When I graduated from high school, my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The survival rate was something like 4%. He battled it, accepted his healing, and won. Then, he was attacked again during my senior year of college. Again, he battled it, accepted his healing, and won. A few weeks before I went to Still Waters this summer, the cancer had returned. This time, the doctors told us, cancer was in his liver and vertebrae. He was basically a living mass of cancerous tissue. We were told that the cancer had metastasized in his body and was virtually unstoppable. Not wanting to discourage my father, my mother didn’t share this news with him or with our church, but she privately asked her children to pray. The doctors gave him three months to live, without treatment. My dad knew he was getting worse, and he asked me to please, if I had the opportunity, speak to Bro. Joseph about his prayer request while I was at Still Waters. He had a liver biopsy scheduled for my last day of camp.

Life is difficult for Christian young people. That’s why the Lord gave me Still Waters. He’s given me so much—the Word, a loving family, a supportive church family, and blessings of all other sorts, but Still Waters is one of my favorite blessings. I get embarrassed sometimes when I talk about Still Waters, because I often feel tears come into my eyes. Still Waters is a place of relief. At Still Waters, one doesn’t feel bombarded by negative thoughts, disordered emotions, and uncertain feelings that are produced by the prince of chaos.

On the first day of camp, I had an apple after lunch. It was delicious! At dinnertime, I thought I would have another one for dessert. I picked out a gorgeous, enormous, yellow and red apple from among a stack of oranges, bananas, and apples. After dinner, Bro. Richard Sutton came walking by my table with a frosty tray laden with ice-cream sandwiches. Naturally, I forgot all about the apple on my tray and grabbed a sandwich!

After dinner, Bro. Joseph Branham told the campers that he had arranged a private interview with the Lord for them. At the time, I thought that was a nice, thought-provoking, ministerial thing for him to say. Of course, we always have a private interview with Jesus when we pray, right? I didn’t realize that the Lord was actually, truly, waiting for me under that tree.

Now I was faced with a dilemma. Quiet Time was about to start and I still had the apple in my hand. I didn’t want to throw away a perfectly good apple. On the other hand, I couldn’t very well put it back in the fruit basket after I had handled it. I couldn’t take it back to the dorm, because we were supposed to go straight to Quiet Time. I really didn’t know what to do with it, because I didn’t want a sister-chaperone to see me with food during Quiet Time (Quiet Time is for spiritual food only). I decided that I would take it to Quiet Time with me, and take it to my dorm after that.

I went to Quiet Time. It was a typical Still Waters afternoon, perfect rays of sun streaming through the trees, sounds of fish splashing, and crickets just beginning to chirp. I settled down and started to pray. I had decided that I wasn’t going to listen to a tape or read my Bible, I was just going to pray. That’s all I wanted to do, was talk to Him. I started praying about my dad. As I prayed, I saw in my mind’s eye, a picture of my father lying in his hospital bed and I could imagine the Lord being whipped at the post before His crucifixion. I prayed and prayed. I was meditating in prayer for about thirty minutes, when I suddenly lifted my tablet and opened the Table App. Without knowing why, I typed in the words: “Cancer, Liver” into the search bar.

I flicked down among the different quotes and let my finger came to rest on one. When I opened the text, I realized that Bro. Branham was telling a story about one of his friends, Mr. Hall. I KNOW IT’S A LONG QUOTE, BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO HEAR IT TO BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE WHAT I FELT THAT AFTERNOON...

I looked down, and right beside me was that beautiful apple that I had picked out at dinner, just the way Bro. Branham had described it in his vision. I rejoiced and cried, I was so happy. Why would Brother Branham have a vision about apples? What do apples have to do with liver cancer? I knew it was the Lord speaking to me, letting me know that all would be well with my father.

No sooner had the blessing arrived, then did the deceiver try to take it from me. “That’s a coincidence,” he told me. “That’s your imagination and desperation, grasping onto some silly little thing like that.” “Maybe so,” I thought, “but it’s all I have! I’m going to hold onto it!” Of course, healing is miraculous and wonderful. But another miracle occurred at the same time, the miracle of belief. I gained the victory over unbelief when I silenced those negative thoughts and believed on Him. I didn’t believe through my own ability, but by His Grace.

The next morning, I saw Bro. Joseph after breakfast. I was trying to believe on the promise that the Lord had given me. I told him that my dad had been healed before, and that the cancer was back. Before I could get out the story of what happened at Quiet Time, he pointed to the cross hanging above the dining room area and said something to the effect of: “But you already have your answer!”

He was right. I DID have my answer. I shared the details of what happened at Quiet Time with him, but I didn’t have a way to contact my family! I was in a hurry to tell my family that everything was going to be okay, so I sent a picture to my dad on the third day of camp:

On Friday, I left camp and called Mom immediately. She said that all through that week, Daddy kept looking at that picture. As we spoke, they were at the hospital, where some of the finest surgeons in the country had been poking around inside him for hours, trying to find something large enough to stick a needle in to get a biopsy.

They found nothing. Not a single trace. “I don’t understand it,” the surgeon said, “It’s right here on the scan from a few weeks ago, but we can’t find it inside you!”

Here’s another thought: The Lord put reassurance in my heart on Monday, the very first day of camp! He could have waited until Friday, but He let me know on Monday, so that I could relax and have a good time enjoying the other blessings of camp for the remainder of the week. When He does something, He always has perfect timing. The Lord is a healer. My father is still battling for his total healing, but he has renewed faith because of that private interview that I had with Him. Pray for us as we continue to fight.

God Bless You,

Joy