Raymond McNair
did not die of cancer

Raymond McNair
did not die of cancer

Eve McNair, widow of longtime Worldwide Church of God evangelist Raymond F. McNair, has notified The Journal that her husband did not die of prostate cancer or any other form of cancer.

This newspaper, in its July 31, 2008, issue, reported that 78-year-old Mr. McNair, founder of the Church of God 21st Century,"in recent years reportedly battled prostate cancer."

The Journal had based that statement on a press release from Mr. McNair in 2006 in which he announced that the cancer he apparently believed he was afflicted with appeared to be "arrested" or even "totally eradicated."

After The Journal published an article on page 1 of its issue No. 130 reporting that Mr. McNair, of Temecula, Calif., had died, Mrs. McNair requested a follow-up article in The Journal to make clear that he had not died of cancer.

She explained that several years ago a doctor had visited Mr. McNair at his residence and assumed that an enlarged prostate gland meant he had cancer.

But "an enlarged prostate does not mean evidence of cancer!" Mrs. McNair said in a written statement she provided to The Journal. "I never accepted his diagnosis. I prayed to God that he [the doctor] would not return to our home again. Months later we learned he had to retire due to an injury."

God's intervention

Although Mr. and Mrs. McNair concluded, with counsel from health professionals they trusted, that Mr. McNair never suffered from cancer, he did suffer from bedsores.

However, after help from a doctor friend from Arizona, Mr. McNair's bedsores largely dissipated.

Mrs. McNair said she had been "ecstatic to finally see this nightmarish battle beginning to come to a positive end."

During Mr. McNair's health trial of nearly six years "God showed us that He could heal my husband if He so desired," Mrs. McNair wrote. "We saw signs of His intervention, total recovery and evidence of healing many times."

But then, just days before the Day of Atonement in the fall of 2008, "Eric Ortmeier [Mr. McNair's caregiver] and I began to see a slow decline in my husband's physical well-being. It was evident that his health was waning. But we continued in doing our part."

Mr. McNair died Oct. 11, 2008.

"On Sabbath morning, two days prior to the Feast of Tabernacles, God intervened again. But this time He took him to his resting place. My husband and I were finally receiving the rest we had prayed and longed for."

So what was the cause of Mr. McNair's death?

In a separate statement to The Journal from Mr. Ortmeier, the caregiver explained that "about two weeks before Mr. McNair passed away" a "dramatic change [was] beginning to take place" in his bedsores.

"Mr. Cartwright, and members of the Church, I wish to assure you, and am repeating before the God I serve, that Mr. McNair did not die from Prostate cancer!! Absolutely not!! His death was caused by tremendously large bedsores, of which I have never seen in all my years as a care giver."

Death is not the end

Mrs. McNair concluded:

"God's will was carried through. Yet we do not question His decision. Painful as it is for me and our family, we are wholeheartedly content in knowing that my husband is finally at peace.

"As we know, death is but for a moment! Afterwards, the resurrection and our reuniting with loved ones. Ultimately, our long-awaited eternity with Jesus Christ finally arrives!

"May God speed the days ahead for us all!"

To write Mrs. McNair

Mrs. McNair receives mail at Church of God 21st Century, P.O. Box 893909, Temecula, Calif. 92589, U.S.A.