Jeff's Words

Below is a journal entry by Jeff Powers, shared by his wife Staci. Jeff has now been in heaven for over 6 months, and he is greatly missed.

Just thinking this morning of how blessed I am to have so many people praying for me. So many I have never met, but they are continually offering prayers to the Father for my healing and day to day life. It makes me often think of my African brothers and sisters who are sick with so many deadly diseases for whom no one is praying outside their families. They lay dying on dirt floors or mats, maybe some on a bed. They have no medicine to ease their suffering, no cold water to soothe them, no immediate relief from the suffering. Yet we are both children of the same heavenly Father who loves us both with an eternal love. I have been blessed abundantly through my sickness even if I should die from it. I think at times it is the poor who suffer far beyond what I am, the poor in Christ, who will bring more glory to God through it all. We have the luxury of the internet to raise prayer support while they live in villages with no electricity, running water, transportation, doctors, or medicine. Yet I have watched Africans die who did not have any of those luxuries of life, and they did not blame God. Their suffering drew them to the Lord as it has done with me. It is their courage that inspires me and gives me strength to keep going. It is their example of turning first to God for healing that blesses me of the importance of seeing everything through the lens of faith. Lord give me strength when I am weak. Help me not to trust in medicine more than I trust in you. Help me not to get too focused on my own suffering that I forget the millions who suffer daily in the world without any medicine to relieve pain or fight the disease. Help my brothers and sisters in Africa to hold fast to their faith and not go back to trusting in traditional medicine turning their backs on Christ. Amen.