EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an expanded article based on the 2020 Cooperative Program Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information, please visit www.oklahomabaptists.org/cp.
The year 2019 started out good for Seth Bevers. He was new as Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) director at Western Oklahoma State College (WOSC) in Altus, and his wife Katy was pregnant with their first-born son.
WOSC, a commuter community college, had been without a director for some time, and when Bevers arrived, he found a core of eight-to-10 committed students. He started ministering to those students, building relationships that drew in more students and looking into participating in local ministries: helping churches renovate low income housing; getting the association’s camp ready for summer.
In June, he noticed his left hand would go numb. What was diagnosed as carpel tunnel within six weeks evolved into tingling up his arm and into his face. When an MRI was taken in September, a cancerous lesion was found in his brain. He had surgery Oct. 11. The diagnosis was the typically terminal kind of cancer, Glioblastoma multiforme. A month later, Bevers had surgery to clean out an infection from the first surgery.
By December, the couple and their three-month-old son were at M.D. Anderson Hospital for six weeks’ worth of 5-day-a-week radiation treatments. The good news is the initial diagnosis was incorrect. It’s a kind of brain tumor with an 80 percent survival rate after five years, Ependymoma.
“I’ve learned something I already knew—God’s in control,” Bevers said. “You need to trust Him even when it goes against your nature.
“We’ve seen God do some amazing things,” Bevers continued. “The connections God has made for us is more evidence that He is in control of all, and we can trust Him no matter what happens.”
WOSU’s BCM continues, with Brent Logan, pastor of Altus, Emmanuel leading weekly Noonday Bible studies. At the beginning of the fall semester, perhaps a dozen students attended. By semester’s end, there were 40 or more.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together. Learn more at www.oklahomabaptists.org/CP
The year 2019 started out good for Seth Bevers. He was new as Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) director at Western Oklahoma State College (WOSC) in Altus, and his wife Katy was pregnant with their first-born son.
WOSC, a commuter community college, had been without a director for some time, and when Bevers arrived, he found a core of eight-to-10 committed students. He started ministering to those students, building relationships that drew in more students and looking into participating in local ministries: helping churches renovate low income housing; getting the association’s camp ready for summer.
In June, he noticed his left hand would go numb. What was diagnosed as carpel tunnel within six weeks evolved into tingling up his arm and into his face. When an MRI was taken in September, a cancerous lesion was found in his brain. He had surgery Oct. 11. The diagnosis was the typically terminal kind of cancer, Glioblastoma multiforme. A month later, Bevers had surgery to clean out an infection from the first surgery.
By December, the couple and their three-month-old son were at M.D. Anderson Hospital for six weeks’ worth of 5-day-a-week radiation treatments. The good news is the initial diagnosis was incorrect. It’s a kind of brain tumor with an 80 percent survival rate after five years, Ependymoma.
“I’ve learned something I already knew—God’s in control,” Bevers said. “You need to trust Him even when it goes against your nature.
“We’ve seen God do some amazing things,” Bevers continued. “The connections God has made for us is more evidence that He is in control of all, and we can trust Him no matter what happens.”
WOSU’s BCM continues, with Brent Logan, pastor of Altus, Emmanuel leading weekly Noonday Bible studies. At the beginning of the fall semester, perhaps a dozen students attended. By semester’s end, there were 40 or more.
Because of the generous giving of Oklahoma Baptists through the Cooperative Program, an amazing array of ministries are supported. This unified giving encourages fellowship with other believers all over the world. Collectively, Oklahoma Baptists are advancing the Gospel together. Learn more at www.oklahomabaptists.org/CP
