Marco, Jessica and Living Proof
2001
I, Marco Smith, was finishing up my Masters Degree in pastoral ministries at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary when I began to pray about the possibility of planting a church. Although I had and still have a passion for struggling churches after having served in one as a youth pastor, it seemed this was the direction God was leading.
Dean Raynes, a Surveyor and Youth Minister in Williamsburg, Virginia had felt led to do something different in the Williamsburg area for quite some time.
God was moving and Dean and I decided to join Him in what He was doing. We were given the opportunity to meet for free in a local funeral home. If we were ever going to be a part of a church plant, this was the time. The first week of May 2001, nine of us stepped out on faith to begin this new work, "Living Proof" Ministries. We had no idea what we were getting into. Only one class I had taken even resembled a "church planting" class. God had provided me a place to stay with a Christian family for no charge. I have a background in construction and was able to do side jobs. Later, I became employed by the West Point school board as their bus and car washer. God continued to provide and the church began paying me a hundred dollars a week.
 Beginning the new work was exciting, but it was in the second week that I got butterflies not only from the responsibility of sharing Gods word but also because of a young lady named Jessica Nicholas who came to help lead our worship. Our first time alone was on a trip to Mars music in Virginia Beach to look for sound equipment for the church. She just happened to bring her camera and we had our picture taken there on the beach. First date, first picture, I knew something was up. Or at least I hoped it was. I proposed on Thanksgiving morning on the bluffs at York River State Park as we watched a beautiful sunrise.
Then finally the big day- April 13th, 2002, we were married.
We had teamed up with the SBCV and River Oak Church to reach more people in the Williamsburg area. God had provided a beautiful 22-year-old lady that had a faith and a personal relationship with the Lord that I had prayed for in a wife. On May 12th, Mothers day, we had four join the church family - three would be by baptism. We had begun to get settled in, the church was growing, and Jess was getting familiar with my not so great traits. God was truly blessing.
The following Monday morning was kind of different in that Jess was not feeling well; she woke up and fixed breakfast for us, but then got sick before she could finish eating. Tuesday morning, we prayed for her at the monthly church planters meeting thinking, "yes, we will know in 9 months what was wrong". When I got home Tuesday night, Jess was still sick, we talked about going to the doctor and decided to wait until Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning we went to her family physician and he began an IV drip because she was dehydrated. By mid-afternoon and the third liter of fluid we knew something was not right, Jess’ eyes and skin had begun to turn yellow. As we continued to pray, we still had no idea the seriousness of her condition. After another liter of fluid we went and checked into the emergency room at Williamsburg. The emergency room doctors began trying to draw some blood samples from Jess, but they could not find a vein. I had never heard Philippians 4:13 quoted the way Jess was quoting it. Still they were not able to draw blood from the normal areas and were forced to insert a line in her jugular vein. Although this was a dangerous procedure, the risk was necessary. By now we had alerted the church and had begun praying for her as a church. The doctors were somewhat baffled for many hours and through the night. They began the blood work, started a series of x-rays and an ultrasound to look on the inside to see if they could find the problem. I had no idea that after just one month of marriage, I would be spending the night in an emergency room, not knowing what was wrong with my new wife on the verge of death. As the night went on I stayed with her in the emergency room, there was another chair there and I needed help. I was about to break, it may sound crazy but I cleared out a place as if Jesus could come join us and sit with us through this ordeal. I knew He was already there, but it made me feel better. I guess it was me saying Jesus I want you here, I need you.
By mid morning Thursday, we were taken up to the ICU where the Hematologist and ICU doctors got the pieces of this unknown puzzle put together. The diagnosis was TTP, thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura. Jess’ blood was destroying itself. Her blood was making little clots along the lining of the veins and was then damaging the good blood as it passed through her system, thus leaving bad blood being circulated. This was leading to various complications including kidney failure, and altered mental status. They informed us that as soon as they were able they would be flying her to MCV. They said they had a treatment and that most people survive this condition with the advances in modern medicine. The sound of the helicopter arriving at Williamsburg Community was a welcome but chilling sound.
