By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
TERRY, Miss. (LBM) – Pastor Lee Faler and wife Jordan are effusive about God’s faithfulness to them after losing their son to brain cancer.
Rankin was only 6 years old when he died.
Faler said despite the pain, he and Jordan were buoyed by what he described as “God’s endless love” while they traveled through a dark valley.
“This has shown me how strong Jesus’ love is for us,” Faler, pastor of First Baptist Church, Terry, told the Baptist Message prior to a recent revival service at Boeuf River Baptist Church, Winnsboro. “He is not just sufficient to save. He is sufficient to sustain. It was something we knew in our heads but now we know it in our hearts because He’s walked it Himself and He’s walked it with us.
“Your trials can make you better or they can make you bitter,” he continued. “I don’t know exactly when it happened for me. But somewhere between August and right now, the Lord ignited a hunger in my heart for Him — to the point that my prayer has been ‘God if I can’t be white hot and I can’t have the fire, then I have too much in Heaven waiting for me. Take me home if I can’t be useful.’”
CHALLENGED
The journey began in March 2021, when they returned from a family vacation. Rankin had complained about a headache and was taken to the emergency room at a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, not far from their home in Terry.
Rankin grew weaker in the next few days and when he did not regain his strength, he underwent more medical tests. The doctors discovered he had stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme (a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor).
The family spent the next six months in and out of the hospital with Rankin, all the while praying with scores of others from around the country for a miracle they knew might not be granted.
ENCOURAGED
Faler said his family was amazed at the love and kindness generously shared with them:
— words of encouragement arrived via Facebook, text messages, phone calls, postal mail and e-mail;
— community members rang the church bell, 6 p.m., June 28-Aug. 17, as part of a nightly reminder to pray for the Falers;
— FBCT’s deacons approved payment of salary with benefits to Faler, even though he was unable to preach; and
— members of the congregation cleaned the Faler’s home, brought meals and washed clothes (March to September). Financial gifts also poured in.
The family received enough money to cover their medical and living expenses. Additionally, more than $30,000 was given in Rankin’s memory to establish a scholarship fund for nursing and pre-medical students attending William Carey University (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) and Mississippi College (Clinton, Mississippi).
Students at Copiah Academy, Gallham (where Jordan teaches algebra) learned about the situation and raised more than $5,000 to purchase playground equipment.
“As a pastor you are so used to walking with people on their darkest days,” he said. “Our church walked with us in our difficulties.”
HOPEFUL
Jordan Faler noted that while the loss of a child can cause serious marital strife, her relationship with Lee remained strong because they prayed and kept each other focused on God.
“I wanted people to see God through our suffering,” she said. “We wanted our suffering to be a megaphone that broadcast how wonderful and good God is even in the hard times.
“It’s a choice too,” she continued. “You have to choose how to react in these situations. We could have very well shut down and said, ‘We are not in this together,’ but we didn’t.”
Looking to the future, Faler asked for prayer as his family continues to adjust to life after the loss of Rankin.
“We know we are going to grieve,” he said. “But we want to grieve in hope. “Our heart all along was to point people to Jesus,” he continued. “We wanted to guard against pride and walk in humility; and we wanted to walk in desperation and dependence on Christ.
“Continue to pray for our marriage because we know what this could do and on our worst days what any of us are capable of doing,” he said. “Pray for our kids and that we would shepherd them well, too.”
Contact the scholarship fund manager: 601.292.3210.
