Seth Udinski, FISM News
In the world of Christianity, two encouraging developments in the midst of suffering broke in the last several days.
Christians are standing on the frontlines of the rescue mission in Kentucky following a flurry of devastating tornadoes that claimed over 100 lives in the southern United States this past weekend. Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian relief ministry of Pastor Franklin Graham, sent a group of rescue workers to assist in Arkansas and Kentucky on Sunday and Monday.
Alongside prayer, this is the best response that the Christian community can provide in a deadly tragedy. Pastor Graham said in a video message after the tornadoes hit,
The important thing is that we help one another, put our arms around one another, comfort one another, and pray for each other. The greatest thing we can do right now is pray. Pray for the people that lost everything. These are mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, children that have lost their homes and lost their lives, lost their property. They need our prayers.
And in some other positive news, Pastor Timothy Keller is reportedly seeing “remarkable improvement” in his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition was diagnosed with this devastating form of cancer at the height of the pandemic lockdowns in May of 2020.
Keller has highlighted his steadfast trust in God as the Great Physician throughout his ordeal. He said not long after his initial diagnosis,
I feel great and have no symptoms. It was what doctors call an ‘incidental pickup,’ otherwise known as providential intervention. I have terrific human doctors, but most importantly I have the Great Physician himself caring for me.
Last week, his wife Cathy posted on her husband’s Twitter page and said that Pastor Keller has greatly improved in the last 18 months. She said,
Through God’s mercy and your prayers, there has been remarkable improvement in the last 18 months — in fact, his doctors are using words like ‘fantastic’ and ‘dramatic’ to describe the progress. Your prayers are working! As Tim begins a new round of chemotherapy this week, we hope you will pray for continued effectiveness of the treatment with even fewer side effects. Thanks again for the outpouring of love and support. We are grateful and ask for your continued prayers.