 It seemed to take me forever to get to MCV. Jess had gotten there about twenty minutes before me and was scared beyond words. The loud and busy Medical Respiratory Intensive Care Unit was to be home for as long as she held on. The doctor could not find a vein in her leg so I watched as he poked and prodded inside her leg with a large needle. Her fear of needles only increased as the pain was escalating. Finally he got the catheter in her vein and they began the plasma apheresis treatment. They take Jess’ blood out, run it through a centrifuge, separate her white and red cells from the plasma, then discard her plasma and then return approximately fifteen donor plasma units along with her blood cells back into her body. We thought, wow, we finally know what it is, they are treating her and soon we will be seeing some improvement. However, after about three hours of treatment she began to have problems breathing. She had a reaction to the plasma. Her lungs had begun filling up with fluid. After coaching her to breath for some period of time, the doctors determined it would be necessary to sedate her and insert a breathing tube.
It was amazing how God used these first few days to draw my family and hers together. My parents came up Friday morning from Pensacola after I called and let them know how serious it was. They allowed Jess to wake up for a while Friday afternoon, but the breathing was too difficult for her. They were x-raying her daily to determine the lung damage and fluid volume in each lung. I remember many people calling and praying for us during this difficult time. I know that myself and Jess’ family were only functioning by the grace of God through answered prayers offered up by His church. Dr. Geoff Hammond along with Jim Toney (another church planter of the SBCV) came and prayed with me one day. I will always be grateful for the support Geoff and others from the SBCV have shown our families over these past few months. We had such a sweet time of prayer by the bed as my new wife laid there, being kept alive by a breathing machine. The next few days would be critical. The treatments they were giving her were not bringing the results we had hoped. It was time for the meeting with the doctors. My parents, Jess’ parents and sister were in a private room with the two lead doctors in the unit. They talked through the syndrome again with us. TTP is a blood disorder that is a big unknown. That is, it really is a group of symptoms that appear from basically out of nowhere. Some believe there is a hormonal link and that the birth control pill could play a roll in triggering the disorder. Others believe a viral infection could trigger the disorder. Others believe there is a genetic link that can play a part. They had seen good results with the plasma aphoresis and some had performed spleenectomies in order to help but they really did not and do not know a lot about this rare disease. Even with the apheresis, the doctors do not know for sure whether they are taking something out in her blood that is causing the problem, or putting something in that she is lacking.
The doctors informed us this was not good, and that things were not looking too hopeful. Jess had developed a staff infection, which was later to be found in the catheter in her leg. They had begun not only plasma apheresis, but also kidney dialysis as the kidneys had become clogged and were no longer working. When I heard the word "staff infection", I had a horrible feeling go through my body, yet it was soon followed by a peace. The doctors said that the longer she was in this condition the more serious the kidney damage, and the more likely she was to have long term problems, if she made it at all. We prayed before we left the room following the doctors. When I got back to the visitor’s area where some friends from the church were, I just reconfirmed my commitment to preach the Word. I had preached that "God's grace is sufficient, and that we should not follow Christ for His hand but rather for His heart". Now it was time to live it. Jess’ blood work was a little better the next day, and within a few days they were able to remove the breathing tube. I remember being able to share the gospel with several people during the week. Unfortunately, one of those was wearing the label "chaplain". As a Unitarian Universalist, he had no idea what it was like to have a personal relationship with the living God. Although my wife was barely with us, I felt sorry for this man. He had heard the truth, but he had chosen to place his opinions and views above the God breathed scripture.
Maybe I was wrong, but as I slept in a chair each night and held her hand each day I wanted to tell everyone at the hospital who has seen how much I love Jess, that this is the biblical model that the Southern Baptists teach, and that the liberal media loves to twist and distort. A love that would die for the other, just as Christ loved the church and He gave himself up for it.
These were some of the toughest days God had allowed me to go through. After spending 9 days in the MRICU, I will never forget walking beside Jess’ bed as we left the unit. I remember thinking how Abraham must have felt as he came down off the mount with Isaac. I knew God was in control the whole time, I knew He loved me and Jess, but I didn’t know for sure how this story would end. Even if God was ready to take Jess to her real home, I knew He would somehow use what would look like a tragedy to bring Him glory and to make me more like His Son. I was thankful beyond words as I walked beside her that day as she was moved to the oncology floor of MCV yet the battle was not over. Her kidneys were still not functioning and her blood platelet count was not good.
