Thank you for Praying for Dudley
On June 26, 2009, Dudley was diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma - a very rare and bad cancer. The doctor could not give a stage the cancer was in at that time. Dudley will begin chemo on Monday, July 6th. Please pray with us for God's strength and direction!
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,
for I am your God. I will stregthen you and
help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
- Isaiah 41:10
Please read this in its entirety.... November 14, 2009
It is with the deepest regret that I send this to all of you today and for those of you who know the Davis’ personally, I deeply apologize that I’m sharing this news with you through the website; however Jenny and I discussed notification this morning and felt this would be the best way to share the news with each of you and reduce the number of difficult conversations through phone calls.
Dudley made the trip home to be with our Lord and Savior this morning. He was in his home with his family and he made a very peaceful journey. Sitting here typing this email, Dudley’s own words keep coming back to me over and over again, “It’s a win/win situation! Either I get better and get to stay here with my family, or I’ll be with my heavenly Father…Man! I can’t lose!”
Please know the family has requested that each of you hold all calls and visits today while they take some time for some much needed rest and begin to make arrangements. When dates and times have been determined for services an email will be forwarded to each of you with the necessary details.
Dudley completed his life here on earth fulfilling his mission. He continually prayed, praised our Lord, and worked toward The Great Commission; to lead others to the salvation of Christ. Our greatest tribute to Dudley today would be to honor him with our personal recommitment to Christ and / or the acceptance of salvation.
The gift of salvation is exactly that, a gift. It’s free to each of us no matter where you are in your life, what you’re doing, or what you’ve done. Salvation comes from the acknowledgement that Jesus is your personal Lord and Savior and that He was crucified on a cross for your sins. Everyone is a sinner and has fallen short of the glory of God, but through Christ we have been given grace and mercy and can secure an eternity in heaven with our Lord and Savior by simply accepting the gift. I’d ask that you take a moment and pray the following prayer with me:
“Lord, thank you for loving me. I admit that I am a sinner and have done things in my lifetime that have separated me from you. I’m asking you now to please forgive me. I believe that you were crucified for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. Lord, I’m handing my life over to you now and ask that you take control. Help me to live in a way that is pleasing to you.”
If you prayed that prayer today, please take a moment to share with us your renewal of faith and/or your acceptance of His salvation by sending an email to contactus@prayingfordudley.com and let us know.
Thank you all for your continued support of this wonderful family. Please continue to pray for their family; specifically strength and peace.
Dean and Tassie Winters
Click Here: Urgent Update - 11/03/09 - Check out the Events/Sponsors for info on a Raffle.
Who is Dudley Davis?
Many of you may be praying for Dudley because you’ve heard of his situation from a friend or maybe you were at church this morning and as a congregation you prayed for him and his family. Below are testimonies from his family and friends that provide a view into the life of the man we have all come to know and love, Dudley Davis.
Have a story about Dudley you’d like to share as well? Send it to contactus@prayingfordudley.com and we’ll add it to the website.
Some of you reading this page will know exactly who my dad is, and when you read these things you will laugh and think, “That is so Dudley!" But, others of you have been asked to pray for him or help his situation as best as you can and you have no real idea who he is. My dad is an incredible guy, and it is hard to not see that. He cares for people more than most could even dream about caring; he loves to laugh, always has a smile on his face, works his hardest in every situation, he is strong, confident, would go out on a limb for just about anybody, and he has the heart of a servant that he has instilled into us, his children. But, there is one thing that is far more important than any of those things, my dad loves God!!! He loves God so much that it doesn't matter what the circumstances are, he wants God's will to be followed. That is something that cannot be said about many people because they want that as long as it isn't too hard, but not my dad! He has faith that God has a plan, and He does, and he trusts in God knowing that He will take care of us in a greater way than what we can see right now. If you don't know my dad, you are missing out, because God uses him to change lives every day!
Savannah Davis – Dudley’s Daughter, Age 20
First off, and the obvious thing is, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my dad. I could not have grown into the person I am today without my dad. He has taught me so much! He’s taught me everything from fixing a door, to catching fish, changing the oil in my truck, and showing someone how much you care about them. But most importantly, he has taught me how to be a man of God!! I am so grateful to have the best dad and I don’t know what I would have done or who I would have become without him.
Tate Davis – Dudley’s Son, Age 18
My dad is a Man of God. He likes to do things to help people. He can pretty much fix ANYTHING. Mind you it will be a little red neck sometimes, but hey that’s what makes him, “Dudley Do Right.” He loves to Fish, and do stuff outside! I think sometimes He loves his Smoker a little too much. (hahaha) That’s one of his passions is smoking meat and cooking in those stinking cook offs. But that’s what he loves and he is darn good at it. When he watches TV, which is pretty rare he watches The Deadliest Catch…hah I guess it’s a man show? He would do anything for me if I just asked him to. Same goes for most everyone else, I do believe. I think one of his biggest passions is doing Missions work. He loves it, and I love that he loves it because he raised me to do it too, and I love it! So, I know that till his last day here, he will continue to advance the Kingdom of God.
