During these past weeks in our battle with cancer it has been amazing to see God working through His body, the church.  There is no way to share the impact of a verse spoken to you from our pastor in your time of need.  The sermons preached on Sunday are perfectly crafted by the Holy Spirit to speak God’s Word to your spirit to be a light onto your path and a lamp unto your feet.  The joy of studying the Word of God to teach others and realize the very Word you are studying is for you to enable you by faith to live the abundant life in Christ.  In addition, to continue to experience the pure blessing of worshipping through corporate prayer and songs and entering the very throne room of grace.  And then there’s the abundant blessing of the fellowship of believers coming up and praying for you, giving you a hug and telling you they love you.  Oh how sweet it is to be a part of the body of Christ.  Most of these expressions of God’s blessings happen while we gather for worship on Sundays.  The even greater blessing has been to see the church mobilized and engaged in our lives every day in amazing ways.  We celebrate the fact that now when we go to restaurants people from the church will see us, get up, come over and hug us and tell us they love us and are praying for us.  Last night while having dinner at Saltgrass we were surrounded by several families from the church.  I know that as we bowed our heads to pray for our food, the entire restaurant was wondering when Saltgrass became an extension of the Body of Christ.

We are grateful for the meals that come to our house and the fact that our neighbors are going to ask, “What is going on?”  We look forward to having the opportunity to share with them the hope that is within us in Christ Jesus.  We are in a new neighborhood and prayerful that the cancer will open the door to the salvation of our neighbors.

Again when asking what you can do for us, the simple answer is to love the lost and least the way you love us and thus demonstrate the amazing gift of the body of Christ.  James 1:27 says “religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  It is our fervent prayer that we would all model what my mom and dad did in San Antonio when they found out that I had cancer.  They prayed and asked God what they should do and He led them to continue their work in the inner city of San Antonio with our H.I.S. BridgeBuilders Branch Manager, Mel Fechner, in a community called Wheatley Courts.  Over the last three weeks, over 20 people have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  My mom shared with me that the children are so hungry to be loved; they hug you and say, “I love you.”  Our heart is that as you have demonstrated so perfectly and graciously for us the blessing of the Body of Christ that you would ask God how He could use you in the same way to demonstrate His love to the lost and the least among us and in the cities of the nations of the earth.

Throughout this new Journey of cancer we have prayed for God alone to receive all the glory and praise.  In the last blog I wrote called Day by Day, I shared with you the story of a man in  Bonton, the inner city of Dallas, who wept when he heard I had cancer.  I asked you to pray for his salvation.  He is a man of the streets who has never even attended one of our Bible studies which we host every Saturday in our Habitat homeowners’ houses.  Each Saturday we have a Bible study for children, men and women at 10:30 AM in three different homes.  It looks just like the Book of Acts where they gathered house to house to pray, study the Word, fellowship, and meet the needs of the community.  Every 2^nd Saturday of the month we gather at 11:00 AM at the Turner Courts gym to celebrate all that God is doing in our community, preach the Word, and share a meal.  You can go to our website at www.hisbridgebuilders.org for more information if you would like to join us on Saturday mornings.

After years of seeing this man wander hopelessly around the community,  this Saturday a miracle took place.  Because of our cancer, I believe 100’s of you prayed and while we were having our men’s Bible Study, there was a knock at the door.  It was the man I asked you to pray for.  He looked completely different—well shaven and with a countenance of peace where there used to be such turmoil.  This man that God loved enough to send His Son Jesus to die for, prayed to receive Christ as His Lord and Savior today!  I am overwhelmed at the power of the gospel and the effectiveness of believing prayers to work miracles in the most hardened heart to bring salvation and hope. Miracles like these  are happening in each of our cities and are bringing  great glory to God.

Just as God receives all the glory for this great miracle of salvation, we have now moved to need a greater miracle of  healing.  We did our biopsy Friday and found that the lower mass in my right lung is cancer as well as the mass in the upper lobe.  This was not what we had hoped for.  This morning while I was walking and talking with God, He simply said that this is the way that will bring Him  greater glory.   We know now that the cancer is spreading and is much more advanced than we had hoped.  We also know that God knew all of this before we ever knew, and He has plans to bless us and to prosper us giving us a future and a hope.

We will be going to the doctor this week to get further information and final results from our biopsy.  We are grateful that your prayers are being answered and are being used to bring greater glory to God.  He saved a brother today, and He will bring His healing to our lives so that all the praise and all the glory will go only to Him.  To God be the glory for the great things He has done!!

