Steve@lovepackages.org 217-532-6701 (Illinois) 256-355-3004 (Alabama)
A Tumor and a Testimony
August 1, 2019
47

If you are a believer, you won’t have a hard time believing this, because God has answered prayers for you—or spoke to you in the middle of the night, or made the words jump off the pages of your Bible. If you’re a skeptic, perhaps these words will encourage you to investigate the claims of Christ. If you’re a doubter, you’ll probably doubt this too. But this is my testimony and every word in it is true.

 

The Prayer Request

Recently I began having difficulty swallowing and began choking on my food. On Tuesday, July 16, I went to the doctor.

The first day I saw the doctor he told me that I had a tumor in my throat, that it didn’t look good, and that he would be remarkably surprised if it wasn’t cancerous. He said he had seen it hundreds and hundreds of times.

The other bad news that day was that they couldn’t operate. Well, they could operate, but because it was right on my vocal cords I would probably lose my voice. I told him, “Well, that’s not a very good thing to tell a preacher.”

From the moment he said that, I knew—I just knew—everything was going to be okay. God gave me an overwhelming peace.

And so I’ve told everybody. I put it on a Facebook post, and I said it outloud in church: “I am not worried and I’m not afraid. I don’t know how it’s going to happen. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m not afraid.”

And I haven’t been.

 

 

My Prayer (and Disobedience)

My prayer when I’m lying down at night has been, “Lord, I know what the reports are, (The PET scan results said that it was cancer.), but You love me. You’ve taken care of me all these years, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I trust You. Whatever takes place is okay with me. You’re my Lord. You’re my Savior. You’re my Redeemer, and I believe that You’re going to take care of me and do what’s right.” That’s the way I’ve been praying every night.

So, Monday morning comes around: the day I am to have the biopsy.

I got up early and was praying.

 

 

Now, five or six people had prayed over me lately and asked the Lord, “When the doctor does the biopsy, let the tumor just fall off.” So I started to pray that and I got it about halfway out of my mouth and I just … I just knew that wasn’t the right thing to pray. I didn’t know the reason why—maybe it’d be dangerous. I didn’t know why, I just knew it was the wrong way to pray.

And so I said, “Well, Lord, let it just be …” And I was going to say, “… hanging by a thread,” but I didn’t say “thread.” I just said, “Let it just be hangin’ there. When he touches it, it’ll just be hanging there and they’ll be able to go and get it.” That was my prayer.

Now, I have to confess to you, I was disobedient in this one thing: I felt like the Lord said, “I want you to write that down and give it to the doctor before he operates on you.”

And I thought, “Oh, Jesus, that’s so weird.” Well you all know me, and you know I’ve done some odd things before, but I don’t want to be a weirdo. There are enough Christian weirdos out there already. I don’t want to be a weirdo.

 

Heading to the Hospital

Well, we had trouble getting going in the morning. I’d forgotten that we went out for dinner Sunday, and I had both vehicles in Hillsboro. We forgot to bring one of ‘em home. I started to pull out of the driveway and I said, “Where’s the truck? Ohhhh, we left it at Hardee’s yesterday!”

So we ran and got it at Hardee’s so that they wouldn’t tow it away. And then it rained on us, and so we didn’t get to the hospital any too early.

I told Jeanie later about writing to the doctor, and she tried to make me feel better by saying, “We didn’t see the doctor to start with anyway. He didn’t come to talk to you, so you couldn’t have given it to him anyway.” So I don’t feel so bad. I am gonna write it out and give it to him, but it would have been so much better if I’d have done what the Lord said. But … I’m not always obedient.

We got to Springfield, registered, and went in so they could do the biopsy. They took me back and got me all prepped. Jeanie kissed me, and the lady came and she said, “I’m gonna prep you for the anesthesia.”

 

 

She put a shot in my tube and bonk: I was gone. I didn’t know anything after that. They put a tube down my throat so I could breathe.

 

A Monday Morning Miracle

The doctor went in with a camera and a thing to take just a little snip out of the tumor. They already knew it was cancer from the PET scan. Now they would get more details, because they would do a biopsy on it—really examine it, see what kind of cancer it is, and so forth and so on. But when he touched it, it moved.

The doctor told me later that he told the people working with him, “Pull that tube out of him. We’re going to operate on him. We’re going to take that tumor out today.” He said, “I gotta go get permission from his wife, but you get him prepped.”

They looked at him and said, “This is not an operation room. Can we do that?” He told each of them, “You know how to do it. You know how to do it. You know how to do it. I know how to do it. I’ve done lots of these. We’re going to do it. We’re going to do it right now—as soon as I get back. Start getting him ready.” So he walked out, to go talk to my wife.

 

 

The doctor came out and told my wife, “I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I have been doing this for a long time. When I went in there, when I touched that thing, the tumor was just dangling there. It was just dangling.” (He didn’t use the word “hangin’,” I wish he had used the word “hangin’.” ) Dangling is probably a better medical term.

Then he said, “If I’ve got your permission, we’re going to go in and take it out today.”

She said, “Well, can I ask some questions, sir.”

He said, “You ask whatever you want.”

