NO CASE IS HOPELESS

Paul Gunn was a night watchman for many years employed by the Mesta Machine Company in Pittsburgh. On September 28, 1949, he became ill with viral pneumonia and was taken to Presbyterian Hospital. There his condition failed to improve; his left lung did not seem to clear up regardless of treatment. His doctors grew suspicious, and ordered a series of extensive laboratory tests.

The findings of all the tests were positive, leading to an indisputable diagnosis: advanced cancer of the left lung. The lung was too far gone to permit the use of nonsurgical therapy—and the doctors ordered immediate removal of the infected lung and five ribs.

Paul’s weight had dropped from 200 pounds to 120 pounds. He was constantly spitting blood during the day, and at night he would swallow blood in large quantities, passing it in the morning. He was in continual pain.

“My lung burned all the time,” he recalled, “as though a blowtorch were inside me. I felt like a fire-eater at the circus. Every time I would blow my breath through my mouth, I was actually surprised that no flame came out. If anyone pressed on the left side of my chest, it felt as if the flesh were being held right down on a flame…”

Desperate Faith

While Paul was in the hospital, many friends came to see him. Appalled at his appearance and obvious condition, some of them mentioned to him the wonderful work that God was doing in the revival being conducted on the North Side of Pittsburgh in the Carnegie Auditorium.

“Divine healing was nothing new to me,” said Paul, “… I knew what God could do if we just put forth our faith. But faith without works is dead, so they asked if it would be alright if they sent in a prayer request to Kathryn Kuhlman.”

This was not only “alright” with Paul, but he and his wife also sent in their request for prayer at the same time.

However, so bad was his condition by now, that his family did not expect him to live, prayers or no prayers—surgery or no surgery—until his birthday on October 23. The doctors had made it quite clear that removal of the lung could not guarantee his recovery; it was simply the only indicated procedure that might conceivably save his life.

A Step of Faith

The next day Paul inquired of his doctors how “immediate” his lung surgery must be. He was told that the operation must be performed within the next seven days. Were it to be delayed beyond this, the consensus of medical opinion was that Paul could not hope to survive.

Mr. Gunn then made an unusual request: sick as he was, literally more dead than alive, he asked to be released from the hospital for the week prior to the scheduled surgery. He asked this for two reasons: first, he had various business affairs he felt he must straighten up; and second—and far more important—he wanted to seek God’s healing. He wanted an opportunity to attend the services at Carnegie Auditorium.

The hospital cooperated, giving him permission to leave temporarily. The patient went directly from the hospital to his attorney, where he had his will drawn up, and then, straight from his lawyer’s office he went to the Miracle Service on the North Side.

The Moment of Healing

But Paul Gunn was not healed at that first service: “I was too busy watching the rest,” he says with a smile, “and praying for those who seemed worse off than I was.” Paul attended a total of four meetings that week, fasting and praying, and at the fourth service, after fasting for forty-eight hours, God touched him with His healing hand.

“I’ll never forget any detail of it,” he says. “Suddenly the power of God came down. It hit me and just for an instant the sensation of burning fire in my lung was more intense than it had ever been before. I thought I couldn’t stand it. And then, it was all over—just like that.”

“You know,” he explains, “how when you light a piece of paper, it all crumbles up into ashes? Well, my chest felt as if a match had been struck to a piece of paper inside it. And then it seemed as if God had just taken His hand and touched the pile of ashes, and they all fell away, and from that moment on there was no more burning, no more pain, no more ache. And there hasn’t been from that day to this.”

This whole healing miracle had taken approximately one-half minute. There was not the slightest doubt in Paul Gunn’s mind as to what had happened: he knew he had been instantly healed by the power of the Holy Ghost. The date was October 27, 1949. He walked out of Carnegie Hall that night, upright and well. He no longer needed his canes for support, for he was strong in the Lord.