Rev. Enoch Fuzz
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want… He leadeth me beside the still water…He restoreth my soul,” selections from Psalm 23.
In May of this year, Rev. Enoch Fuzz, pastor of Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Churches, including Corinthian, were under a ‘stay at home’ order during the Coronavirus pandemic, including Rev. Fuzz. He has not been in the church pulpit since the start of 2020.
Churches are currently holding church services in their parking lots, inside their churches with Covid-19 compliance rules, and virtually through a variety of electronic media platforms. Instead of replacing his ministry in the pulpit with other ways of worship, he has replaced the pulpit with hospital beds, at home beds, and other ‘facilities’ necessary to make him well. He does have ministers that utilize the electronic media for delivering spiritual messages to the congregation, as well as his weekly ministry via texts, email and telephone.
While life is ‘different’ due to a ‘forced alteration’ for Rev. Fuzz, it is also different for his members and everyone else. Fuzz is still ministering to his people, to his family and to his community through his testimony. It may not be from the pulpit; it may not be from an electronic service; and it may not be from the parking lot of his church—but Rev. Enoch Fuzz still ministers from his weekly testimony showing strength and endurance to maintain life during a time of unforeseen illness. The race is not given to the swift, but to the one who endures.
Week-to-week, Rev. Fuzz continues to visit hospitals as a patient under the care of Dr. Thomas. Yet with all of his visits, he has never tested positive for Covid-19. In his words, while those who know him can see a smile, “‘Go Jesus’ goes right there!”
Dear God, in this hour, I ask that you continue to keep your hand on our friend, mentor, father, grandfather, minister and servant of Your works. As Your will shall be done, we ask that You will continue to hear our prayers and know that we pray to You because we trust You. We trust that all that You do is for our good. We ask that we will see what You want us to see in this situation You felt necessary to show us through Your faithful servant, Rev. Enoch Fuzz. Where his words and his actions may not have been enough, we thank You for the show of his strength and continuity and his desire to share in his journey. This must all be for a reason that will show your grace and your mercy in a way that Fuzz didn’t see coming. Lord, You placed him in this precarious position during this precarious time. What is the message for us? I see his continuous love and concern for the public, and I trust him to Your care—just like he trusts me in sharing his journey. God. we thank you for his life and his impact on our lives. May we all continue to pray, as he always references the fact that he always wanted to see so many people praying. These prayers he asks are not just for him, but for mankind. You have a dedicated servant, and we thank You for blessing him. He blesses us with his never-ending trust in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Continue to pray for Rev. Enoch Fuzz and check on him at his Facebook posts. We also encourage you to keep reading his weekly chronicle ‘Cancer: My Journey in Time.’