Natalie Davis - Dudley’s Daughter, Age 16
The hard part of this exercise is making it brief. There is so much to tell about Dudley and his family reaching out to help people. From paying for an employee to see family in California (when he was just trying to get his own business off the ground and running) to taking food, water, supplies and encouragement to southern Louisiana following Katrina when all the “big shots” told him there was nothing he could do down there. In the time I’ve known Dudley there has never been a time when the challenges were so great that I got the impression that he thought there was nothing he could do. He has always demonstrated the faith that if he stepped up and started, God would carry him and the project forward through the trials and adverse circumstances.
On a trip to Mexico a couple of years ago with the Davis family we encountered some difficulty crossing the border. A young man that was going with us could not enter Mexico as his papers were not in order. We could not do anything about it until the following morning so we started looking for a hotel for the night. For whatever reason there were no rooms to be found that night. The Davis family (5), Michael, and myself spent the night sleeping in the van. The loudest complaint I heard was “this thing is not very comfortable to sleep in.” That was my sentiment exactly. The important thing to the whole family was to get on to Saltillo to minister to the missionaries there.
There are so many things that have made Dudley an inspiration to me personally that I could go on for pages but I won’t. I will say that we should all have the faith in and dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ that Dudley and his family have shown in their service and love.
George and Dixie Dewey
I think the way Dudley has touched my life the very most is through my children. I see him at church and every function, he is always involved and serving any way he can. But I love to watch him with the kids, all kids. He has a heart for kids of all ages and always has a smile (and usually a piece of gum and a high five) and one thing that sets him apart from most of us that love kids is that he NEVER just dismisses them. He always stops to hear what they have to say, which is pretty important when you're little. He is an amazing man with a gift for accepting kids as they are. My family adores him and is in prayer for him daily.
Amy Strayhorn
When I first really met Dudley, he came to me at church to shake my hand, hug my neck and let me know that he was praying for me about the stress I was going through about my job. At that point, I had only noticed him walking around in church in his shorts and sandals smiling at everyone while shaking their hands. His family soon became part of our home team and I got to know more and more about him. His faith is never ending and he is absolutely a tremendous disciple for Christ. He will witness to anyone, anywhere at anytime.
When he found out about his illness, he told me that if it was time for him to go home to be with the Lord or stay on earth with his family, either way it was a win win situation for him.
I strongly believe that Dudley is mentally ready for this battle with this illness and with God's eternal grace along with all his friends prayers(and he has many) he will be cured and continue to bring many more lost souls to God!
Dudley continues to be an inspiration to us all! I am personally proud to be
his friend!Calvin Womack
It was 2007 when Dudley raised the money and the team from his church to come down with all the materials and man power and paint the house of this humble missionary that will forever be grateful to him for it. Although I know he did it unto the Lord and his intent was to come down and paint a house, he ended up painting the picture of a perfect minister and missionary in my heart and mind that will never be forgotten, erased or faded with time.
Thank you so much Dudley for what you did for us, and thank you for being that kind of role model for your family.
Un abrazo,
Brian Brown
Missionary to Monterrey, Mexico
Our Dudley story is like lots of others, as knowing Dudley seems to have that same, positive effect on lots of folks.
We first met him at Park Lake---right at home, shaking hands, remembering something about everyone he talks to. My husband was very stressed out about his job at the time, we had not planned on him retiring for another three years, but his health was suffering from the daily demands of an ungodly environment. Finally, we took a leap of faith and he turned in his notice. Immediately, you could see a difference--he was sleeping and eating normally and able to hold a conversation about something other than what was going on at work. When we told Dudley of his decision, he started thanking & praising God, told us he had been praying for Calvin's deliverance from evil. Is that Dudley-like, or what?
We have grown even closer to him & his family through our Home Team activities. When our kids couldn't remember his name, they just said, "You know, the bald guy that smiles all the time." Is that Dudley-like, or what?
When our six year old was recently baptized, Dudley greeted him as his little brother, then went on to explain to him what that meant. Is that Dudley-like, or what?
I could go on for a while…it's hard to know when to stop. We just know the love Dudley has shown our family is mutually felt and we will continue to petition our Lord to spare him suffering and hardship.
Bev Womack
I met the Davis family over 10 years ago at Park Lake Church. It was then that they discovered their love for God. Dudley himself has led and helped develop their faith by encouraging their constant growth in Christ. He is such a God fearing and loving man and when people meet Dudley they learn that about him instantly. He uses every opportunity to witness to others whether it be through a smile, hug, or just telling of God's grace. A smile is always on Dudley's face- I've tried personally to just look at him and not smile, but his smile is contagious!
Many years ago I had the pleasure of going on the very first mission trip Dudley went on. He was so eager to help others. We all had the best time redoing the children's church and when everyone went to bed a few of us stayed up and Dudley was definitely one of them. Now mind you it wasn't all work- during those late hours we pulled a few pranks and Dudley-well- he's a pro at pranks-Ha!! So easy going and light hearted but loves to play the jokes. Shooting water out of his sprayer on sleeping bystanders. Applying lipstick on people's faces during their REM sleep. Those were just a few. We did sooo many more.
He is a great husband, father, child of God, friend, and human being. I could go on and on for hours- not to boost his ego, but to say I'm so honored to be one of his friends! My love for Dudley and the Davis family is boundless.
Michelle Wilkins
This website is brought to you by friends of The Davis Family as a means of support and prayer for Dudley and his amazing family. www.dntphotography.us
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