Valarie Kepner passes around copies of an inspirational book during Sunday school at Burns Memorial United Methodist Church. She could have just as easily handed out her family's story of faith in the face of adversity.

Her husband, Jeff Kepner, could become the first double hand transplant patient in the U.S. He is the first to clear pre-transplantation screening at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and an organ-procurement agency is searching for a donor who matches him in blood, skin color and size.

Ten years ago Mr. Kepner lost his hands and feet to a massive infection that cut off blood to his limbs, a story that could easily fit into the book Mrs. Kepner distributed, Healing Where it Hurts by James W. Moore. The pastor's wife, Leah Burch, quickly notes the heavy subject matter.

"These (chapter) titles are so dark: When Life Breaks Your Heart ... Yikes," she said.

"Yes, but it is how we heal after that," Mrs. Kepner said.

"Right, OK," Mrs. Burch said.

The Kepners came to Burns Memorial after Mr. Kepner's illness, led there by neighbors who wanted to share their faith.

"They just jumped right in, and they're involved in everything," Mrs. Burch said. The Kepners cannot say enough about their church, which has held fundraisers for them and started a transplant fund to help them defray the considerable out-of-pocket costs of living for months in Pittsburgh while he recovers and goes through rehabilitation with his new hands.

"The friends we have made because of this, the people we have met, especially through our church, and the things they have done have just been unbelievable," Mrs. Kepner said.

As a lay leader at Burns Memorial, she guides the Sunday school discussion on the book, which outlines stories of people facing hardships and the spiritual lessons they impart. A long-distance runner who overtrains, a woman with bone cancer and a football player all suffer fractures for various reasons, which can also happen spiritually, Mrs. Kepner said.

"Sometimes, we're being bombarded with one heartache after another; some disappointment in life comes one after another," she said. "So that can cause stress fractures in our spiritual life."

It reminded Mrs. Burch's mother, Linda Pickren, of a time when she prayed for help in battling cancer and going through chemotherapy. A few months later, during another crisis, she found herself thinking, "Well, the thing I prayed about a few months ago, that's better. So all of a sudden you think, 'Well, that one was answered. I think this one will be,' " she said, as the class broke into laughter. "Sometimes you don't realize it until later. Then you think, 'I didn't even say thank you. I didn't even praise him. And he took care of that.' "

It relates back to a lesson found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24, Mrs. Kepner said: Jesus appeared after the Resurrection to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They did not recognize him as they trod downcast, thinking about his crucifixion and the disappearance of his body from the tomb. Jesus chastised them for being slow to believe and later revealed himself to them as he broke bread with them, Mrs. Kepner said. It's a lesson the book's author is drawing on in his stories of adversity, she said.

"The first lesson that he feels we should get out of this one is Christ comes to us in a special way when we're burdened," Mrs. Kepner said. "When do most people say they are closest to Christ?"

"When you're ill," said lay leader Bill Van Pelt.

"Right," Mrs. Kepner said. "When you're ill, when you're approaching death. When something has happened dramatically in your life."

"When your plane is about to land in the Hudson River," Mr. Van Pelt said.

"When your plane is about to land in the Hudson River, I bet a lot of people were praying on that plane," Mrs. Kepner said, laughing.

It is one of the points about the Resurrection that people often overlook, she said.

"We always equate Resurrection with the end. But he can resurrect us every day," Mrs. Kepner said. It is a point the Rev. Bill Burch will make to his congregation during the service later, about walking daily with Christ.

"Jesus has no hands but our hands. Jesus has no feet but our feet," he said. The Lord is out there looking for us, seeking us out, the Rev. Burch said.

"If we're going to be disciples, we have to be obedient. We have to follow," he said. "These are the terms of discipleship because there is only one path. There is only one way; there's only one ladder between heaven and earth. Jacob's ladder. Jesus Christ."

Even with all the serious talk, there is still some lighthearted joking around at Burns Memorial. Before Sunday school, Alice Hunt poked her head through the door.

"This is my mother, Alice," Mr. Kepner said jokingly.

"My firstborn son," Mrs. Hunt said. "Isn't he cute?"

The joke stemmed from Mrs. Hunt's birthday party years ago, when Mr. Kepner went up to a woman and matter-of-factly told her, "I'm her firstborn son."

"He just did it to shock her," Mrs. Hunt said, laughing. "She said, 'Oh, I didn't know.' He has a fine sense of humor."

And it is more than that -- it is Mr. Kepner's attitude toward everything that has happened to him, she said.

"You know how children are when they see something like that. They get all curious," Mrs. Hunt said. "But he loves for the children to come and touch his prostheses. And he tells them about them and shows them how they work. He's my hero. He's got a good attitude. Not bitterness."

At the end of the service, the congregation prays for the Hunts, who are about to embark on a mission trip. It is clear the Kepners are also in their thoughts.

As Mr. Kepner comes up to the front of the church to pray, he is quickly surrounded by fellow church members who place a hand on his shoulder or his back.

The Rev. Chuck Hunt, who is legally blind and about to ship out to a foreign land, holds his cane in one hand and puts his other hand on Mr. Kepner's shoulder.

"We'll be praying for you," he says.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.