Andy Delbridge first noticed the spots on his skin the way most people do — gradually, then all at once. What started as something easy to dismiss became something impossible to ignore. When his dermatologist examined the spots and ran the biopsy, the results came back with a word that changes everything: malignant.
Malignant melanoma. Skin cancer. The dangerous kind.
The Diagnosis
Melanoma is not the kind of skin cancer people brush off. Unlike basal cell carcinoma, which grows slowly and rarely spreads, melanoma is aggressive. It can metastasise. It can move from the skin to the lymph nodes, to the lungs, to the brain. Early detection is critical because once melanoma starts to spread, the prognosis changes dramatically.
Andy's dermatologist identified the malignant melanoma spots and began discussing the treatment path — excision, possible wider margins, monitoring for spread. The medical process was underway.
But Andy had access to something that was not on any medical chart.
The Anointing
There is a passage in the book of James that has been practised by the church for two thousand years. James 5:14 says: "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord."
Andy did exactly that. He called on the leaders in his faith community. They came. They brought oil. And they did what the Scripture says to do — they anointed him and prayed over him in the name of the Lord.
This was not a dramatic televised event. It was not a stadium healing service. It was a small group of believers doing what the first-century church did: taking a brother's illness seriously enough to anoint him with oil and pray with expectation.
They laid hands on the areas where the melanoma was visible. They anointed him with oil. And they prayed — not with doubt, but with the kind of faith that takes God at His word.
The Vanishing
In the days that followed, Andy noticed something. The melanoma spots — the ones that had been biopsied, confirmed malignant, and marked for treatment — began to change. Not gradually. Not subtly. They were disappearing.
Where there had been dark, irregular spots confirmed as cancerous, there was now clear skin. The spots did not fade slowly over weeks. They vanished.
The Confirmation
Andy went back to his dermatologist. The same doctor who had diagnosed the malignant melanoma. The same office where the biopsy had confirmed cancer. The dermatologist examined Andy's skin.
Clear.
No melanoma. No malignant spots. No trace of the cancer that had been there. The dermatologist confirmed what Andy's eyes had already told him: the melanoma was gone.
The doctor who had seen the biopsy results, who had confirmed the malignancy, who had been preparing a treatment plan — was now looking at clean skin where cancerous lesions had been documented. The medical record showed malignant melanoma. The current examination showed nothing. The gap between those two facts could not be bridged by any known medical process.
What This Means for You
Andy Delbridge's story reads like something from the book of Acts. Anointing with oil. Prayer from elders. Cancer vanishing. It sounds ancient. It sounds impossible. And yet it happened to a modern man with a modern diagnosis confirmed by modern medicine.
If you are facing a cancer diagnosis — melanoma or otherwise — and you have a church, a pastor, elders, or a community of believers, do what James says. Ask them to anoint you with oil and pray. It is not a ritual. It is not superstition. It is an act of faith that has been producing results for two thousand years.
The oil does not have magical properties. The power is in the name it is applied in. And that name still has authority over every disease — including the one you are facing right now.
