(By: Kathi J. Cadigan)

This is an account of how the Lord has worked a miracle in my life, and how by His grace I followed the path to salvation completely unaware for many years. This is a story of how God's plan shaped my life, and how His hand leads my testimony and me so that I may act as a witness to many.

Back in 1996 I moved to Ohio from New York. I was 28. Shortly after meeting my husband and moving into an apartment complex in Loveland in 1997, another family moved into the apartment below us. "Ellen" and her husband had a 2-year-old daughter and were expecting their second child. They were religious and not afraid to be who they were in a very casual way. I hadn't been religious since my teens, and hadn't belonged to a church in six years. I did not even believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

Over the years that followed, Ellen and I would socialize or talk on the phone, and we kept in touch as we both expanded our families and bought houses in the neighborhood. When my oldest daughter turned two in 2002, I mentioned to Ellen that I was going to be looking for a preschool for her. She recommended one at a local church because they loved the children so much and also were reasonably priced. Although I was not religious and even a little uncomfortable with the idea, I registered my daughter when she was three years old and she started attending preschool there in September, 2003.

Also in September of 2003, my older sister Gina was diagnosed with lung cancer. She wasn't particularly religious either, but she joined a prayer group, which helped her find the strength to get through the surgery to remove the bottom lobe of her right lung and the chemotherapy that followed. Throughout this time, I would ask my daughter's preschool teacher to pray for Gina. In February, 2004 Gina had a follow-up CT scan that showed an enlarged lymph node behind her heart. A PET scan revealed yet more cancer in the middle lobe of her right lung. More surgery was in order per the "tumor board", a panel of 42 specialists who reviewed her scans. Again I asked my daughter's teacher to include Gina in her prayers. During the last week of February, her teacher invited me to come to services on Friend Day, March 7th. I said I would consider it.

Gina and I decided to see The Passion Of The Christ together on Sunday, February 29th and the visual representation drove it all home for me. I was brought spiritually to my knees. After two days immersed in prayer and repentance, I became completely enraptured with Him for two days. On Tuesday, March 2, 2004, at around ten o’clock in the morning in my living room, I confessed my faith in Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, the Way, the Truth and the Light. I confessed my sins to the Lord Jesus and repented. My soul was transformed in a glorious epiphany as I kneeled in supplication, and I felt the Holy Spirit come down upon me, down and through my lungs and into my heart. I breathed my first breath in Christ and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. I immediately got up and took a shower and continued praying. The following Sunday, I went to church for the first time in over 12 years. I took communion. When the Pastor offered to all born again believers that they may be baptized by immersion in water, I stood up and went forward, as I was led by the Holy Spirit to do so. I was baptized with water on Sunday, March 7, 2004.

My sister Gina was also baptized that day.

After seeing "The Passion" a second time, I went online, found a website called MyLifeAfter.com, and shared my experiences on the forums. There I met Judy Dudley who responded to one of my posts about my sister. She told me about Blanket Ministry, an outreach ministry through her church in Indiana in which the congregation prays over blankets and sends them out to individuals with specific needs. She sent some prayer blankets for me and my sister.

Gina's surgery was scheduled for the following Friday, March 12th. Many people were praying for her - everyone in our church, her prayer group, my neighbors and their churches, Judy, and even friends whom I barely knew who posted their thoughts on the forums at MyLifeAfter.com. Before I knew it, a prayer chain had been set up clear across the country for my sister's healing, and many people were going to stop what they were doing on Friday March 12th at noon just to pray for her during her surgery.

The night before the surgery I remember praying. I prayed hard, in complete supplication, and then suddenly I felt this sense of complete exhilaration and joy! At that moment I knew the Lord had done something wonderful!

The morning of the surgery a woman from church called and prayed with us over the phone. At the hospital, our family went into the room where they were prepping Gina, laid the prayer blanket over her, and prayed. Our pastor came and prayed with us before they wheeled her away. We said our tearful goodbyes and set out for the waiting room for the five-hour surgery. Two hours later, the surgeon called us into a room to tell us THERE WAS NO CANCER! The "enlarged" lymph node was not only NOT enlarged, but looked completely healthy! An hour after that she was sitting up in her room, praising the Lord and asking for something to eat!!! Her oncologist, however thrilled, now questions the integrity of medical imaging! I didn't know how to tell him that it is only when the Lord intervenes that medical imaging becomes unreliable... two weeks later my sister was back at church, singing praises to the Lord and giving her testimony to the hand of God in front of our whole congregation.

THE LORD WORKED A MIRACLE IN MY SISTER

BY HEALING HER CANCER!

In April, I videotaped my sister's testimony about the miracle of her cancer being healed and sent it to the producers of Changed Lives: Miracles of The Passion, a TV special which aired on TBN (and incidentally aired on PAX on May 23rd and also on TBN again on May 27th). Her testimony is the last one televised during the closing credits. I did this to witness to as many people as I possibly could for the Lord.

In May, through a telephone call from my father, I learned that apparently my testimony, as posted on the forum at MyLifeAfter.com, inspired a journalist with the National Enquirer. He wrote a story that was published in the May 10, 2004 issue of the National Enquirer entitled Real Life Miracles of The Passion. In it he included detailed information about the miracle of my sister's cancer being healed taken directly from my post on the MyLifeAfter.com forum and the televised special! I am so thrilled that my testimony will now touch the lives of millions more people!

I have seen and felt the hand of God many times over since being born again and witnessing this miracle; I cannot attest to them all here now, but they are written in my journal of God's fingerprints. God's fingerprints are all around, raining down on me with His light and mercy!

(For anyone wondering: I did not receive any monetary compensation from the producers of the television special and, although the National Enquirer is offering $200 for anyone who submits a similar story that gets published, I have not received any kind of compensation from them either. The story was published without my knowledge or consent. However, I do not wish to profit on my miracle... I simply wish to share my testimony with as many people as possible in hopes that the lost may be found, the weak may be strengthened, and the faithful may be reaffirmed. God bless you all!)

Kathi J. Cadigan

PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU SHARE THE BEST NEWS GOD HAS FOR EVERY PERSON BECAUSE...

JESUS DID IT! and...

YOU ARE SO GREATLY NEEDED!

Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity.
(Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)