Recently while talking to Velma, the co-founder of our ministry, she told me how she sees the stress of so many people who are not used to depending on God daily to provide their needs by faith.  Velma is clearly a woman of great faith.  Our ministry has existed and survived much like the nation of Israel by God providing daily manna from heaven.  I marvel at the faith of many of the residents of the inner city who daily depend on God to provide their every need.  Truly the poor are rich in faith.  Velma has taught me so much about faith in God and His Word. She is like the biblical characters in Hebrews 11 who pressed on in obedience to God regardless of their circumstances.

Today we went to the doctor carried by God’s grace, the fervent prayers of His people and the infused faith of Velma and others of the inner city who depend on God daily to meet their every need.   Whether it’s Bogdon in Romania, Thelma in West Virginia, or Velma in Dallas, each has shown me how much I plan on what I will do today or in the future based on my resources, network, intellect, and ability.  This, the Bible says is sin.  I am prayerful that whether you’re facing cancer, a broken relationship, a prodigal child, or financial need that you would learn from some of God’s greatest faith warriors, His remnant of believers in the heart of our cities.

So, with this wonderful gift of living daily by faith, we continue to do the ministry God has called us to.  Saturday while in Bonton, I was touched by a man that is living in the streets and is sometimes very hard to love.  He is demanding, loud and never seems to be moving forward in his desire to know Christ.  One of our faithful volunteers, David, comes to Bonton every Saturday at 10 AM and serves the community and this man.  Recently, David told me he believed God was going to do a miracle in this man’s life.   Saturday this man asked me how I was doing and I said fine but that I was battling cancer.  The most amazing thing happened, this hardened man of the streets began to weep.  He said this can’t be true, I need you Pastor Mike.  I began to weep seeing that this man despite all his faults, loves me and knows he still needs to know Jesus as Lord.  I am grateful that even with all the uncertainty of my cancer that we can serve daily those around us in our home, community and businesses with the love of Christ.  Please pray for this man to come to know Christ.

Finally, after meeting with the doctor, we are thankful to God that the cancer is contained in my lungs.  The mass in my upper right lobe is adenocarcinoma but the bottom mass in my lower right lung does not appear to be cancer.  In order to confirm this diagnosis of the lower mass, I will have a biopsy on Thursday.  Please continue to pray that the cancer is contained in my upper right lobe and can be surgically removed.  Thank you for your love and prayers.    We invite you to come with us to the city and build a relationship with these faith warriors.  I can assure you they will be one of your greatest advocates in your time of need.   Remember, “this is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Throughout the Scriptures we see the amazing patterns of God entrusting His Word and Work to those who will follow Him. As we follow Jesus, we then are to invest in others who have been entrusted to us. Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.”

Amazingly, in this battle with cancer God is raising up an array of people who have battled and by God’s grace have been healed of cancer to walk with us. We are following their pattern of continually seeking the Word of God to light our path, to worship God more now than ever, and to continue to keep our focus on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. We are grateful to pray with each of these believers that our God is able to heal and restore my body.

In addition to the spiritual realm we are seeking their counsel on practical matters, i.e. doctors, diets, work/family balance. We are thankful that through many of you, needs are being met and prayers answered for our family and H.I.S. BridgeBuilders as we go through this journey of faith. For many the word cancer brings a sense of hopelessness, but for us it brings a sense of gratitude that God has entrusted this to us to bring glory to His name, advance the Gospel, and grow us to be more like Him. We are grateful for the selfless servants of God who have walked though this battle of cancer and daily showing us the way they are heaven sent.

Much like the word cancer there is another word, poverty, which brings a sense of hopelessness in our nation around the world. Many of God’s people are trapped in circumstances often through poor decisions of preceding generations. They are raised with little hope of a college education, a career, a home of their own, and an opportunity to dream. Recently, a 54 year old man who had finished our employment training said in responding to what his dreams were, “I only want to survive; I was never given permission to dream”. In our desire to make disciples through H.I.S. BridgeBuilders we seek to raise an army of Christians that have seen God’s goodness and grace and are free from the bondage of sin, that have also been blessed with an education, a career, a family, and a home. We are prayerful that as we go through our battle, you will see their battle. For as we seek to develop them spiritually, educationally, and vocationally, we are prayerful that they will discover their gifts and talents and that with your help they can move from hopelessness to hope in Christ Jesus.

