I’m Still Here

from September/October 2021 Christian Outlook

by The Pentecostal Assembles of The World - The Christian Outlook

Saints Don’t Stop Praying

PRAYER I’M STILL HERE

By Elder Samuel L. Simmons Iwas born in Bruton, Alabama, and stayed there until I was about elementary-school age. One of my most memorable recollections then was when I would go fishing and hunting with my dad. Those were meaningful times for me. My father wasn’t saved but he was a religious man. I know this because of some of the things he would say to me…things like “Sam, understanding is one of the greatest things in the world.” I never forgot that. When I got older, I learned that this statement was related to everything, and that once you have an understanding, people can find a way to sit down at the table together. In fact, I related it to Proverbs 4:7: Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. My father would travel a lot – looking for work. At one point he traveled down to the Florida Keys to try and find farming work or any other opportunities. One day he decided to pack up the family and head to New York to look for work in the city. While we were enroute to the city, our car broke down in Buffalo. Looking back, I can see this was God’s will for us. We were a poverty-ridden family but we still had hope. God blessed us to find a place to live. We lived on Main Street by the railroad tracks in the ghetto for a while until we were able to graduate from the ghetto and move on up to the projects! It was there that I was initiated and became entangled with gang activity. I joined the gang because that’s what you did to survive. But God kept me. I did what gang members did - not even considering the danger level. But even during that time, God kept me. I flirted with a number of drugs, including THC, purple haze, heroin, cocaine, Acapulco gold, alcohol, and a horrible diet. But God kept me. I was big into nice cars, the night life and many other things that pleased the adversary. I have been shot at, and I’ve been shot, but I’m still here. One day, God spoke to me while I was at the club, and told me that I would never return there. When I said this to friends, they thought I was high. But as God isn’t a man that He would lie, I never again returned to that club. In 1974, God saved me. I attended Greater Emmanuel Temple in Buffalo, New York, where I served under Bishop William Crossley. Several months later, every day I woke up, I would feel a strong tug (that felt like a magnet) pull on my heart. That pull led me to read my Bible. I accepted my call to the ministry in 1975. Bishop Crossley let me know that he knew of my ministry call. This was confirmation to me. The burden of the pull got lighter once I yielded and submitted to the will of God. I became a student of the word and even began to build my own library of books.

When God blessed me with a job, I was 19 years old. That job was a true and great blessing to me because it rescued me from my gang-banging lifestyle. As a matter of fact, I stayed on that same job for 43 years! In 1988, my job transferred me to Atlanta, Georgia. The late Elder Marshall Taylor encouraged me to attend Bishop Stewart Reese, Jr.’s church, Bethesda Cathedral. There, I met a wonderful lady named Jocelyn and married her in 1999. I served in this ministry as a Sunday School teacher, president of the brotherhood, as well as armor bearer to the ministry’s founder.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma – a cancer of the plasma cells and the bone marrow. It can damage the bones, immune system and red blood cells. In July of the same year, get this: I became a stem cell donor of my own stem cells. And with that infusion, my Lord and savior came in and regenerated my system. I am so grateful to God for His healing power. God’s people prayed and the Lord raised me up. I thanked Him for the victory over cancer.

“Cancer cast me down but it didn’t destroy me. I am still here for a reason.”

It has since become very apparent to me that this body in which I live – really doesn’t belong to me. How do I know? Eight years later, God decided to use me again. In September, 2020, I was diagnosed with abdominal cancer. But, because I know it’s for His glory, I continue to bless His holy name. God healed me before, and I trust Him. If God wanted to take me home, He would’ve done it a long time ago. Even though I am currently still taking chemotherapy, I don’t blame anyone; and I most certainly don’t blame God. I love Him for what He has done in my life. I am grateful for every day that He allows me to be on this earth and serve as His witness. It has been appointed unto us once to die, but I encourage the people of God to not live in fear or in fear of dying. Many have been afflicted and some are no longer with us; but even with cancer, I’m still here. It’s hard to believe I’ve been in ministry for 40 plus years, but I am just as inspired now as I was when the Lord first called me. It is with total humility that I serve my current pastor Suffragan Bishop Stewart Reese III and Pastor Emeritus, Bishop Stewart Reese, Jr., as Joshua served Moses. My life is for the glory of God. My sickness is for the glory of God. I told God that it would be fine if He took me home (as if He needed my permission). Cancer cast me down but it didn’t destroy me. I am still here for a reason. God has seen fit to allow me to live – even with this cancer. If God thinks I’m worthy enough to be used, then He is certainly worthy enough to be praised. As I desire to reign with God, I have to be okay with the suffering. Certainly, it’s no goodness of my own but in fact the hand of the Lord that was upon me 50 years ago when I was a gangster, and still rests upon me today. I give Him all the glory.

Our gifts make room for us and bring us before great men (Proverbs 18:16). Maybe cancer has actually come to me as a gift. I am grateful for God’s call, and I’m open for whatever else He wants to use in me for His glory. I thought I knew a lot growing up gangster back in the day; but there is one thing that I now know for sure…that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose. There are three keys by which I live and share with people:

Have a prayer life Love your neighbor Know God’s Word

If I’m only here so that I can be a living testimony for others so that they don’t go down the same rabbit hole, then so be it. I have no sad story to tell. I want to live so that God can use me – anytime and anywhere. And that includes even if I’m sick. Through all of my tests, I could’ve lost my mind, but thanks be to God who continually gives me the victory. So, whatever my lot, the life that I’ve lived has simply taught me to say -- it is well. It isn’t great with my body, but it is well with my soul. And, it is only because of God’s goodness and His mercy that -- I’m still here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samuel L. Simmons is a compassionate, loyal and inspirational elder who is married to Jocelyn Simmons. Together, they share nine sons and seven grand-children. Elder Simmons is also a proud member of Bethesda Cathedral in Decatur, Georgia, where he serves as one of the instructors for the New Members’ Orientation class. Because Simmons has a heart of compassion for all people, he spent five years as a bus monitor for Gwinnett County Public School System assisting students with special needs. His favorite scripture can be found in Romans 1:16, and his advice to others is, “Seek wise counseling from very wise people.”

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