FAITH EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH IN CAPE GIRARDEAU: GOD STILL MOVES, CREATING PLANS FOR OUR LIVES

The Rev. Fred Burgard was raised in Central Illinois and attended Hannibal LaGrange Baptist College. He is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, and received his master's degree and doctor of ministry degree from Covington Theological Seminary, where he graduated cum laude. He has been pastor at Faith Evangelical Free Church for the past five years. Members of Faith Evangelical will continue to meet at the assembly room of Trinity Lutheran Church until the completion of their new church at the southwest intersection of Interstate 55 and Highway 61.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

I want to tell you a true story that God accomplished on his own, in a quiet fashion with no loud fanfare or applause, but I assure, great glory was given to his Name, because this was a work only he could do. There was no other hope.

At the end of May last year, my mother-in-law, Mary or "Granny," moved here to Cape to live in our basement apartment. Her husband had passed away four years prior. She had been working hard and not feeling well, so we invited her to live with us. It was a difficult decision for her as she was and is very independent. To make a long story short, one week after she moved, we found out that she had esophagus cancer. She was referred to a team of doctors in St. Louis. They really gave us no hope. They said that this was a cancer that there was no cure for and really gave no hope; most did not survive two years. The summer was taken up with trips to St. Louis for chemo-radiation treatment. At the end of the treatment, tests were done to see if they had been successful. On July 28, the results were that the cancer and tumor were still there and that she needed to have surgery to remove the esophagus and to do more chemo-radiation. Physically, she could not handle any of these treatments, due to low weight and strength. The dangers of the surgery were many and we did not feel she was able to survive the surgery at this time. The doctors told her that if she did not have it, they gave her six to 12 months. This was indeed very shocking and troubled us all greatly. Needless to say, many prayers were said on her behalf all over the United States.

She was having horrible coughing spells and pain in her chest and back area. One night as she lay down, we prayed and asked God to please heal her, take her pain away, and let her sleep because the coughing had been keeping her up. She said she felt a tingle go down her spine and then she drifted to sleep and slept the whole night. The next morning after church, the elders and I quietly anointed her with oil and prayed for her as is spoken about in James 5. From that day, she began to progress continually.

On. Aug. 12, she had an appointment in St. Louis to have an endoscopy, to go down and look at the esophagus and see what was going on. The doctor came out to my wife and said that he didn't see the tumor or any cancer. My wife said, "What?" He repeated himself and said, "I don't see anything, but I have to do biopsies to be sure." He also said that he and the other team doctors thought that she should go ahead with surgery and treatment. Mary had told him that she knew God had healed her and that she didn't see any reason for going ahead with it. He basically told her she was a fool, because without it, she would still probably die within one to two years. On Aug. 15, the call from the doctor's office said that they had seen no trace of the tumor or cancer in any of the tests run three days before. Needless to say, we rejoiced in the Lord.

In December, her doctor here in Cape Girardeau recommended more tests to see how things were going. The results of these tests were the same with no sign of the tumor or cancer. Praise God! We have the records to document how things changed in a two-week period.

The holidays were truly a blessing this year, because in June we did not have hope that she would still be here and if she was, we thought we would be taking care of her. Instead, she was up cooking the family Christmas dinner and doing a lot of things that needed to be done.

This situation with "Granny" causes a lot of comments and questions. People say, "Why her, why not so and so?" I don't know why God chose to heal Granny, but I do know that he did and I won't doubt that at all and won't allow the skeptics and joy-killers to rob us of the gift God has given.

I have heard stories where this sort of thing happened, but I never knew anyone to whom it happened. Granny says that even if this comes back and eventually takes her life, she knows that God healed her for this time and right now she is doing great. She is regaining weight and strength. She has driven herself on several long road trips and is now doing some volunteer work at the hospital. She knows God has given her back her life for a reason and she wants to be obedient to whatever that may be.

We may never come as close to death as she did, but we must remember that God is still in control, still working and still has a plan for each of our lives. I hope and pray that we will listen as he continues to speak and move in our lives.

"...He has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes."