News and Updates
November 1, 2023
David Copeland · November 1, 2023
Newsletter · Volume: 23 Issue: 11
November 2023
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Proverbs 24:10
It is really easy to tell someone how to respond to a crisis if you have never been through that particular crisis.
I can remember back in the early days of our ministry how (sadly) I would tell people who had been divorced that they would not be able to be used by God ever again. Then, in 1985/86, I was faced with the prospect of being divorced. Pam and I went through that season of crisis, one hundred dollars away from a divorce, and one day, God spoke to my heart and said, “Where is your big mouth now?” He also said to me, “If you will ask Me, I will give you your marriage and your ministry back to you!” I knew that even though I was almost divorced, God had not “un-called” me to the ministry. Thankfully, the truth of Romans 11:29, where Paul states, “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable,” kept me from losing my mind…and my marriage during those dark days. And to God be the Glory, He saved my and Pam’s marriage, and in February 2024, we will celebrate forty-four years as husband and wife. I must also say I realize every marriage doesn’t make it, but my point is we should never judge someone going through a crisis if we have never experienced that same challenge ourselves.
As many of you know, on September 22 of this year, I was diagnosed with tonsil cancer on my right tonsil. On Tuesday, October 24th, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, I will have surgery to remove the tonsil and some lymph nodes below the tonsil. The surgeon feels confident they can remove all traces of cancer. I have already been cleared (barring any post-op complications) to return to Kenya for our final Schools of Ministry and graduations for 2023. Please understand this: I shall not die but live and declare the glory of the Lord!!
I want to thank my son-in-law, Eric Hayslip, for starting a GoFundMe on Facebook to help with many unexpected medical bills that our insurance will not cover. Pam and I have insurance, but it comes with a high deductible. Thank you to everyone who has given in to this fundraiser, and we promise all monies raised through that will be used for medical expenses.
Because of surgery, I cannot keep our preaching engagements from now until late November. Also, the ministry in Kenya, our service to many churches and pastors here in the United States, will continue despite our being restricted in our activities over the next several weeks. We are responsible to our Schools of Ministry to shoulder the costs of training and equipping our pastors this December, as we have at least 100 students who will be graduating from both the Kilgoris School and the Narok School of Ministry.
I know these are trying times for many of us, and I am so grateful for all our regular partners who consistently help us keep this ministry moving forward. If you want to give specifically toward our December Schools of Ministry, you can do so online at revivalnow.org/give, click the dropdown donation box, and select Revival Now School of Ministry.
As we enter the Thanksgiving season here in the United States, Pam and I say thank you to everyone who is standing with us in prayer. Thank you for all the wonderful, encouraging messages we have received, as well as every financial gift. It has overwhelmed us with great gratitude. Please agree with us for the surgeon to remove ALL traces of cancer, so there will be no need for any further treatment after surgery.
Thank you to every pastor who has opened their pulpits to us over the last twenty-two years of traveling ministry.
Thank you to every church that has stood with us financially over the last twenty-two years.
Thank you to our family, who has sacrificed time with us so we could fulfill the call of God upon our lives for this hour.
Thank you for believing in us and our mandate to the nations of the world!