Michigan District: Update from Linda Seaman for John and family.
MRI – Thurs., Aug. 25, 2016 8:52 PM
“Last Friday morning, the children and I were gathered around his bed when I told John that he had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Suddenly, he began quoting an old poem he’d learned years ago:
“We may not know when we’ll go or where we’ll go from this familiar scene, but Christ is here and Christ is there and all the way between; and though we go from all we know to some dim, vast unknown, though late we stay or soon we go,we shall not go alone!”
It was not exactly what we were expecting his reaction to be, but we should have known! He has lived his life with this assurance, and it is clearly unwavering even in these unexpected circumstances.
The world over, the Seamans have touched and impacted the lives of thousands. Here they are with the Bennetts, medical missionaries to Papua New Guinea.
We met with the neuro-oncologist and neurosurgeon today. We are returning at 6 am for another MRI, and surgery is scheduled for Wednesday of next week. Because it appears this tumor originated in the brain, there is no way to determine what this “mass,” as the neuro-surgeon called it, is until they remove it and test it. At the end of our appointment with Dr. Harvey-Jumper, John quoted the poem again, then prayed for the doctor and his nurse-practitioner. Of course, he did.
We ended our morning sensing that we needed to ask you to pray tonight for a miracle.
Our prayer is that the MRI tomorrow will be clear with no sign of any abnormalities. I originally suggested that we should pray that it shows “nothing,” but John didn’t think that sounded right! Thankfully, his sense of humor remains intact! Will you join us tonight in praying for that very specific miracle?
“I have spent more hours than I can remember, flying over waters and jungles with John Seaman in our mission aircraft. I have seen him in this posture so many times. Let’s now prayer with fervency for John and the family!” – Todd Aebischer, Former Nazarene Mission Air Pilot.
We have always said that we want what God wants, and that has not changed. From our viewpoint, though, the world is a better place with John Seaman in it, and it is our deepest desire that God heal and restore him completely…for our sakes and for the sake of the Kingdom for which he has lived his life so joyfully and wholeheartedly.
We are overwhelmed by your love and fervent prayers and know for a certainty that whatever lies ahead, “we shall not go alone!”
-Linda for John and the family”
John was elected superintendent of the Michigan District in 2003. Prior to serving as district superintendent, he and his wife, Linda, served as missionaries to Martinique and Côte d’Ivoire from 1976 to 2003.
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