What’s Being Said About This Work
Out of the depths of her heritage, Evelyn McLean vividly portrays how
faith, the size of a mustard seed, was instilled in her and blossomed to
sustain her through a battle with cancer. In the face of life’s uncertainties
and seemingly over- whelming challenges, A Mustard Seed is a source
of inspiration and reassuring hope.
Janifer S. Campbell
Director of Christian Education
Lewis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Dean
General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc.,
Congress of Christian Education
I have witnessed the Lord work with Evelyn as she matured in the faith.
God anointed this writing project and I know it will be a blessing for
many.
Lorine Cole McLeod
President Emeritus
United Order of Tents Southern District #1
Excerpt From Book
I had moments of uncertainty and fear.
Not only was my life threatened, but also one of the basic parts of my
female anatomy was in jeopardy. Some scoffed at my concern, “Why you’re
more than a breast. What’s important is that you survived.” Usually their
bodies were still in tact. I hovered on a precipice of despair. After all,
“I had the big “C.” Didn’t I deserve a pity party?”
A few days after the surgery, during
the family evening meal, Harold noticed the limited use of my right arm.
“I wouldn’t do that If I were you. You’re
going to make things worse by favoring that arm like that. It may be painful,
but you need to use it as much as you can,” he said.
I was not surprised by his observation.
As a matter of fact, I expected it. He had the uncanny perception of a
lioness. He notices things immediately. However, justified or not, I was
infuriated. This was my pain, my cancer, and my arm! How dare he be so
insensitive and unsympathetic! With a glare in his direction, I ignored
his comments and continued to favor my right arm. I used my left for any
reaching or minor lifting. When the pain subsided, then I’d start to use
my right arm. However, as I look back with the twenty-twenty vision of
hindsight, this was one of those valley moments Satan used to his advantage.
Once I recognized and accepted that, I was able to let God help me through
it. It’s miraculous what God can do once we let go and let Him, thus I
clung to the words of Roman 14:7-8:
“Whatever happens, I’m the Lord’s.”
About the Author
Evelyn Carter McLean is the fourth of eleven children
born to poor sharecroppers in rural Sampson County, North Carolina, during
the late 1940's. Evelyn learned the importance of faith, courage and a
strong work ethic from her parents and others in the small Mount Pleasant
farming community.
Confessing Christ as a young child, she joined
the Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church and fellowshipped there until
she wed Harold E. McLean on July 29, 1967. Her faith in Christ engaged
her to develop a strong compassion for her fellow man. Evelyn loved to
tell stories to her brothers and sisters as a child and eventually began
to write about her childhood adventures. Suffering the loss of her beloved
mother in the fall of 1992 intensified Evelyn’s desire to share with others
her childhood experiences. “The Blue Dress,” a short story playfully depicting
sibling rivalry, was published in the fall of 1999, which became her first
literary success.
Evelyn faced the great challenge of balancing
career, family and personal pursuits. She received recognition as
an excellent employee, obtained academic fulfillment, by earning a college
degree, and received accolades as an officer of the Woman’s Baptist Home
and Foreign Mission Convention of the General Baptist State Convention
of North Carolina Inc. Yet, she found no endeavor more fulfilling than
being a successful wife, and mother. Evelyn thought it only appropriate
to sacrifice her personal comfort to ensure that the couple’s three children,
Leslie, Cornelia, and Harold were properly reared and supervised.
After successfully rearing her family
and becoming the doting grandmother of James, Brandon, Anthony, (deceased),
and DeNisha, Evelyn began to pursue her personal interests and became more
involved in community and church organizations, including serving as President
of the Senior Missionary Department at Lewis Chapel Missionary Baptist
Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She enjoys traveling across the
state and nation to increase awareness and to encourage others working
in the mission field. With the strong support of the Church’s Missionary
Department, Evelyn has been instrumental in spearheading the annual preparation
of hygiene, food and education kits for migrant farm workers in the southeastern
part of the state. During her tenure as president, she has led the department
in creating resurces for children whose mothers are confined to North Carolina
Women’s Central Prison. Evelyn works tirelessly and is committed to serving
God through helping her fellowman.
During the Fall of 1997, she was diagnosed
with second stage breast cancer. Together, she and her husband faced the
uncertainty of the diagnosis with faith and prayer. The difficulty of surgery,
chemotherapy, and radiation attempted to test her faith–A faith inherited
from her parents, a faith cultivated by an enduring marriage, a faith secured
with the Blood of Jesus Christ.
“By His stripes we are healed,” Evelyn knew the benefits provided
her in the scripture were real. Her healing would come. God was inclined
to perform the healing; October 2001 marked Evelyn’s fourth year “cancer
free.”
There is a Balm in Gilead. There is healing
power in the hem of His garment. If we have faith as a mustard seed, we
can say unto this mountain, move, and it shall be done.
A Mustard Seed is a testimony of God’s
miraculous healing power and never ending mercy.
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