BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

She also had the Word of God through her prophet, Brother Copeland. Now it was time to look deep inside herself. Did she really believe that Jesus was her Healer? Was there buried doubt and unbelief hidden underneath her confessions? This was where the rubber met the road. There was no use burying doubt and pretending that it didn’t exist. After searching her heart, Diane knew the truth. She did believe that Jesus was her Healer. She believed that healing was available for everyone. Further, she believed what she had told the oncologist. “You don’t know my Jesus. I’m not going to die in six months.” Diane believed she’d already received her healing. Now she prayed and pondered natural things she could do to help her body line up with that truth. She took Communion every day. She confessed healing scriptures from Charles Capps’ book "God’s Creative Power for Healing". She listened to Kenneth Copeland, Keith Moore and Andrew Wommack teach on healing. She read books on healing. But what natural things could she do to help her body? A Different Road “I’d seen and heard stories about people who took chemotherapy,” Diane recalls. “Many times, the chemo tore down their body’s own immune system. I wanted something that would boost my immune system, not destroy it. “I decided to go to an alternative treatment facility in Florida. They use things like vitamin C, infrared saunas and lymphatic massage to help the body detoxify. For some reason, by the time we arrived there, I was suffering from serious nausea. Within two weeks, they discovered why. I had a blockage in my colon. In surgery, they removed a foot of my bowel. Afterward, I returned home and researched alternative treatments in Texas. “A friend introduced me to Joseph Prince’s book "Eat Your Way to Life and Health: Unlock the Power of Holy Communion." It showed me the awful price that Jesus paid for my sickness when He took all those lashes with the cat-o’-nine-tails that ripped the skin off His body. He suffered all the cancer on His body, so I didn’t have to. “That cemented in me that I would never back off my belief that Jesus was my Healer. I didn’t look good. I didn’t feel good. The prognosis wasn’t good. But I was healed. Like Pastor George Pearsons talks about, I hung on with bulldog faith. Despite that, I suffered so much nausea that I couldn’t eat or drink.” Charlie had unshakable faith. There was no way that his wife would die from cancer. But then, cancer wasn’t what concerned him. Each morning before he left for work, he fixed Diane a meal replacement protein drink. When he returned home more than 10 hours later, it hadn’t been touched. Nor had she eaten anything all day. Diane had wasted down to 96 pounds, as frail as a baby bird, her skin translucent as it stretched over her fragile bones. Even Jesus only fasted for 40 days. How long had it been since she’d had any sustenance? At night, he often touched her while she slept—just to make sure she was still warm. A Wasting Disease Raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, Charlie had been the youngest of five children living in a three-room house. While in third grade, he had contracted polio from the live vaccine. He’d gone to school that morning appearing well. The symptoms hit fast, and he lay paralyzed. His family didn’t rush him to the hospital. They rushed him to the Holiness church where members prayed, shouted and lathered him with oil. Charlie saw his older brother crying. Wanting to comfort him, he stood up and walked to his brother. That’s when the shouting and praising soared to a new level. Looking at his wife, Charlie knew that she would receive evidence of her healing. He just wished hers had been as quick and easy as his. By December, Diane was suffering increasing pain in her body. Each day she lost energy, almost as fast as pounds melted off her body. Even so, she couldn’t help but praise God. It had been six months—and she was very much alive. “I ended up going back to an oncology clinic knowing that I needed more than I was receiving at the alternative clinic. When I met my new doctor, he was so refreshing,” Diane recalls. “He didn’t treat me like a diagnosis. He treated me like a human. He didn’t ask questions about my condition. He asked questions about me. I told him that I was praying and standing on the Word. He said, ‘Diane, that’s the best thing you can do. Let’s begin by finding out what we’re dealing with before we decide on any treatment.’ BVOV : 15

• Cover