Jesus Still Heals

Message by: Mike Leitzel

Mike was paralyzed from stage four prostate cancer. One day he was singing with the choir in church, the next day, he was paralyzed from the chest down.

God called Mike to give his story, but he had to overcome his fears in order to do it. We are so glad he did. Mike started off with some scripture…

1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Mike's story really begins in the 70's. Mike grew up near Pillow, PA. It was a different time. No one needed to lock doors, keys were left in the ignition, and the world looked different. Mike went to Line Mountain, and he played baseball. He spent a lot of time with his buddies at his coach's (Glenn) house - working on cars. After they were done working on cars, they'd all play cards around the kitchen table.

One evening, a guy named Joe pulled into Glenn's garage with a new motorcycle. Joe asked if Mike wanted to take a ride, and he did. Before he knew it, they were driving 120 mph and were looking at both lanes with cars - nowhere to go. Miraculously, they made it by passing through the cars by inches. At that time, Mike was not a born again Christian, but he knew God spared him that night. A short time later, Joe was driving his motorcycle (too fast) not far from that same spot, but this time he didn't make it out with the same fate. Joe crashed his bike and was paralyzed. Mike remembered how terrible that would have been. Being paralyzed was one of the worst things he could think of.

When Mike was found to have stage four prostate cancer, they were traveling to Mexico for treatments.

One November Sunday, Mike was practicing for a musical in church, and noticed weird sensations in his back. The next day, Mike had an appointment for tests. On his way to get an MRI, they had to give him morphine for the extreme pain. He became sick from the morphine. This was the time he became paralyzed. Things could have been worse if this happened while he was at home.

The next day, they found where the cancer was pressing against his spine. He was given two options: 1) let things go or 2) undergo a surgery to try to remove cancer spots with an unknown result of whether he would ever be able to walk again. He opted for the surgery.

Waiting for the surgery, he suffered everything one with paralysis suffers.

While the pastor and his wife were there to pray with Mike, they had an opening in the OR, and they were able to get him into surgery four hours earlier - which was important because every minute mattered and the sooner they had surgery, the better his chances were.

They told Mike he would not be able to move anything for at least the first day after his surgery, but he did. He could move his feet when he woke up.

Next came physical therapy.

He could not make it into the wheelchair on the first day of PT - he got sick just sitting up. He became sick and they didn't get any PT done. He knew it would be a long recovery.

Mike asked, “Why did this happen? Why me?”

Day two of PT was slightly better…. Then he had some kind of episode where his whole body became shaky and felt hot. Mike prayed to God, letting God know he was ready to go if He was calling Mike home.

He was transported to Hershey. It looked like he had sepsis. Mike again prayed that he was ready to go if God was ready to take him.

More PT. It wasn't going well. He went home in a wheelchair.

Getting in and out of their SUV with a wheelchair was hard, but God helped them buy a Honda Accord - located between home and PT. When Mike was well enough to be able to climb into the SUV again, a man up and offered to buy their Honda Accord because it was the exact car he was looking for for his daughter.

One day, Mike was trying to read, but couldn't make out any of the words… he had had a stroke. Thankfully, it was not major.

Mike kept putting work in, and God put him into a PT where encouraging faces (from his own church), so he knew he was where God wanted him.

Mike is walking perfect today!! God was not ready to call Mike home.

This was Mike's hardest trial. His biggest fear was being paralyzed.

God showed Mike and his wife, Karen, His hand during this season. He took care of them and continued to show his provision.

Because of their treatments in Mexico, they knew of people from around the world who were praying for him. They also received many cards and letters from people associated with Samaritan Ministries (their healthcare organization). Churches from around our valley were all praying for Mike. The prayers worked!

Now, every night, Mike prays, “Thank you, Jesus, for letting me walk again.”

Because of what Mike went through, people around him witnessed a miracle.

Jesus still performs miracles today.

Two months ago, the scan showed ALL cancer in Mike's vertebrae was gone!

Prayer is powerful. Never give up praying.