Skip to main content

Glory to God

By
One of the most experienced surgeons of Brazil said to us, "I took out an orange of cancer from your son's colon." I looked for an orange the right size, but could not find one big enough. The one in the picture is 3.5 inches in diameter; Samuel's tumor was 4.4 inches. It had swollen lymph nodes, it had burst through the colon walls, it seemed to scare the doctors who saw it, and our surgeon with decades of combating colon cancer under her belt didn't give us much hope. She imagined that Samuel would have to go through months of chemotherapy, the chance of the disease returning was high, and possibly his life would be shortened.

Our family decided from that moment to pray and fast for one purpose: for God to do a miracle, to confound the doctors by changing the prognosis, so that the cure wouldn't be just another feat of modern medicine but an act of God so as to exalt His name. We tried to be ready to accept His decision, even if it meant years of debilitating treatments or even our son dying at such a young age - we wanted to praise Him no matter what. Thousands of people were praying with us, and God decided - Praise Him, he decided! From that moment, each new result got better than the previous: the biopsy showed the lymph nodes completely free of cancer - GLORY TO GOD! the CEA test was negative - PRAISE HIM! the tumor's microsatellites were unstable - THANK YOU, LORD! Even the oncologist at one of Brazil's leading cancer centers called from São Paulo and said, "Your prayers worked - he doesn't need to do any chemotherapy!" IT'S GOD! IT CAN ONLY BE GOD! the genetic test came back negative for syndromes that cause cancer - GIVE GOD THE PRAISE!

Today at a thanksgiving service in João Pessoa, we are telling Samuel's story and the power of God present in his life. He has shown faith in the face of a serious disease, and we pray that people will start seeking Christ through this message. Please join us along with several congregations in Brazil and the US and say a prayer of thanksgiving for curing our son Samuel.

We thank the Lord for His church all over the world. Thank you for the constant prayers in our time of need. God has taken care of us in wonderful ways and one of them is giving us a family like you. Our prayer is that the Father bless you richly!

                In Him,
                    Joseph, Edda, Lydia, Samuel, and Lucas McKinney

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Planting, the Watering, and the Increase

By
Emesson started coming to Bible Club over a year ago, when Neil Schultz and Cait Beckloff, our AIM team, were teaching it. For several months, they planted the seed in his and his sister's hearts. Unfortunately Neil and Cait's time in João Pessoa ended. In 2014 Bible Club received a boon when Erick and Jenny Paddy, former AIMers, returned to the field and picked up teaching the Bible Study for English speakers. They watered the sprouting seed in Emesson's life until God's Word became more important for him than just practicing his English. Last Wednesday night, God gave the increase, adding Emesson to the Family of Christ. Sometimes things don't happen when we think they should, but God is in control; His time is best, and we must thank Him for playing a small part in His plan. 
Post a Comment
Read more

"What About Baptism?"

By
Edda and I went to a nearby city to study the Bible with a family, Genilda (who is already a Christian), Ana, Mariana, Luiza, and Jefferson. While we were reading God's Word, Ana's husband, Silva, came in and sat down, and then blurted out: "What about baptism?" It took me by surprise because he has barely studied with us, but, most certainly, is already thinking about spiritual matters. Our Bible study then took a lot of detours, answering this question or that. Silva said he still has a lot of questions, and we pray that the Lord will use us to answer them, bringing him to understand the Good News!
Post a Comment
Read more

Samuel McKinney's New Life in Christ

By
It has been only three days since Samuel gave his life to Christ, but it is so exciting to see my young son exercising his faith, like getting upset when his history teacher at school taught that miracles in the book of Exodus can be explained by natural phenomena: low and high tides in the crossing of the sea, natural disasters for the plagues, etc. The day after his baptism, Samuel went on a trip with his school and received a new nickname: the boy who reads the Bible. He read 1 Samuel, chapters 1 through 6, out loud for the whole bus to hear. His eagerness to take the Lord's Supper for the first time was refreshing. May our Father bless all our families with life changing faith.
Post a Comment
Read more