STRYPER Frontman: 'I Trust The Lord And I Know He Has A Plan'

STRYPER vocalist Michael Sweet has posted the following message on his official web site:

"Once again I find myself needing to apologize for taking so long to write new information and updates for Jeff [webmaster] to post here at www.michaelsweet.com. I've always been someone who strives to stay in touch with all of you and to keep communication open. I enjoy keeping you informed and it's a blessing to me continue doing so. It's part of what encourages me to do what I do — to be able to be there for you and in return, you've always been there for me. I can't thank you enough for that and your support has always touched me. More now than ever.

"As many of you may already know, my wife Kyle was taken to the ER on 2/10/07 due to pain in her lower abdomen. After an ultrasound and then a CT, a large mass was discovered and she was then transported to Brigham and Women's in Boston and scheduled for surgery on 2/14/07 to have the mass removed as well as a complete hysterectomy. It was a surgery that should have been 2-3 hours and it wound up being over 5 hours long.

"We were learning more and more from day to day but still were not completely sure what we were dealing with. The words 'suspicious' and 'most likely' were being used often to describe the possibilities, so we were praying for a miracle and complete healing. On 2/27/07, a day Kyle and I will never forget, we were faced with the reality of what we were dealing with — ovarian cancer.

"I keep saying 'we' because Kyle and I are in this together. When she suffers, I suffer. When she hurts, I hurt. She's the love of my life, the mother of my children, a pillar of strength for Mikey, Ellena and myself and my partner in everything, from beginning to end. We will be celebrating our 21st anniversary on June 12, 2007. We've been through so much together and have seen good times and bad times but The Lord has always seen us through. Although we know that The Lord is, and always will be, by our side, it's been the most frightening time of our lives. Time stopped on 2/10/07 and the time that has passed since has been extremely blurry and uncertain. We met with the oncologist on 3/8/07 and went over the pathology reports to learn that it is in fact ovarian cancer and due to some very small formations in her lung that are 'suspicious,' the doctors are saying that it's stage 4.

"Kyle did have a severe case of pneumonia a while back and we're hoping and praying that the small formations are scar tissue. It's very possible that it is scar tissue and if so, it would drop from stage 4 to stage 3 which would be an answer to prayer. Kyle started her first round of chemotherapy at Dana-Farber on 3/14/07. It was a very long day due to the fact that they are administering two different drugs — one for the ovarian and one for the lung. The doctors don't want to take any chances so they are treating the lung at this time as well. Kyle will receive 6 treatments over a period of 4 months.

"My attorney said a prayer that I thought was amazing. He prayed that the Lord would allow the chemo to destroy the bad cells but not the good cells. For those of you who know me, I'm a firm believer in the fact that God can do anything and I will believe that till my last breath, so my prayer has also been that God would allow the bad cells to be destroyed but not the good cells. I'm also praying for complete healing and complete remission. God created Kyle so He can certainly heal her!!!

"I want to personally thank each and every one of you for praying for Kyle and for my family. We have seen and felt those prayers and it has been the biggest encouragement to our family and it has blessed our family tremendously. I can't express how deeply moved and touched we are by your love, care and support. We love you and thank you! Please continue to pray for Kyle's COMPLETE healing and COMPLETE remission, and for strength for us to get through this very difficult time. I trust The Lord and I know He has a plan and that His will is unfolding in our lives. We have grown to love Him more through this and to love each other more. Our relationship with The Lord and each other is stronger than ever. Amen!

"We (STRYPER) were supposed to start on a new record on 2/12/07 (two days after Kyle was admitted to ER) and I made calls on the evening of 2/10/07 to delay the start time from 2/12/07 to 3/12/07. After meeting with the oncologist, I realized that starting a new STRYPER record a few days later was not realistic. I need to be with Kyle during this time and recording a STRYPER record would mean that I would be gone for two weeks at a time tracking basics and mixing. So, the record at this time is scheduled to start around mid July. All the songs are ready to go and I can promise you that this will be the best STRYPER record to date and we all look forward to seeing God's will for the ministry of STRYPER!

"Since I will be home for the next 4 months, I have decided to take on 7-8 dates at a select number of churches within driving range (200-300 miles). I'll be doing this for the costs of expenses and an offering, as well as being able to sell merchandise. I can do a Saturday evening performance, a Sunday morning service or a Sunday evening performance or service. Doing this will allow me to still be home (I'll be gone for one day, every few weeks) and it will help me to make ends meet during the time off as well as minister to people through the gift that God has given me.

"Once again I want to thank all of you for your friendship, love and support. We're eternally grateful for your continued prayers and I will continue to update you with details as they come in. Blessings to all of you!"