Evangelism 3: My Testimony

I am thankful to be able to tell you about my relationship with Jesus. Thank you for taking this time to listen to my story, and know that Jesus, who I believe is God, wants to do things in your life as well. I have many stories of when Jesus stepped into my life and made a difference. When asked why I know God is real, one of the first stories that comes to mind is the one about my mom’s healing from cancer. Rosie and I had just moved to Yakima to have children and settle down near my parents. I did not know it, but one of the darker periods of my life was about to happen then. My mom got a diagnosis of colon cancer, and when my wife heard what kind of cancer it was, she went silent. My wife is a medical doctor, and she knew what “annular carcinoma” is. She told me it was when cancer has surrounded the colon, and that it had surrounded at least a whole foot of my mom’s large intestine – from her pelvis to her liver. Rosie wondered out loud if God had allowed us to get jobs in Yakima so that we could help my mom in the process of dying. That was pretty lousy for us, as Grace had just turned 2 and Anna was new born. We prayed, and we fasted, but I do not think we prayed in faith that she would be healed – we just prayed that God knew what He was doing. In Mark, there is a story that I really related to during that time: 20 So they brought him (A boy with an evil spirit in him). When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” I prayed like that father – I knew Jesus could do something, but did He want to? So many good Christian people die of cancer, why would my mom be different? Why should she be different? Well, many people were praying for my mom, and the church even prayed over her and anointed her with oil as it talks about in James 5. All of these things were blessings to us, as we believe that miraculous healings can happen, but mom did not say she was feeling better. The day of the surgery came, and when the doctor open my mom up, he saw no signs of cancer. In fact, he did something very rare, and he got out of the surgery suite and went down to radiology to make sure he was operating on the correct side and looking for the same thing. He was, but he could find no annular carcinoma, and in fact, no carcinoma at all! He did fix something at the colon junction (which my mom said felt better!) but he just sewed her up and wrote a fascinating letter to my mom. It said “Interestingly enough, she did not have a tumor of her colon.” And “I am not sure why she had the image that she did on the CT scan….this is very good news for Mary that she did not have cancer.” While this doctor avoided the word “miracle” he did mention to my mom multiple times how lucky she was. She continued to tell the doctor that she knew she was healed, and he, although not a Christian, did not dispute that. Needless to say, Rosie and I were astonished by the care God showed to our family that day. While I do not believe that we should always shrink away from death as if living with God in Heaven is a bad thing, it was so nice for our children to get to know their grandparents. To this day, none of us feel that we had the faith needed to save my mother, but our church does not believe in faith healing as if a person’s life depends on another person’s faith. Our church believe that God does heal some, and does not heal others, and that whichever category we experience, we are to put our trust in God and no one else. Today, I use this story as an example of a healing that I have seen with my own eyes – and even have documentation for! God does not move the same for everyone, but I know He wants to show you that He exists, that He loves you, and that He is right here right now for you. God wants you to talk with Him, ask Him things, and thank Him when He does things for you. He wants you to have a testimony too, can I pray with you now and just introduce you to Jesus – who does amazing things for those who love Him?