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Glory to God

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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

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