On June 26, 2009, my daughter Emma, 12 years old then, had a routine operation to remove a lump on her left shoulder at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital.  Otherwise, Emma seemed perfectly healthy.  She is so young and talented at so many things that it did not seem like anything was going to happen.  Five pediatricians and two surgeons were comfortable that the lump was nothing to worry about.  None were concerned.  But after the surgery, the biopsy determined it was cancer.  Pathology and imaging showed it to be “high grade pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma,” which her oncologist was sure had metastasized to her lungs in several small but measurable nodules.  The number of mitotic figures on the slides was extremely high, meaning that this was a very aggressive, fast growing cancer.

We learned that this is such a rare form of cancer that only a handful of children get it each year.  We learned that this means that no one knows what treatment, or whether any treatment, will work against it.  One of the surgeons at Yale that treated Emma concluded that “no chemo or radiation therapy has been shown to be effective” against this cancer.  He repeated this three times, each time taking us to a new low.  The pediatric oncologist at Yale wrote that he had informed my wife and I of the prognosis, which had left us with horrible fear that Emma would not be with us much longer, “but they both feel that we need to give Emma this intensive chemotherapy and radiation therapy.”  The doctors provided little hope, although they assured us that they would do everything medically possible to help Emma.  The same news came from Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Columbia University in New York City.

We started an extreme course of chemo and radiation therapy over a six-month period, with hospitalization every third week.  Many people seemed to come out of nowhere to help us.  Friends brought meals; friends and family traveled to help watch Emma’s sisters.  Friends and family from places in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Georgia and others, were hoping and praying.

One place I turned to was St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Westport, Connecticut.  We had started going there about two years before all of this happened.  I had felt drawn to this church, believing it was time that my daughters learned more about God and the Bible in Sunday school.  I had also been raised in a traditional Lutheran household, where my grandfather and several uncles and cousins were Lutheran ministers, so St. Paul’s seemed to be a natural choice.

But you could never say that God is an abstract concept here:  the Holy Spirit and Jesus are invited in and called upon every day.  The services are joyous and the prayer is intense.  Jesus is adored.  The church is a house of prayer.  Healing is a focus.

Since the church is very focused on the Gospel, I found my Bible and started reading again.  I could not find a single argument in the Bible against anything that I was seeing and experiencing.  Actually, everything I read showed that this church was doing it right.  Healing and prayer are not beyond what we can ask of God but are part of Him.  The Gospel is not a history book describing only what has passed but instead is alive and well.  Many feel the Holy Spirit present right there in and among the pews.

As you might expect from this description, St. Paul’s got behind Emma 100%.  A few days after the diagnosis, I understood that my coming to that church was no accident.  This was where we should be, where we needed to be, to help us through this.  Intense prayer started during both the Sunday service and the Wednesday prayer and healing service.  There was the laying on of hands and the raising of hands in prayer.  The minister, Paul Teske, and his wife, Rivers Teske, prayed for Emma intensely. The youth Pastor, Scott Tilton and his wife began to pray.   Members of the congregation prayed intensely.  The entire congregation prayed.  I felt we were not alone but that we had a whole community behind us each time we went into the hospital.

One Sunday I will never forget is when Emma was in front of the church and the congregation raised their hands in prayer.  A guest minister, Michael Koulianos, a young man with a healing and evangelistic ministry, joined Pastor Teske and the congregation in healing prayer for Emma.  He prayed that Emma would be healed and would someday meet her grandchildren.  A little over one week later, the first CT scan came back with positive results.  The following Sunday, I announced the results to the congregation.  Everyone jumped to their feet with shouts of joy and praise.

On December 14, Emma’s end of treatment scan results came in.  No more cancer can be detected by any of the scans.  It is a miracle.  Her oncologist is astounded and he acknowledges how blessed we are.

Jesus is so very strong and amazingly powerful. He hung the earth on its perfect axis and all creation went through Him. He calmed a storm with a spoken word. The earth shook and split when He died on the cross. Yet, in Gethsemane, we find Him calling for support and help from those He loved. Nevertheless, they slept and could not stand with Him in His most trying hour. How bruised His heart must have been. Those He lived for, could not pray for a mere hour. So, Jesus was forced to face this time alone, with no friends by His side. The Father sent an angel to minister to His Son. Would this have happened if His disciples would have ministered to Him? We don’t know. However, we do know that it would have meant much to Jesus if His closest disciples would have remained with Him and prayed.

Today, Jesus is still faced with brokeness as He sees a world rejecting Him. A world that hates Him and genuinely wants to forget about Him. Will you pray and be there for Jesus now?

Perhaps you are in a Gethsemane yourself and you don’t know why life is so difficult. Perhaps the Lord is requesting that you give up people and things and trust in His plan of suffering for you. This is what happened to Jesus. Remember, if you are suffering, so is Jesus. Don’t run from the Garden. Only cling to Jesus and you will never be left alone. Better to suffer with Jesus than to celebrate without Him. Let’s pray

Dear Jesus
Help me stay with you when you need a friend. You love me and I know that is why you want me to be close to you. I will stand with you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, please give me the strength to walk the path of suffering with Jesus. With you there is always a resurrection ahead. I am here for you, Lord.

In Jesus’ Name Amen

Dear Jesus,

How badly we need you!

Shouldn’t you be allowed in again? After all, You purchased the church with your own blood. You should be in charge. Master, many of us do miss You. We are tired of hearing of the “old days”. We know You’re alive and we want You to meet with us again. Come and wreck every agenda that is outside of Your perfect will. Dear Outcast, sorry for rejecting You and ignoring you. Walk into the doors of our buildings and make them churches again. Walk in our houses and make them homes again. Walk into our Christianity, Oh Christ and resurrect it! Precious Savior, see and hear the hearts of those who long for you and give us our hearts’ desire; it’s you,JESUS.

Michael
Feb.23, 2010

Dear Michael,

Here is our Praise Report

The doctor said that Franklin’s kidneys are now operating like they were 20 years ago, praise God, he was released from hospital today looking healthy and younger than ever (that’s the glory of God). Thank you so very much for standing in prayer for my family. May God in his mercy continue to pour his grace upon you, “May the God of hope fill us with joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13.

Love & blessings
Sherry

“My father who was 54 years old and the associate pastor of my church in Montreal, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April 2009. The doctors said they couldn’t operate due to the fact that the tumor had spread over the brain and the risk of brain damage or death was too great. That is when our church began to pray and stand on God’s word, Mark 9:23 “all things are possible to him who believes.”

In the month of September 2009 the doctors finally agreed to perform another brain scan it would be one week after you came to preach at our church. My father also testified that after you prayed for him he felt as though his head was on fire and could actually smell something burning in his head. We believe that was the power of God burning up the rest of that tumor.

The next week when my father went to the hospital for his scheduled brain scan it took the hospital almost 2 weeks before they gave us the results. The reason it took so long was because the tumor was completely gone and the doctor couldn’t believe it so he sent the results to 4 other doctors to get their opinion on the results and they all conclude that the tumor is completely gone. Now the hospital wants to write a story about my father’s situation and his personal doctor told him that it was a miracle.

I thank God for what he has done in my father’s life.”

Thanks, Pastor Daniel DiPaolo