David Nobbs is a member of the pastoral team at Salisbury Elim who has had two battles with cancer and won. He told Direction how having God on our side makes all the difference
When you are diagnosed with cancer, it’s a momentous occasion. If you’re a professional nurse who knows your way around a diagnosis, it’s even worse. When David Nobbs was told he had developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, he was faced with this dilemma.
“Being a nurse by profession, one instantly thinks, ‘This is the beginning of the end.’ Being a Christian, one’s thoughts are, ‘God can help me.’”
These might seem like opposites, but David’s story is actually a bit more 50/50 than you might imagine. He was diagnosed in January 2001 and admitted to Salisbury District Hospital.
“After minor surgery the diagnosis was confirmed,” he says. “The consultant said I was to commence chemotherapy the next day and told me he could do 50 per cent, but I must do 50 per cent.
“I told him that I was a Christian and that with much prayer we would win this battle. Praise God – when I had a scan halfway through my treatment the consultant advised me that there was no evidence of the disease. He could not quite understand this and I was privileged to tell him that my God was the answer. People had prayed for me all across the country and God was responsible for my cure.”
After his remarkable recovery, you’d think that David would just be pleased to see the back of the hospital, but that’s not quite what life had in store.
“Twelve years later, my wife found me unconscious on the floor,” he remembers. One whirlwind hospital trip later, a divine connection sawDavid referred to Southampton. “The consultant in Salisbury had been the specialist registrar to one of the country’s leading surgeons,” he explains.
“Whilst I was ill, the church was brilliant in supporting me. I was in the regional liver unit in Southampton which is a long way from Salisbury and my wife, Jeanette, doesn’t drive. Nevertheless, they didn’t forget me.”
Successful surgery removed the malignant tumour from David’s liver, and 18 months on, he was as fit as a fiddle.
“The oncologist told me he could not understand how I was so well, but that he was going to discharge me. I thanked him for this and I said to him that I have a strong Christian faith and that God had control of the situation.”
As amazing as his story is, David’s healings are simply a part of a life lived in faith.
“I was brought up in a Christian home and converted as a young lad of 12 years old through the caravan mission to children,” he recalls. “I did start to drift away, but I’m so grateful that the Lord didn’t let me go far.
“It’s been an integral part of my life – the main drive. The Lord has looked after me in many ways, not only from a health point of view. I was involved with St John Ambulance from the age of 11 and ended up as deputy chief nursing officer.
“When I went to interviews to become the second most senior officer in the organisation, I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to do this, make it very obvious,’ and the Lord answered those prayers so clearly – and that’s been our way through life, my wife and I.”
Although he’s been a Christian for much of his life, David hasn’t always been in Elim. He and his wife certainly felt led to Salisbury Elim, where they found a new lease of spiritual life. “We came to Elim and all the people came and said hello and welcomed us and we just felt that the Lord had led us down that road.
“The biggest change in our Christian walk came when we joined Elim. I had never had any real Pentecostal experiences, but it’s been the happiest years of our lives, in Elim. We look after the pastoral care, visiting people’s homes, taking the Lord’s table to them and having fellowship. We’re so grateful and privileged.”
David’s not the only one in his household that has suffered at the hands of debilitating illness either.
“My wife had cancer too,” he explains, “but she had a mastectomy and also recovered, which is great news. I think the essence of our life is, as the Scriptures say, ‘In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.’ He has. He’s never let me down. I’ve let him down millions of times, but he’s never let us down.”
A healing story can be a great witness and that’s exactly what David has found.
“Just this morning, a man came out to pick up my car for repair,” David says, “and he said, ‘I never thought I’d see you again!’ When he picked it up two years ago I had just had major surgery. Whilst I don’t take anything away from the medics, I started to tell him about how I had a God in heaven, and he was quite taken really!”