One Story

Doctor sees son's cancer disappear: 'Praise God!'

"It’s hard to put into words what I felt," he says. "I’m a physician and I deal in the realm of diseases and often see some very sad stories."

Dr. Guethon may have found words hard to come by, but he and his wife, Liana, had no difficulty knowing where to turn with a brain biopsy scheduled for a few days later.

"We immediately reached out to every brother and sister in Christ we knew," he says. "We said, 'Lord, we're asking for a miracle, that when they do the tests and rescan Daniel, that they won’t find anything.'"

Reaching out to CFE

Among the people that the Guethons reached out to - and who reached out to them -were Dr. Felix Andarsio, his wife Odalys and their family. Their daughter Zoe is in The King’s Academy band with Daniel and Liana Guethon is the administrative assistant to the director of admissions.

"We believe in a God who can do miracles," says Odalys. "The same Jesus who did miracles way back when is the same Jesus doing them now."

In that faith, the Andarsios and many other prayer warriors began lifting Daniel's name to the Lord. On the weekend prior to the biopsy, the Andarsios invited Daniel and his family to attend CF eñ Español services with them. At the end of that service, CFE Pastor Daniel Arbolaez asked anyone who needed prayer to come to the altar.

"I saw this little boy and felt this incredible compassion for him," recalls Pastor Daniel. "I approached this group of people before I knew anything about why they were there. His dad explained to me with tears in his eyes that his son had this life-threatening disease."

'You could feel the presence of God ...'

"Pastor Daniel laid hands on him and prayed," remembers Odayls Andarsio. "You could feel the presence of God in that service."

Dr. Guethon says, "He told us that we were going to pray for a miracle while expressing our gratitude to God for who He is and all that He has already done."

And that’s what they did, says the pastor, even as he held back his own tears. "I reminded (Daniel) of God’s purpose in his life ... and God's sovereignty over everything," he says. "We prayed, 'God, do whatever brings glory unto Your Name.'"

A few days later, young Daniel went in for another scan and a biopsy -- the cancer was still there. But even as the samples from the biopsy were sent off to a major cancer center for analysis, "we felt an incredible peace come over us," says Dr. Guethon. "We know that God is a God of hope ... and that God is good whether he healed Daniel or not."

'There's nothing there! Praise God!'

Then the moment came. The analysis was back. It didn’t show any cancer. And subsequent MRIs show the mass that Dr. Guethon had seen for himself is no longer there. After the last one in July, "I said to his neurosurgeon, 'Have you seen these films? There’s nothing there! Praise God!'

"It’s amazing. Did God make the molecules and atoms change from cancer? I don’t know how it all works," says Dr. Guethon. "But we believe this was God's answer to our prayers."

Liana Guethon puts it more simply - "My husband knows what he saw on that MRI. This truly is a miracle."

Although they regularly attend a church other than Christ Fellowship, the Guethons say that they’ll be forever grateful to Pastor Daniel and the CFE family. And it wasn’t only their son who was blessed.

"Pastor Daniel ministered to us as parents," says Liana. "It was what we needed to hear."

Watching God work during this time has changed their lives, strengthened their family and encouraged their testimony, says Dr. Guethon.

"We’re closer now. We have a new appreciation for life. Our prayer life is more vibrant and our faith is stronger," he says. "It’s not until you’re tested where life and theology cross that you really know."