She would have the plasma apheresis, which often made her sick, every day for several weeks and kidney dialysis every other day as needed. Her platelets were not rising as they had hoped so they began a round of chemotherapy in order to activate her bone marrow to produce more platelets. We did not know why this was happening to us. Yet as we looked at it from God’s perspective we could see and hear how God was using this to draw His church together. While some of the Living Proof family are mature Christians many are new Christians and had never seen how God uses the church to minister to each other during times like these. People were praying all over the world for Jess daily as they were checking our church web site to track the progress. Sister churches in Williamsburg, the entire SBCV staff and church planting team of pastors were praying. And God was answering the prayers of His people.
Jess’ kidneys began to show some sign of improvement. The platelets began to increase and it appeared we would get back to our life soon. The plan was to wean her off the apheresis. They would take a day off, then see what the platelets did. She had gotten up to around 150,000 on her platelet count so they decided to take the first day off. It was nice to go through a day without being hooked to a machine for several hours. However, the platelet count began to drop again for several days even after the treatments were given again. They administered more chemotherapy over the next couple of weeks and we saw some improvement. Her kidneys had gotten to the point that they could give her a diuretic in order to get rid of some of the fluid and we were soon allowed to leave the hospital and stay at the Hospitality House in Richmond.
We went home a few days later and were able to attend worship with our church family. I had missed the first two weeks since she was sick, but had been leaving her behind with family in order to go share with the church each week since then. It was truly a blessing to have her with us as she sat on the front row with her tubby little feet propped up to keep them from swelling more. As soon as the service was over we went back to MCV for the treatment. One Monday morning we went in for the treatment and her platelets had dropped from over 100,000 to 17,000. The doctors didn’t know what had happened. We were re admitted and she was given more chemo. We were given a brief meeting with the surgeons to discuss the possibility of a spleenectomy. He informed us that this would be a last chance type thing. The chances that removing the spleen would allow the platelets to go up were not 100%. Obviously, this was a downer but God was faithful and gave us strength to weather this storm. Her platelets began to rise again slowly. Then they began making large jumps of 30-50k a day. Finally we thought whatever the problem was it was gone. So we took another day off from the treatments. Once again the decline began and it was apparent that the problem with the platelets being destroyed was still present. The platelets did quit falling and reached a low and then showed some improvement for a day.
We know that God works in some awesome ways and will not allow us to go through what He and we together cannot handle, but I was struggling. We were in a transition at the church. After meeting in a conference room for several months the tourist business was picking up again in Williamsburg, and our bible study space was no longer available. We were scheduled to move into a middle school soon but we were not anywhere near being totally portable as a church. The burden was getting heavy. I had missed the last monthly church planters meeting and was looking forward to thanking the other pastors for their prayers and the prayers of their churches. I must admit though, I was truly praying that God would allow my Christian brothers to lay hands on me and pray for Jess and I as well as the Living Proof church family. God provided exactly what I needed, and I will be forever in debt to my co-laborers.
The next day was Wednesday, and once again the platelets began to fall. The doctors arranged for us to meet with the surgeons on Thursday. In that meeting, they informed us that they wanted to admit Jess back into the hospital to perform surgery Friday afternoon to remove her spleen laparoscopically, if possible but there was a risk of having to open a larger incision.
On Friday, after removing 90% of her spleen, she began bleeding too much to risk the time it was taking to remove the remaining portion. The incision was enlarged and the spleen removed. Knowing this was the last thing the medical community knew to do, it was all on the line. If this didn’t work and the platelets didn't return to a normal level, there was no other hope. Actually the truth of the whole thing is that they do not know what causes this TTP, they have some treatments that have worked, primarily the plasma Apheresis. We were still trusting in the Great Physician to heal her body as He had done our souls.
Today is Monday July 15 and Jess’ platelets are steadily rising. They are back over 100,000 and she has not had a treatment since Thursday. Yesterday was our first meeting in the new middle school and the Living Proof church family has truly grown these past few months. It is amazing what God does with people that are willing to give their all to Christ.