“Well, when you operate on him, is he going to lose his voice?”

“No. Not where it’s at. I can cut right between there, and he’ll keep his voice. He probably won’t have but a sore throat.”

She said, “Well, yeah, let me call my sons.” So she called my two boys. I think she called Pastor Myron, too. She was pretty shook up, I guess. Big decision to make, you know?

She told me she wasn’t afraid, but she knows me: She knows I love to preach the Word of God, and she would never want anything to happen to me that would ruin my voice.

(She told me a couple times last night, “I sure like listening to your voice.” I said, “Depends on what I’m sayin’.”)

 

An Unscheduled Operation and a Testimony

The doctor told me later, “I didn’t cut any more than I absolutely needed to. I can’t say you’re one hundred percent—because you might have one cell somewhere that’s still cancerous—but I will tell you that it’s 99.9999999 percent gone.” He said, “You had one lymph node that lit up on the PET scan, so I took ten of ‘em out.”

Of course, I didn’t know any of this. I was knocked out for the fifteen-minute biopsy. They operated on me for four hours. When I woke up, it was just what I prayed for. When they told me, I said, “That’s exactly what I prayed for this morning!”

Then I was in the hospital and, of course, they gotta keep me. So they checked me in, and Jeanie left at a quarter to six. The doctor came in at six-thirty and told me all the things that I just told you.

I said, “Doc, I don’t want to take a lot of your time, but someday I want to tell you a story. For now I want to let you know that what you did today was exactly, exactly, what I prayed for.” And he just kind of looked at me like, what?

 

The Best Part

Between the time Jeanie left and the doctor came in, I had asked for a Bible. I said, “If you could get me a Bible—if you could find me a Bible somewhere—I’d like to read.” There are none in the rooms anymore. They took them all out of the rooms. They went over to the nurse’s station—none there. I said, “Well, can you find me one?”

“Yeah, we’ll find you one.” So, they looked everywhere. Finally, after a little over an hour, they found me a Bible and brought it to me. Brand new one. They put my name on the inside of it.

 

 

So this was the best part. I started reading the Word of God and the Lord said, “Read it out loud, Steve.” And I just read the Word of God from seven-thirty until one-thirty in the morning. Just read it out loud and God spoke to me so many things.

He revealed Himself to me. And the presence of the Lord was so thick in the room, I was overwhelmed. I learned so much. The Lord spoke to me—so much about so many things; it was so wonderful. His presence is so wonderful. That was the best part. I really serve a great God who loves me. I pray that all who read this will know Him too!

 

Thank You for Your Prayers

So, that’s my story. All of it is true.

Thanks to all who prayed, called, sent cards, and supported us through all of this. We love you. Thank you Dr. Garcia for your skills and great care. You did good to us. God Bless you.

 

Photo credits to:
Timothy Meinberg
Allie Smith
Piron Guillaume
Carolyn V

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47 comments

  1. That was awesome!! Hallelujah and Thank U Jesus!!!

  2. God is good! He always has our problems if we let Him

  3. It is no secret what God can do! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

  4. Declare the Wonders of the Lord. We have been praying. I went to see how things were coming along and there is another God story. Praising God with you from Southport Pres. I will be passing your story on rest of those who are blessed by Jesus’ ministry at Love Packages.

  5. Steve!! I just heard today (8/17) that you had a growth in your neck that might be cancerous.. so I got on Love Packages to see if there was any news…and I just read your testimony. PRAISE GOD!!!!!! What a story. So relieved you’re OK. Thank you Jesus! Mike Yellowley

  6. Praise God!!!! I was specifically praying for you that Monday morning! THANK YOU for posting this!

  7. Praise God. You have more to preach. We continue to lift you up and rejoice with you.

  8. David & Belinda Hogan

    What a wonderful testimony! Hope to see you again in the fall (maybe October with the Boswell’s) So guess this means you can still yell at me. :0)

  9. Joe & Gloria Hutchins

    Steve and Jeanie it is said that God will make a way where there seems to be no way. He found found favor with you. God Bless. Joe & Gloria Hutchins

  10. God Bless Steve I was never worried!!! So happy to hear the good news and excited for you to preach this message. Take Care <3 XOXO

  11. Praise God!!! He’s still a Miracle-working, Way-making awesome Lord!

  12. Praise God. Our church has prayed for you and I only know about you because of our church. I go to the Forest Preserve Bible Church and they also collect books for you and come out to Butler Illinois at least twice a year to pack the books and send them off to many countries. I am so happy for you as our Pastor told all of us today of the miracle that happened to you. I will pass this testimony to all I can so that Our God receives all the credit due him.

  13. Prayed for you every day after the prayer request came on facebook. Praying I see you in Sept when Wyconda/Mt Salem WMU comes to work for the day.

  14. I was so afraid for you. My sister-in-law has a CA tumor in her esophagus, so I know how serious this was. Praise the Lord for his Devine presence. Now I pray for your rapid healing.

  15. Praise God!

  16. Blessings Steve, so glad to here this. What a wonderful thing to hear !

  17. Alan and Joyce Eckelbarger

    We have all been praying at our church too and our Life Group. We are praising the Lord. He is a great miracle worker still today. Love you Jesus. Love you Steve and Jeanie. WOW, what a testimony for the Lord.

