I am writing to invite you to pray for our brother and former president, John Holland and his dear wife, Doris. Some of you may have heard of the severe physical trial John is enduring, and with their whole family’s permission I’m writing to inform you of the medical facts and their present implications. Obviously, as you will note, the purpose of my writing is foremost to prompt the prayer support of our entire movement.
John has been suffering from symptoms that indicate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a highly life-threatening affliction more popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Holland’s are taking a strong position of faith regarding this physical trial and though he is being treated for ALS it is possible that his symptoms could be attributed to another cause. ALS has no detectable indicators other than the symptoms and is diagnosed by the process of elimination of all other possibilities.
To give you a sense of the rate of physical deterioration John’s case has met with, let me simply summarize: (1) late last Spring his legs were weakening at their lower extremities; (2) when I was with John the end of July at a conference we were both speaking at, he was dependent upon a cane; (3) I met John for lunch this autumn and at this time he was in a wheelchair; (4) his present condition is one of virtually complete immobility.
As you can see, his condition is one of great concern to all who know, love and honor this man and his wife–a pair who have given us so much of themselves for a lifetime. Accordingly, I wanted our whole church family to be apprised and to reach out with every order of embrace possible–especially at Christmastime.
Please let us help them by addressing any correspondence you may have to the following e-mail address. Cards or letters may be sent to the address below, but the e-mail address is one means that could vastly simplify any response the family wishes to make, and make possible and easing of some of the burden of the moment.
Dr_Holland@foursquare.org
Dr. John and Doris Holland
PO Box 26902
Los Angeles, CA 90026-0176
Thank you so much. At time like these, it’s especially wonderful to all be a part of a family that cares as I believe we all do for one another.
