“I was getting ready for church when the phone rang. It was my doctor with some devastating news… “Dora, I’ve got your test results,” she said. “It’s positive.”

In the shower, weeks earlier, I had felt a lump under my armpit and instinctively knew something was wrong. When I told my doctor, she sent me for a mammogram, followed by an ultrasound and a biopsy which confirmed my fears. 

I had stage 2 breast cancer. 

I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had two young children, I was serving God, I was a member of the youth group, and I had always been faithful. I kept asking God, “Why now and why me?” 

I was terrified of cancer after having witnessed my stepfather’s agonizing death from liver cancer. The enemy taunted me with these memories. 

One afternoon, shortly after my diagnosis, I was standing on my balcony in tears when I recalled the words of Charles Stanley, “Are you going to be a victim or a conqueror? You can’t be both. You decide!” Then God spoke into my spirit, “Your stepfather’s story will not be your story.” 

From then on, I prepared myself spiritually for the battle that lay ahead. In the lead up to chemo, nurses gave me a folder outlining the symptoms I’d likely face: fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and appetite changes. 

I took the folder home, put it on top of the closest and never opened it. Then I confessed, “In the name of Jesus, I will have none of those symptoms.” I knew there was power in my confession. I prayed God would make me strong and He did. 

Throughout the chemo and radiation, I had more energy, my skin was more radiant, and I even put on five pounds. At the end of my treatment, I got a clean bill of health, and today, I am cancer-free. 

This pandemic has not scared me. If God can deliver me from cancer, bless us with two children even when the doctors said I had unexplained infertility, and heal me from depression; then He can keep me safe in this season. 

To help me stay strong in my faith, I watch Hillsong Channel every day. The sermons and the songs are like a daily dose of medicine and inspiration when everything else around me is so dark right now.”