  18. Praise God! BaruchHaShem Adonai – Blessed be the name of the LORD!

  19. I worked as a volunteer one time at Love Packages. I feel that I know you. What a miracle that God answered many prayers and everything is good for you!
    God bless!

  20. Many tears of joy and overwhelming thankfulness to our Heavenly Father! Continued prayers for your complete recovery from Chicago! God bless you Steve!

  21. God is good everyday in every way. You must still have something important to say to people.

  22. I asked Myron about you and he sent me this link. We’ve been praying. What a mighty God we serve! Best news I’ve heard in a long time. God wasn’t ready for that voice to be silenced. Love to you and Jeannie

  23. Praising God for His faithfulness! Thank you for your testimony Steve. I’m having tears while rejoicing in God! So happy for you and your future ministry.

  24. That is wonderful news. God is good. I go to Temple Baptist church in Centralia

  25. Amen and Amen! God is a great God that answers prayers and cares about us. He is a very personal God to each of His children.
    Always pray and trust that prayer to be answered in God’s will and time.
    Answered prayer is a sweet sweet testimony to His very real presence in our lives and hearts. May everything that hath breath praise the Lord!

  26. Praising The LORD. He promised if we prayed and believed, we would receive what we prayed. He is truly a Loving and Faithful God.
    Posting your testimony now online is better than waiting to see it up on the chalkboard.
    May the LORD continue to Bless you and use your testimonies for His Glory.

  27. Now that’s a God thing!!! Thank You JESUS?

  28. Amen..God is Great….Praise the Lord

  29. AWESOME! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! I KNEW He would come to your rescue and show His power!!! Thank You Jesus!!!!!!!

  30. What an awesome God we serve!! He gives us ears to hear and hearts to obey. Soooo blessed He’s still has purpose for you here on earth to bring Him glory. 🙂

  31. This is Garrett and Casey’s Mom, friends of Mike Leydet. So happy to hear your good news! God is still in the miracle business! What a blessing!

  32. Praise the Lord

  33. Pat & Larry Moslener

    Thank you, Steve fir sharing this! I only non-believers would read this. How can we not believe & trust in prayer. God bless you, continually.

  34. Hallelujah, our God is the God of miracles what the enemy meant for evil He has turned for Good, to give you a glorious testimony of how great and mighty He is.
    Rejoicing with you my dear friend.

  35. GREAT NEWS! God is good and a miracle worker. I will be sharing your story to prove God’s power to others. Stay well and hope to see you soon. Diana

  36. I’m so happy for you Steve and family! And what a beautiful testimony of faith and the POWER of prayer. Daniel and I have prayed daily for you?? Thank you for sharing this wonderful outcome.?
    Gwen and Daniel Flinn

  37. Yet another answer to prayer to put on your chalk board. Thank you, Lord for granting this miracle to Steve.

  38. Father God is a powerful, loving God! Thanks for the reminder and we love you and are beyond happy to hear your news!

  39. The Lord is Good!!! I praise him for your healing!

  40. God is an awesome God! What a blessing He is and His mercy, truth and grace is from everlasting to everlasting!
    I won’t have to be sad now. I’ll rejoice instead!

  41. God is SO good!

  42. Praise be to Him who specializes in the impossible. I will share this with my congregation this Sunday. Thank you for the testimony.

  43. Another GREAT TESTIMONY from you and Love Packages. So great to hear of a true miracle happening right before our eyes!! Makes my belief so much more so much better!! So many times we ask for a miracle and we wait forever for one reason or another. I’m so HAPPY we SERVE a GREAT LORD. And he blessed you with the greatest gift—your voice!! You always say that God isn’t done with you yet and HE ISN’T.

  44. Our Lord takes good care of those who are called according to His purpose. That evil one tried to take your voice but Jesus! Steven you will Lways be my pastor as you have taught me sp much about Gods Word ! I miss your teaching. Maybe you can put them on CD so i can order them and it will help fund Love Packages. I can listen on my commute to work. I am so happy God put His hand on you and you went into the ministry. God Bless you Jeannie, your sons and their families ❤I jave to plan a weekend trip to see y’all and hear you minister the precious Word of God. Thank you for sharing this testimony with us all⚘

  45. Hallelujah!!! God is so good!!!

  46. Still crying,what a beautiful testament to faith.My daughter,son,,-inlaw and granddaughters never miss a trip to Butler,they bring our Youth from Bear Point FWB.To God be the Glory.

  47. Absolutely amazing! I would say unbelievable, but like was mentioned, I, too, believe in the One, True, and Powerful God.

    What an incredible testimony and encouraging word. You guys and your ministry really helped me form an understanding of God’s character and heart for His children, whether they be lost and walking in His will. As a teenager, that’s an important thing to learn, and I’ve carried it with me into this season of adulthood.

    I prayed for you and your family and your ministry, and I also felt at peace. No fear, just knowing that there was nothing to worry about.

    Thank you for sharing your testimony. It truly is such a powerful thing, and I thank God that He has a perfect plan for every one of His children.

    God bless!