In the last year, Edwina Pence has had the opportunity to walk closely with the Lord, leaning on Him through an unexpected health scare: cancer. She witnessed His provision and miraculous hand, learning to trust in Him anew.
Pence was born into a family of IPHC believers in Staunton, Virginia. Her father, Rev. Edward W. Wood, served the IPHC for 50 years in many capacities within the Appalachian Conference (formerly known as the Virginia Conference) and the Global Ministries Center in Oklahoma City. Pence honors her upbringing with her words, explaining that she had a happy childhood as a preacher’s kid. She moved around some, beginning in Staunton, then Blacksburg, Virginia, and finally in Dublin, Virginia, when her father took over as the Christian Education Director for the Appalachian Conference.
The Wood Family: Edward, Freda, Emily (on Freda’s lap), Edwina (back), Elaine, and Edward, Jr.
At six years old, in a revival service on a Sunday evening, Pence remembers walking the aisle, praying with her father at the Mirimack church in Blacksburg, Virginia, and giving her heart to the Lord. Following high school, she headed to Emmanuel College (now Emmanuel University) in Franklin Springs, Georgia, for her undergraduate studies. Once Pence graduated, she went back home. Eventually, she met her husband via a blind date set up by his aunt. Pence was a medical transcriptionist in the office where her husband’s aunt worked as a nurse. Edwina Pence had known her husband’s extended family for a long time, and his roots run deep into the IPHC as well. The Pence family now resides in North Carolina.
Edwina and Tracy Pence
In September 2023, Pence had a constant cough that wouldn’t go away. Within a month, she had been to the doctor three times in search of relief. Finally, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and prescribed an antibiotic. To be thorough, the doctor ordered a scan to ensure they were not missing anything. The scan showed that the lungs were in good shape, but it picked up a lesion on her liver. The doctor needed her to head back in for another scan. Understandably, Pence was confused and worried. She learned that it would be several weeks before she could get another scan, but if she would travel to Greensboro, 40 minutes away, she could be seen almost immediately. The new scan was taken, and the technician there said, “I hope we won’t see you again.” Within 24 hours, the doctor had called her back.
The lesion on the liver was indeed nothing to be concerned about. However, there was something on her kidneys. Pence headed back to Greensboro for another scan. She would soon learn that she had a mass on each of her kidneys. The mass on the left kidney was 2.2 centimeters, while the one on the right was 1.7 centimeters. The doctor was asking a multitude of questions: Do you have a family history of kidney cancer? Lung cancer? Have you had cancer anywhere else in your body? Pence learned that kidney cancer will usually start somewhere else in your body and then spread to the kidneys.
Pence was in shock. Confused. She felt fine before coming down with the cough that wouldn’t go away. Her kidneys didn’t have anything to do with her cough! And she might have cancer somewhere else in her body? What was going on?
Her doctor referred her to a urologist. The urologist explained that the lesions were slow growing, and they could wait it out, six months or so, to see if the lesions grew. Another option was surgery to remove the cancer, but it would be risky, possibly resulting in the loss of kidney function or the whole kidney. The lesions were also near a vascular structure on both sides, so the “normal” procedure of burning the lesions would be impossible. Pence needed to decide. Wait and watch the lesions or remove them.
Admittedly, Pence is a worrier under the best of circumstances. Knowing this about herself, she was determined not to fall into a spiral of anxiety. She phoned her sister, Elaine Wood, and told her what was happening. Elaine promised to pray and asked Pence’s permission to share her battle with a friend. Pence agreed. Elaine contacted Marilou Akers, wife of Pastor Steve Akers of Ellett Valley Church in Montgomery County, Virginia; Elaine asked her to pray for Pence. Marilou agreed but told Elaine she wanted to send Pence a blanket. Elaine, curious, asked what the significance of the blanket was. Marilou explained that her church made blankets to give to those in need. Most recently, they had taken their blankets to the Royal Home in Falcon, North Carolina, to bless young, expectant mothers. After the blankets were made, Marilou and her congregation would anoint them, pray over them, and then send them out. She wanted to anoint, pray over, and send a blanket to Pence.
Elaine phoned her sister back and told her to keep her eye on the mailbox as a blanket was on the way. Edwina Pence was surprised again, but she welcomed the prayers. Before long, the blanket arrived, along with a devotional and an encouraging note. Pence said the blanket became a joke between her and her husband, as it never left her side. She slept under it, carried it around the house, and even took it with her when she headed to the hospital for her first surgery. Pence said it meant so much to her because “I was literally sleeping under someone’s prayers.”
Blanket and Devotional Sent by Ellett Valley Church
It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing from that point. Pence decided to get a second opinion from Duke University Cancer Center. The doctor there gave them the same report, and Pence, not wanting to put this off and anxious to get it over with, asked how soon they could schedule the surgery. On December 6, 2023, Pence and her husband arrived early in the morning for the surgery. The doctor planned to work on one kidney at a time, so this surgery would only address the left kidney as the mass was bigger on that one. The Pences waited throughout the day, getting a phone call in the waiting room twice explaining that the surgeries were taking longer than anticipated. At 3:30 pm, the doctor rounded the corner and said, “I’m sorry. The surgery will take several hours. Given the hour, I need you to go home and reschedule. We’ll take a look at the calendar. I feel bad; I’ll do what I can to get you back in here as quickly as possible.” Pence was devastated. She had mentally prepared herself. Her family and friends had been praying for her all day, waiting to hear that all was well. She headed home in tears, unprepared for the waiting.
Approximately six weeks later, in January of 2024, Pence had surgery on her left kidney. It went smoothly, and the doctor didn’t anticipate any issues or complications. Pence wanted to schedule the next surgery as soon as possible. The doctor explained that she would need to wait to heal from the first surgery before they could go forward with the second. Pence told the doctors that she had a grandbaby due in August and another in September, so this surgery needed to be behind her by then.
The second surgery took place on July 3rd. Pence shared that she went in with such peace, and praise the Lord, the margins were clear around the lesions. Both kidneys held cancer, but they were clear now. Pence asked, “What’s next? Chemo? Radiation? Immunotherapy?” The doctor replied, “No need. I’ll see you in April of 2025.” Pence was shocked again, sure she would need to return every six months. The doctor was confident that the cancer was gone and that Pence needn’t return even as often as they had initially planned.
Tracy and Edwina Pence Today
Pence said that she was tired for the first two to three weeks following surgery, but she was home and recovered in time for the birth of her grandbabies in August and September. Pence and her husband, Tracy, are now proud parents to three adult children and three grandchildren.
The Pence Family: Neal & Rachel Pence with daughters Eleanor and Hayden, Wes & Lindsay (Pence) Ritter, Tracy & Edwina Pence, Mackenzie & Jordan (Pence) Jett with son Jameson
Pence’s cancer journey was surprising for numerous reasons, and one of the greatest is that she never felt bad or had any issues with her kidneys, where the cancer lived. Pence shared that through this journey, she has learned: “There’s definitely power in prayer. I knew absolutely no one from Ellett Valley PHC, and yet, they were praying. Thank you for covering me with your prayers. I literally sleep under them every night.”
