Jimmy Carter gives first Sunday School lesson since diagnosis

But this Sunday’s lesson – Carter’s 689th, according to his grandson Jason – commanded attention far beyond the worshippers who packed the pews and overflow rooms in the wake of the revelation that the 90-year-old Carter is battling cancer. Carter joked at the beginning of his class, asking the crowd “do we have any visitors this morning?”

Before Carter started the lesson, he briefly recapped the details of his cancer diagnosis – how doctors had found melanoma had spread to his brain after undergoing surgery to remove part of his liver.

“Any time, we can just bow our heads and say, ‘God, I’m really troubled”.

It’s not everyday there’s a line to get inside church, but on Sunday it was a crowded inside Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. “I ask you to give me the strength to bear whatever is on my shoulders and to bear whatever comes to me, ‘” Carter said. Carter’s news conference was the first step in what’s shaping up as an ongoing effort to live out his days openly and transparently, something experts say could help educate untold numbers of people about cancer and offer support to anyone going through something similar. In an August 12, 2015 interview, shortly after Carter announced that he was diagnosed with cancer, the pastor spoke highly of the couple, particularly of Jimmy Carter, “He serves and does his work with that token smile we all can picture in our minds”.

The turnout was so big that Carter gave a second lesson at the nearby high school for about 250 people, and about 70 others had to be turned away.

“Life goes on”, said Jan Williams, a close friend and a member of Carter’s church.

Carter entered and exited without fanfare, wearing a gray suit.

As listeners left the church, they proudly showed each other newly taken photos with the Carters.

“She’s going to get the schedule she’s all the time needed”, stated Jason Carter.

“The man’s used to working on little things like world peace and eradicating disease”, said Stuckey.

He said when people were confronted by problems they should be ready to rely on their faith. “But orient yourself to love the person, no matter who it might be, that’s in front of you at any particular time”.