As many of you are walking with us and praying for us I would ask for you to prayerfully consider walking with one of God’s children in the inner city who is fighting the fight for their life and needs a friend of mentor to be the bridge of hope. If you are interested in mentorship training please email manderwald@hisbb.org.

We are still awaiting the results from the MRI and PET scan. We are meeting with the oncologist on Tuesday and will keep you posted on the results of your fervent, effectual prayers. We love you and thank you for joining us on this journey of following Christ.

During this season of cancer and financial tests for our ministry, it really gets down to a single word…surrender.  David McKinley, a wonderful pastor friend from Georgia said this great truth to me while praying for me and my family and HIS BridgeBuilders, “there is a peace that passes understanding when we realize the lover of our soul, our creator, our Abba Daddy is allowing this to happen.”  He loves me and He knows what is best for me.  I want you to read what my 14 yr. old son Jonathan put on facebook:

The Simple Truth

As Christians we sometimes suppose that just because we have Christ, our life will be easy. But, this is not the case.  We Christians doubt that anything tragic can happen to us, until this simple truth hits us. That truth is that awful things such as cancer, death, financial problems, divorce and betrayal are things that can happen to anyone including Christians. We think about these things until it seems as if there is no hope. Until we realize that we have missed part of The Truth, The Truth that gives us Peace during the craziness of life, the Painlessness during the pain and most importantly the Hope during the hopelessness, and this part of The Truth is the Perfect, Everlasting Hope that is Christ. Though sadly, some throw the blame of these bad things on Christ and continue to put themselves down and keep wandering without hope. For others we just keep ignoring the truth until it finally gets too large to control so we do things we do not want to do. Then finally there are those who put their faith in Christ and trust God with everything and even if it does not end up the way they want it, they still have the hope of eternal life that Christ gives us forever. So I encourage as your tough times come up in life to not blame yourself or God, but to put your complete trust in Christ and always have hope through the hard times.

The doctor told us Tuesday that the cancer in the upper right lobe of my lungs is adenocarcinoma.  He also shared that the mass in my lower right love is not yet confirmed to be cancer.  It is important for us all to pray that the cancer Is in the early stages and that it is contained in the upper right lobe.  We will be going to the hospital Wed or Thursday to do a PET scan on my body and an MRI of the brain to continue to ensure that there are no other tumors and continue to help diagnosis the second mass in my lungs.  It the tests prove that there is only one tumor, it can be removed surgically with little further treatment.  Please pray for the containment and eradication of the cancer for the glory of God.

The Lord is working in this season in amazing ways.  We are carried and sustained by your believing prayers and are expectant of how God will be glorified and the gospel advanced during these days.  Remember I never knew this tumor was in my lungs.  It is the mercy of my Savior that brought abdominal pains that led to a CT scan that showed the lower mass in my lungs.  This led to the second CT scan of my chest that discovered the cancer in the upper lobe.   There were no symptoms.  God is a good and loving God and no matter what they find in me this coming week, I surrender my life, my future, and all that I am to my Jesus who has plans to bless me with a future and a hope.

I am thankful for each of you who are praying for my healing of lung cancer and for my family.  My dear friend Tim Goeglein said I have the most amazing family in the world and I most certainly agree as they daily remind me of God’s goodness and grace.  As you are praying for us, there are three things that I would specifically ask for:

1.  The Lord to be glorified through this journey
2. God’s provision, protection and peace for my family.
3. God’s blessing for our ministry, H.I.S. BridgeBuilders

It is this last request that I would ask you to pray most fervently for since the least and lost of our cities are most often overlooked.

As we prepared to go the biopsy last Thursday the Lord impressed me to ask the many intercessors who came to pray for me to go and pray for those patients in the waiting room at Baylor Hospital who had no one with them.  When Laura and I entered the hospital, there was a sweet lady and the Lord led me to ask her if I could pray for her.  She said, “yes”, with a beautiful smile.  When we were done praying for her she said “You don’t know how I needed that prayer today.”  Our team of intercessors prayed for everyone in the waiting area. Clearly the presence of the Lord was there.  Ty Richardson blessed me when he prayed for an elderly man who was alone and awaiting his 114^th blood transfusion.  The Lord is clearly with us in this journey and He has called us to be his light in dark places.  Baylor Hospital is a place of great hope with a magnificent staff and it was our joy on Thursday to partner with them to bring love and light to those who are facing such great needs.  