The church members made the transition on a Thursday night as I sat by with my wife before surgery. I was impressed by their desire to help and serve. God blessed all our efforts. We had our highest attended service ever, apart from our first anniversary service. We had one lady express her desire to receive Christ as her personal savior and another re-commit and express her desire to join the Living Proof family. Another man stood and shared that He had been convicted about his drinking problem over the past few weeks and asked the church to pray for him and hold him accountable, as he was no longer going to drink. A lady stood and shared that she was compelled to pull over this week while running around town as God spoke to her and said its time to help feed the hungry. Sunday night we came back together baptized three between the rain showers and celebrated their obedience with a church wide cookout fellowship. This past week, a sister church had been praying about how they could step out on faith and bless another church and they were led to help our church by giving us their trailer. That’s right, not a sale at a good price and then reinvest their money somewhere else, but give to the Living Proof family their enclosed utility trailer worth several thousand dollars. They even asked if they could have it lettered with our name and logo before it was delivered next month.
What Satan had intended for evil and destruction of this church family, God has used to bring about much good. The gates of hell will not prevail. God breathed it, Paul said it, and I will preach it with even more passion now - that God works all things for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. We did not know how this story would end but God did and we knew He held our future, we knew he loved us, we knew we could trust Him. Jess and I are hoping and praying that her platelets will be up again tomorrow, that they will remove the perma-catheter from her throat and the drain pouch from her stomach. We hope to go home tomorrow and will hopefully be spending our time ministering in Williamsburg with our wonderful church family soon.
I know you thought this story was over, we had hoped so too, but God has allowed some other things to happen and I must add these details on. We really were enjoying our apartment and our own bed. Jess had begun writing more thank you cards for the wedding and shower gifts. I was getting into a rhythm again of study and visiting. However, Thursday night when we checked her blood pressure it was up. We contacted her doctor at MCV and she told us to go ahead and try some more medicine. She called us back about an hour later to check on her and the pressure really hadn’t changed. Obviously we were not looking forward to spending another night in the hospital so we asked the doctor if we could wait a few more minutes and see if the pressure came down. She said that would be fine and we hung up. Jess and I began to pray, believing and knowing that God could and would heal her. We were just not sure of His timeline and how the healing would take place. We had not finished voicing our prayer to the Father and the phone rang. Needless to say when you are praying about whether or not to go to the emergency room and the phone rings and the doctor says go the emergency room, you don’t hesitate. We checked in to the ER around 10pm Thursday night and remained in the ER until the morning.
First thing in the morning we were taken up to the ICU. They were not able to get her blood pressure regulated with the normal medications. Jess was given a very potent medicine, which would require her to be constantly monitored in order to make sure her pressure did not bottom out. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant thing going back to the ICU where we had found out just two months before how serious her condition was, and here we were back again. The medicine worked well and the pressure came down to a good level. The doctor prescribed some other medications and we were released around 6:30PM Friday. We felt like her blood pressure was creeping up even as we were preparing to leave the ICU, but we felt that the doctors knew best. Jess called her mom and told her we were on the way to the grocery store and then to the apartment. It was nice getting back home again but it wouldn’t last long.
We checked her pressure again around 10:45 before going to bed, and it was too high. We medicated as the doctor ordered and within thirty minutes her pressure began to drop but it was not where they wanted it. I began setting the clock for every 30-45 minutes in order to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. The pressure was steadily dropping and at 2:45am Saturday it was right at the range they wanted it in. We decided to set the alarm for 5am and get a few hours sleep.
At approximately 3:30 Jess woke me up. She did not know she was waking me up because she had no idea what she was doing. She was shaking violently as I turned on the light and ran around to her side of the bed. She was choking and had hit her head on the nightstand. I thought for sure that she was having a heart attack. She had been battling high blood pressure for two months and I thought she finally had enough. I immediately called 911 as I was holding her on the bed, and she began to calm down. I prayed, "I don’t understand why you are allowing this but I love you and I am thankful to be her husband." I was constantly praying knowing that God knows best and that His ways are not our ways, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord. He demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But I still loved her and wanted her to spend the rest of her life as my partner. She finally quit moving about the time that the operator said help was on the way. I thought she was gone. She didn’t appear to be breathing, she was staring right through me yet would not respond in any way.
