Through hardships, loss, and grief, the Lord promises His presence. He never promises rescue, but he always promises to be with us. Howard, a Medi-Share member in Arizona, has found the Lord’s presence to be incredibly real this year as he lost his dear wife Sherry.
Howard and Sherry joined Medi-Share in 2016. As a pastor, Howard did not have medical insurance through his church, and the couple relied on Sherry’s job to provide health insurance coverage. When she was laid off, the two of them decided to join Medi-Share because it was budget-friendly and biblically-based alternative.
In 2018, Sherry developed a tumor on her brain. Though it was a trying time, she recovered quickly, and all seemed well. The couple was grateful for Medi-Share’s support, and they even made a video testimony together afterward.
But in 2022 another tumor was found on Sherry’s brain, about the size of half a fingernail. She had surgery to remove the tumor through a pencil-size hole in her skull, then endured a total of 27 rounds of radiation and 73 rounds of chemotherapy.
At the same time, Howard and Sherry had just moved to a new church and were in the process of rebuilding their lives in that new community.
And God was with them.
“God moved us where we needed to be,” Howard recalls. “He put us in a church that met needs—financial needs, food needs, whatever it was. They were willing to help.”
Sherry lost her hair due to the radiation, but she never let that stop her from living life. When she and Howard went out, she would wear a turban, and Howard was stunned at how often that sparked conversation with strangers. Doors for sharing the gospel opened wherever they went.
When people would come up and ask questions, Howard says, “We’d share how God was working in this, how he’d never left us or forsaken us. Then we’d find out if they had a relationship with God, and if not, we would share the gospel with them. That was happening to us constantly.”
And God was in their midst.
In the summer of 2025, Sherry began to have trouble walking; her bad headaches had returned and she fell down at times. Howard took her in for an MRI, and by the time they got home, the results were in: another brain tumor.
Three days later, she went in for surgery to remove the tumor, a procedure which paralyzed her left side. When the hospital released her eleven days later, she was discharged straight to a rehab center. In November, she came home with hospice, and Howard was told to plan for the end of her earthly life. Sherry was greeted by her Savior on December 10th.
And she was with God.
In Sherry’s last months, Howard felt the Lord’s presence through his church. They would come and stay with Sherry if he had to be gone. They took care of practical needs and were always lifting Sherry and Howard up in prayer.
“And it wasn’t just our church,” he says, “Medi-Share was there for us as well.”
He recalls how Sherry’s care team at Medi-Share would call weekly after the surgery. They’d ask how she was progressing, make sure all the bills were getting processed correctly, and pray together. Sherry would receive cards from her care team and other members.
“They go beyond financial support,” he says. “Sherry always said, ‘Isn’t it awesome to see the church in action.’”
Two days after she passed, Howard received another call. It was Sherry’s care team, calling to check in. When he told them the news, they mourned and prayed together. Then Howard, who had just spoken with the funeral home, says the care team member delivered an unknown fact. “They said, ‘Do you know that we will help with reimbursement of funeral costs?’ Every step of this they’ve been with us. We couldn’t have done it without Medi-Share.”
Dr. Curt Thompson explores grief in his book, The Deepest Place. In it, he emphasizes the importance of the body of Christ, not just as a metaphor. “The notion of us being literally, materially one body is not easy for us to fully appreciate or appropriate … we do not attune to the seriousness with which the Trinity takes us as his church and intends for us—in our very bodies—to convey the presence of Jesus to each other and to the world.”
This is why the church and why Medi-Share exists: to be with one another. In a time of great sorrow, Howard experienced Jesus quite literally through Christ, embodied—the body of Christ. We mourn deeply with Howard, and we pause with reverence to marvel at the gentle reminder of the Lord’s presence in his testimony.
God, be with Howard.