Asher Neff

I was raised in a Christian home, but when I found my way to the foot of the Cross, it wasn’t among the people I was raised with. It was among the Apostolic Faith people in Medford, Oregon.

My wife, Ruth, and I began attending meetings in 1928, because we heard that a friend, Maggie Stone, had been healed of tuberculosis after being given six months to live. Ruth was sick and we wanted the ministers to pray for her. In the first meeting, I felt right at home. I said, “I can sing the same songs these people are singing, because I was raised in a church.” However, I did not have one thing to recommend me to God.

I never expected to return, but my wife was healed and we began attending meetings. One Sunday morning in 1931, God spoke to me right at my chair. No one needed to point their finger at me and say, “You don’t have religion; you are not God’s child.” God came down and said, “You haven’t lived like I would have you to live.” I prayed my way through to victory that morning.

When I think of the things God has taken me through, I thank Him for this mighty Gospel and for what He means to me.

One year, we were burned out of our house. God took care of that. A few years later, my daughter got sick. God took care of that. Then another daughter was bleeding internally. God took care of that.

When I came into this Gospel, I had a little spot on my mouth. I began playing the trombone in the Medford church and that spot got bigger. I knew I shouldn’t be playing because of the metal contact, but I thought, God can take care of that.

In 1955, I had to quit the trombone because that spot turned into a sore so big I couldn’t play any longer. I was a mail carrier, and had been with the post office thirty-four years. At that time I had forty-five doctors on my route. I went by those doctors every day, and many times I would catch them with their heads close to my face looking at the sore. It got bigger and bigger and bigger.

The next year, the sore was still there. I prayed, “Lord, I am scared, but if You want to take this off, I know You can.” Then I said, “If You see any glory in it, You can take me through this.” I wasn’t ashamed of my God and I didn’t want Him to be ashamed of me.

Finally, I went to a doctor and asked him what it was. He looked at me and said, “I can’t do you any good.” He sent me to a second doctor. That one looked at me and said, “I hate to tell you, but you have something bad.” I said I wanted to know what it was and he told me, “You have cancer.” It wouldn’t heal because of the cancer on my neck. He sent me to the best specialist in town who called me into his office and said, “I know what you people believe in. I know what can happen.” I said, “I am going to trust God.”

In 1958, the cancer was healed and I was still out walking the same beat. One of the doctors on the route asked another carrier, “Has Neff had that piece of his lip removed yet?” The carrier said, “No, and he is supposed to retire this fall.” The doctor replied, “He will be dead by then.”

Well I wasn’t dead. I love the Lord, and I thank Him for thirty-three years of victory. No matter the problem, I believe He can take care of it.