Three weeks ago I asked God to bring an awakening to the body of Christ to join us in our ministry of H.I.S.  BridgeBuilders to bring hope to the hopeless. The Lord is moving in amazing ways.  A dear brother in Christ was awakened at 2 AM and was called by God to serve our ministry in a much greater capacity.  This weekend, Nick Reis, Micah Buster, and several other singles were in Bonton mowing lawns for the widows and praying for those in great need.  I am prayerful that as each of you call to God on my behalf that you will be an answer to our prayers and will join us in this work of God.  We are on the verge of amazing breakthroughs to further the gospel and make disciples through medical clinics, micro-businesses and inner-city house churches. 

The Lord is opening great doors of opportunity to enlarge and relocate our dental clinic and lab.  We need a dentist to help oversee this ministry.  We are prayerful for entrepreneurial business people to join our team to set up micro-training businesses that can be instruments of transformed lives through training, employment, and the Word of God.  We are in need of intercessors to pray daily for this work of God.  We are seeking to build an army of mentors to mentor and disciple those who are in the GED and employment training classes.  We are prayerful for God to raise up donors who would give monthly above and beyond their tithe to their local church to help us in this difficult financial time.  These dear people of the city wake up every day never having experienced many of the exponential blessings that my family and I have experienced.   Your serving and loving and giving to the least of these will bring healing and great hope to my heart.  I am going to my oncologist today and am very thankful to Ron Murff and the entire Baylor system for being such great agents of Christ’s love and healing.   If you are interested in how you may serve or pray for our ministry, please email Mary Anderwald at manderwald@hisbb.org.  If you are interested in supporting our ministry, please contact Roger Sappington at rsappington@hisbb.org. 

Thank you for hearing my heart and loving us with the love of Christ.  We pray that we will be faithful to be good stewards of all that God entrusts to us in this new season.

Jeremiah 29:7  “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on it’s behalf,  for in it’s welfare you will have welfare.

Last Wednesday I went to my doctor for a CT scan of my abdomen because of some recurring pains.  After the results were received there was a one inch mass found in my lungs that needed further clarification.  Needless to say the small pains in my abdomen were not on my mind after this discovery.  I remember praying “God, just let this be the only one in my lungs.”  Yet the report came back showing two masses and two enlarged lymph nodes.  The initial diagnosis from the radiologist was of great enough concern to order a biopsy for this week.  I remember my first thoughts of shock and amazement that we were now going down a path that was unknown and certainly unexpected. 

I was to leave Tuesday for Romania to help lead a prayer revival and further establish the work God has called us to with BridgeBuilders in Romania.  We are prayerful that while our team is there we will be able to establish BridgeBuilders Foundation  in Romania and that God would provide the needed funds of $19,000 to establish this work.  The foundation will provide permanent funding for our street pastor, Bogdon, who is leading the street people in Galati to Christ and discipling them in our first house church.  In addition, we are thrilled with the potential to set up our optical clinic and lab to train and disciple the poor from Romania and provide much needed medical care for these dear people.  The average monthly income is around $600 and a pair of glasses cost $250.00.  The clinic will also enable us to bring necessary funding to our work in Romania, lead people to Christ and  broaden our impact on the valley in Galati.  This is a community of metal shacks, dirt streets and hopelessness everywhere.  I was shocked that it was in Europe and clearly within our reach to help these tender hearted people.  In addition we are partnering with an American businessman who is exploring moving equipment from Garland, TX to Romania because of labor costs and setting up a tool and dye plant.  This will be an employer for men and women whose lives have been redeemed and who desperately need employment training, jobs, and continued discipleship.  The building will also be used as a church on Sundays for Bogdon so the people of Romania will not be burdened with the cost to build and maintain a church building.

Those were my plans for the week but God has placed us on another path to seek healing from God.  We thank God for His sovereignty and that we are to be anxious for nothing but pray about all things with thanksgiving.  I am thankful to God that His character never changes, that He is refining us and making us more dependent on Him.   I am thankful for my faithful family and for the amazing BridgeBuilder family. I am thankful to God for the fervent prayers of the righteous that are sustaining us and for our pastor and church that have embraced and loved us with the love of Christ.  We pray that God would protect us, heal us, and provide for us and this work that He has called us to.  You may be on an unexpected detour in your life.  Keep your eyes on Jesus,  count it all joy and thank Him for loving you enough to detour your plans for your good and His glory.