They were wrong: Priscilla Shirer says doctors didn't expect mom Lois Evans to see 70th birthday
Article By Rebecca Johnson // EEW Magazine News // Faith + Family
On Dec. 1, First Lady Lois Evans celebrated her 70th birthday surrounded by loved ones. Despite her ongoing battle with cancer, she is a fierce and fabulous warrior, living her best life and defying doctors’ expectations.
Would we expect anything less of this faith-filled queen?
According to Lady Evans’ daughter, 44-year-old Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer, her birthday was “a day that doctors made us worry she would likely not see”—something she revealed in a touching Instagram tribute to her mother.
However, “They were wrong,” added Shirer. “She’s here...we are celebrating...and I am celebrating.”
As recently reported by EEW Magazine Online, this year, the beloved pastor’s wife was diagnosed with a recurrence of a rare gallbladder cancer that came back after she was cancer-free for a while.
Dr. Tony Evans and First Lady Lois Evans (Photo Credit: Instagram)
Dr. Tony Evans, husband of Lady Evans and pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, TX, told Religion News Service that this is “a great test of faith in our lives because it's incurable cancer, and the doctors said there's nothing more they can do. So we are totally resting on the supernatural at this point.”
Pastor and Lady Evans, both 70, have built a thriving mega ministry together, and they reach millions of people around the world through The Urban Alternative—a Christian broadcast and teaching ministry launched in 1982 that is heard on more than 1,200 radio stations in over 130 different countries.
Now the influential couple is standing firmly on the same faith and hope they inspire in many others around the world, and we would expect nothing less.
On Nov. 12, in an Instagram post, Lady Evans’ son, author and singer Tony Evans, Jr. shared a photograph of his mother adorned in all white standing next to Dr. Evans and worshiping God at church “3 weeks after the doctors sent us home with no hope saying my mom would basically be bedridden.”
In his caption, he said, “This is my mother this weekend in the front row at church. I don’t know about you...but nothing in this picture says no hope! Sometimes what doctors say and what God says are two different things. Don’t let the white coat, stethoscope and big buildings fool you...they don’t have the final word!”
The gorgeous Lois Evans worshiping God after doctors said there was no hope. (Photo Credit: Instagram)
“Because we have a strong faith, we are stable in the midst of instability and uncertainty,” said Dr. Evans. “We stay close to each other as a family, and we stay close to God.”
Last month, on Nov. 26, Dr. Evans lost his 90-year-old father, Arthur S. Evans Sr., just two days before Thanksgiving. On Instagram, the grieving leader said, “My father was my foundation. He served as the rock of our family, leading us all to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. I saw him love the Lord, love his family, and love the body of Christ with his life.”
Dr. Tony Evans and his late father Arthur S. Evans, Sr. (Photo Credit: Instagram)
The Evans family has experienced a recent string of losses.
Last July, Pastor Evans’ 38-year-old niece Wynter Pitts died unexpectedly. Here death came six months after his brother succumbed to Myeloma, a cancer of the blood. Evans’ sister Beverly Johnson transitioned this January.
Despite the heartbreaking losses, Dr. Evans, a best-selling author and Bible scholar, is yet strong in faith and is expecting God to do the impossible for Lady Evans. “We're just trusting God in the middle of that and taking it day by day. We're believing for a miracle, but we trust him regardless,” he said.
