Starting the group

Hi everyone,

My name is Larry Taylor and like many of you, my life has been impacted by cancer – through being a caregiver and myself personally. If you’ve been affected by cancer, I don’t need to share all the emotions, thoughts, etc. that go with it. It’s a terrible disease but there’s also hope.

While going through my own journey, it quickly became apparent there are no personal cancer support resources available in the Troy/Montgomery County area for patients, caregivers, survivors and family members. So I said to myself “Well self, ok, let’s start one!”. So along with Gene Griffith, who has personal experience as a cancer caregiver and has graciously agreed to help, we will be leading a support group (and expanding the leadership team as time goes on).

Our vision also includes expanding beyond our meeting room and reaching out to those in our community who are unable to attend meetings. We want to minister to their needs where they’re at, being the face of Jesus in their lives. 2 Corinthians 1:4 tells us that we are to use our trials and suffering to equip us to comfort others: “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” And that expansion will also include volunteers and whatever else the Lord has in store. That’s exciting.

The needs and challenges of cancer patients who don’t have caregivers or family support is tremendous. It includes everything from appropriate housing to needing assistance to handle the most basic life tasks. And the challenges for caregivers who literally work 24/7 in caring for their loved ones is tremendous as well, where you often see the caregiver’s health decline more rapidly than those they’re caring for. So it’s not a case of looking for enough areas of service, it’s how do we work together in reaching as many areas as possible.

We are going to be meeting at Troy First Baptist church Thursday afternoons between 3 – 4 PM starting June 18. Directions are under the Directions page. All are welcome. Cancer can be extremely lonely due to many factors but the truth is we’re not alone. God is faithful and true to His promises. If we are His, He will never leave us nor give us more than we can handle. Wow, that’s so cool. 🙂

So please come and join us.

Warmest regards,
Larry