The paramedics were quick to respond. I had run down stairs and turned on the outside light. As I opened the door, our neighbors below us had opened their door knowing something was wrong when they heard me moving around upstairs as I was. I told them to just pray. The paramedics came on up and helped us out. They placed Jess on a lift chair in order to get her down the stairs. She had begun responding to my voice but was not herself. On the way out of the apartment she raised her right hand as I followed her closely. I said, "I see you waving good bye to the crib (house) for a while." Back to the hospital we would go. About the time I got that out, I realized her hand was curling up and her eyes were back in her head. She was having another seizure and was still having one as she was placed in the ambulance. The paramedics started an IV and took her back to Williamsburg Community. I called her parents and let them know what was going on, and they called others to get them to pray. The doctors ordered a CT scan because of the head injury and to see if they could see anything else wrong. The results were negative but she began to have another seizure as they were trying to figure out what to do. I heard them call MCV and make preparations to fly her back to Richmond. As friends and family came and prayed, the helicopter was on the way. Within an hour she was on the way being airlifted to MCV. Once again I got in the melon (our green Taurus) and off to Richmond. I called my parents again just like I had two months before and told them Jess was being air lifted again and didn’t know what was going on inside her head. My older brother answered the phone along with my dad, and I just lost it. I was struggling probably even more this time. The first episode happened over several days but this time, being woken up in the middle of the night and her having symptoms she had never had before, I was hurting. They assured me they would be praying and I hung up and continued crying and praying as I approached Richmond.
When I got to the ER at MCV they did not allow me to go back right away. I would soon find out that she had another seizure as she was arriving. When I got back there, I was thankful she recognized me, yet she would immediately fall back to sleep. Her parents would arrive soon and would come on back to her slot in the ER. It was tough seeing Jess in this condition. It was tough knowing that her body was out of control. It was tough having spent the last two months in the hospital and then returning in an emergency situation back to the same hospital with a bunch of unknowns lingering around as to the diagnosis. They took chest x-rays because they had heard something in her right lung. She had pneumonia, which was probably saliva and stuff that she had swallowed while seizing. The bacteria from her mouth could cause infection in her lungs so they began the antibiotics. Jess woke up a couple times during the day and was holding her side in excruciating pain. She had never complained of this at first, but what had probably happened was that during the seizures she had totally used and aggravated her stomach area, which was still recovering from the spleenectomy. We finally were given a bed in the Neuroscience ICU. They immediately began the plasma apheresis again since her platelets had dropped below 100 and were down to 77. Shortly after finishing this procedure they moved her back to the medical respiratory ICU for the remainder of the night. It was not a pleasant thing, going back into the unit we had spent 9 days in during the middle of May. God continued to give us the strength we needed to keep functioning and not give up.
Around 3AM, Jess began talking to me and wanting to know what had happened. She was finally snapping out of it. She has about 20 hours that she has no memory of, and I believe it's better that way. She wanted to stay up and talk but finally went back to sleep. Early Sunday we were moved again to the oncology floor of the north hospital. They would continue the aphoresis treatments, until one night, they gave her the wrong medicine for blood pressure. Her platelets had begun climbing anyway although they had not done a treatment. The next few days were CT scans, chest x-rays, EEG, EKG, and a MRI. Jess is claustrophobic, so she was concerned about the MRI. She sang several praise songs over and over again because she thought if she quit singing, she might think about where she was and be scared, rather than focusing on Christ. The MRI did show up some abnormalities and they ordered another MRI for a few days later with the dye. Over the next few days she would have dialysis once and apheresis daily and they would begin weaning her off the treatments over the next three weeks. Her platelet count climbed steadily and the kidneys began to show signs of improvement.
The doctor informed us that her kidneys were only operating at about 15-20% of normal and it would take time for them to heal after this last beating they took with the high blood pressure and the possible reactivated TTP. As of today, Tuesday, July 30, we are still in the hospital. Jess had dialysis yesterday and may have it again before they let us go back home. They finally seem to have a pretty good grip on the blood pressure, which is encouraging. She will not be allowed to drive for up to 6 months because of the seizures. Needless to say, it's okay if she wants to go for a ride, many others and I will be happy to just drive her around or help her run errands. Hopefully, we will go home tomorrow and only have to return for blood work over the next couple weeks. Her platelet count is around 400 thousand and she is ready to get out of here.
A sincere thank you goes out to all that have prayed for us over these past few months. It has been a blessing to know God better and to see His hand work during this difficult situation, but at the same time we are ready to get back to Williamsburg and worship with our church family. We also want to send a special thank you to all those who have sent cards and money over these past couple months to help cover the medical costs. We have a many a bill to pay and we are looking forward to seeing how God provides during the upcoming months and years. We would love to tell the story as many times as possible, as it brings glory and honor to the God who is with us in the storms, who provides healing, and who loves and comforts His children. We do serve a real God who sent His Son into a real world in order to restore our broken relationship and bring healing to our lives.
