Marilynn Blackaby, wife of pastor and author Henry Blackaby, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, their son Richard announced Friday (Aug. 26).
“Dear friends of Henry and Marilynn Blackaby. An important update. Marilynn has been diagnosed with aggressive, inoperable cancer of the liver. Doing nothing, best case is 3–6 months. One treatment might help for a time. Please pray for them in these days,” Richard Blackaby tweeted.
Henry Blackaby also has faced serious health issues in recent years and multiple hospitalizations in recent weeks, according to Richard Blackaby’s social media updates.
Lifetime of ministry
Henry and Marilynn Blackaby served in several churches in California before relocating to Saskatchewan, Canada, to lead a struggling congregation that had dwindled to only 10 members. During their 18 years in Canada, they saw God work in miraculous ways, helped plant numerous churches, and reared their five children.
Through those experiences, God taught the Blackabys truths about Himself that became the basis for the book “Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” Published in 1990, the book has sold millions of copies, been translated into more than 45 languages and been adapted into multiple studies and formats.
Henry Blackaby is also author of more than 25 books, including “A God Centered Church: Experiencing God Together,” “Discovering God’s Daily Agenda,” “Anointed to Be God’s Servants: How God Blesses Those Who Serve Together,” “Experiencing God Together: God’s Plan to Touch Your World” and “When God Speaks: How to Recognize God’s Voice and Respond in Obedience.”
‘Profound impact’
In 2016, Gateway Seminary named a prayer room in honor of the Blackabys. Henry Blackaby graduated from Gateway — then Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary — as a member of the first graduating class at the seminary’s former Mill Valley campus.
During the dedication ceremony for the Henry and Marilynn Blackaby Prayer Room, Gateway Seminary President Jeff Iorg said the couple had made a “profound impact all around the world.”
The Blackabys have five children, all of whom serve in full-time ministry: Richard Blackaby, president of Atlanta-based Blackaby Ministries International; Thomas Blackaby, pastor of Maple Ridge Alliance Church in Maple Ridge, BC, Canada; Melvin Blackaby, pastor of First Baptist Church Jonesboro, Georgia; Norman Blackaby, a professor at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas; and Carrie Blackaby Webb, a former career missionary to Germany who now serves with Blackaby Ministries International.
