rare, inherited, and progressive neurological disorders that typically begin in childhood. It causes the body's cells, particularly in the brain, to lose the ability to remove waste products, leading to cell damage and death. Symptoms often include vision loss, seizures, developmental delays, and cognitive decline, and the life expectancy for anyone with Batten disease is late teens to early 20s. Knowing that this condition was genetic, the Larsons had their two daughters tested and to their dismay, both girls also tested positive.
“Once we got Alaska’s diagnosis, it almost pushed that pedal down even harder,” said Sydney in a video played during the NAMB luncheon this summer in Dallas. “I think Sam and I both felt a new level of urgency to plant the church and spread the hope of the Gospel.”
More than 6,000 people in the Kay Bailey Convention Center in June listened as NAMB president Kevin Ezell brought the couple on stage for a brief interview.
“There’s new challenges every single day,” Sam said in response to a question about navigating his family through the diagnosis. “So, we’re constantly in a state of learning how to love our kids where we’re at. But if I had to summarize, every day you have to start off by acknowledging our total insufficiency and Christ’s all sufficiency.”
Ezell and David Manner, executive director of Church Forward, encouraged the Larsons in their work of church planting and parenting. “As you think about this, it’s really hard to imagine what they’re going through,” Manner said. “And yet, they have a really good spirit and attitude as they’re planting.”
Ryan Johnston, Send Network’s Midwest Director, joined Ezell and Manner on stage. He has walked with the Larson family through their planting journey. “When I think about Sam and Sidney, I have five kids, and they’re having end-of-life conversations with a 7-year-old,” Johnston said. “That’s what we do as pastors with 80-year-olds, but they do it with such faith and confidence in Christ, in heaven, in the Gospel. And there’s no words to express how they’ve encouraged me personally.”
Generous private donors generously provided the Larsons with a Disney cruise and purchased two new vehicles for their family: a pickup truck and a minivan. As the disease expands, the Larsons will face challenges such as navigating a world where their home is remodeled for accessibility and their families join them in the caregiving of their children. Despite these difficulties, they remain steadfast in their belief that God will sustain them and that planting more churches is on the horizon. Through your church’s cooperative giving to Church Forward and the SBC, the Larsons can continue this call, knowing that Heaven awaits them just beyond the horizon.
