John Allison

Meet John Allison.

At birth, our three children had debilitating (unknown) diseases whereby their lungs were gradually atrophying. As a last-ditch effort, in 1979 we moved from the winters of Chicago to the desert of Arizona. We put the children in the hands of the country’s foremost expert pulmonologist in hopes of curing them. Good try, no cure. We were at our wit's end. 

In 1999, the year we moved to The Woodlands and joined Faith Bible, we were told by this famous doctor that the only hope was double lung transplantation. We were devastated. How could our kids survive such an intensive, invasive, fairly new, procedure? Is it worth the try or will they die as a result? Is it just a gamble? We decided prayer was the only answer and asked our Lord God to lead us in wisdom. Jesus led, we listened and Jesus answered. 

As a result, in 2001 our middle child, Jeff, then age 31 had a double lung transplant in San Antonio. This operation included painful, extreme measures to remove his badly damaged lungs to put two new donated lungs into his chest. We praise our Lord for that anonymous donor who gave Jeff new life. And Jeff lived! In 2005 our eldest son, John, Jr., then age 35, underwent this same scary double lung transplant procedure at Houston Methodist Hospital. His operation went well and appeared to be successful. 

Finally, three years ago our youngest child, Jenny at age 42, had her double lung transplant at University Hospital in Seattle. Seemingly, everything was good. Then, problems and subsequent miracles started shortly after each child’s transplant. Jeff developed myocarditis and was in the hospital for several months, including over Christmas. We nearly lost him. John, Jr. on the day after he returned home from his operation, collapsed at home, stopped breathing for a few minutes and was rushed downtown to Methodist. He was paralyzed on his left side. He spent half a year in the hospital mostly at Houston’s TEER rehab center. A few months after Jenny’s transplant, she went into heart failure and her body shut down. She was intubated, on dialysis and on an ECMO machine. She remained in the hospital for many months including hospital rehab for so long that Helen and I temporarily rented a house near her home in Seattle to take care of Jenny, her husband and two young sons. We lived there for almost two years while Jenny gradually healed. 

The three miracles are as follows. Miracle #1: Jeff healed and is now a dynamic businessman and an ardent golfer. Miracle #2: John, Jr. gradually recovered 95% of his mobility, went on to coach Little League and now has seven children. And miracle #3: Jenny healed, gradually gaining strength back from being unable to sit upright for some time. She now is a full-time busy homemaker, caring mom, and wife and back to a normal life. 

The only thing that got Helen and me through this was constant prayer, healing scriptures, and the inspiration we received from our church. The Faith Bible members and leaders are wonderful! One of the many scriptures verses that kept us going, and continue to put tears in our eyes is from Isaiah 40:31 'Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.' Our God is an awesome God."