During this last stay at MCV we were able to again share with doctors and nurses about the Love of God and His purpose for their lives. One doctor read a portion of a book we had given him and one of the Christian nurses their has been able to talk with him more. The unbelieving doctor's wife read the apologetics book and now wants to go to Israel; they both are truly seeking. Another nurse was crying, wondering why we were going through all this. She felt so bad for us. The next day we were able to find out about some of the SBCV churches near her home and are hoping and praying she will get plugged in there. We passed out a tract to a lady while she and Jess were getting chemo one day, and several weeks later she and her family were smiling at Jess and I as she told them where she got the tract from. The chapel at MCV had six religions represented in its list of faith systems, and had handouts trying to explain all six. For some reason the Christianity one didn’t make sense even to us. The part about most Christians believing in the "god-parent" kind of set me off. I took one and edited it for them. Now, when people go into the chapel, at-least they will learn the truth about Jesus and His love for them. One day, while pushing Jess in her wheel chair, we saw a couple reading the Proclaimer as they waited for a family member to come out of surgery. Jess and I were able to visit with them and were blessed with a new friendship. These are just a few of the cool things God has done.
Jess and I are home now; she was not able to go to church this morning because of her blood pressure and vomiting. Her kidneys are currently functioning at around 15% of normal capacity, but the doctors are hopeful she will regain at least 40% over the next 6 months. They are taking the perma-catheter out of her neck Tuesday morning, which will be a huge blessing and one less chance of infection.
Please continue to pray for our church family and us. They have really stepped up and God is growing each of us in amazing ways. We praise God for those of you who have been helping us out, and lifting us up in your prayers. God has provided in so many ways. Jess and I had applied for Insurance before she had gotten sick and were waiting to hear back from Blue Cross when she had gotten sick. She was admitted originally on May 15 to the ER at Williamsburg with a diagnosis of TTP by mid morning on the sixteenth. Our Insurance was not activated until the 17th; therefore they are not covering the pre-existing condition of TTP for a year. Christian friends and family have opened an account to help us to carry this burden in our time of need over this period of our life.
Thank you for reading this story. Jess and I would love to come and tell the story of God’s blessing us through the storm. How, even when the doctors are baffled, and everything that can go wrong does, we can still have peace and experience His grace in the midst of the storm. How God can and does use difficult circumstances to mold us into the people He wants us to be. We still don’t know exactly why this has happened. We do know that we pray, "God use us however you see fit". Obviously, God in His sovereignty saw fit to carry us through this and we can only trust Him and seek to glorify Him daily.
Thank You,
In Christ,
Marco and Jessica Smith
Road to Recovery – Update
2005
Jessica has come a long way as God continues to answer prayers. Over the past few months we have seen considerable improvement in several areas. Jessica’s strength is returning. She is now able to get up and down the stairs without assistance. Her six months is now up from the date of the seizures and is now able to begin driving again. Her blood pressure is better regulated now and thus many symptoms are not as prevalent as they once were. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Jessica is still doing the peritoneal dialysis at home. She is connected to a cycler each night for about 8 hours while she sleeps and then does one manual exchange during the day. We have found she has much more freedom with the peritoneal dialysis than the hemo-dialysis. We have seen one indication that we feel is God healing her kidneys and we ask that you continue to pray for Jess’ complete healing.
The doctors did share with us this past month that they would wait at least until the winter next year before considering a transplant.
She still has some headaches and gets nauseas once or twice pretty much every day. This is getting old but she is hanging in there and ministering as much as possible.
A few weeks back we were sharing door to door here in Williamsburg. It was a cold morning both outside and spiritually. We were getting no where. Jess’ feet began hurting so she stayed in the car and began praying while Mark and I continue trying to share the gospel. Shortly after she started praying we were able to meet several folks and before we knew it a gentlemen was inviting us in to share with him. He prayed to receive Christ there in his living room that morning. Although Jess and others can’t walk door to door as some are blessed to do, everyone can continue to pray for the healing both physically of those who suffer and especially for the spiritual healing that can only come through Jesus Christ. |
