Pastor David Updates
This webpage will serve as the sole source of official updates as information becomes available. We commit to keeping you informed in a timely and thoughtful manner. If you would like to send the Smiths a message of love and encouragement, please feel free to leave a message on our church social media pages or reach out to the family directly. They would welcome your call or text. But most importantly, please cover them in prayer.
February 8, 2026 | Message From Pastor David and The Church
Quick update on my journey: I started chemotherapy and radiation this last Wednesday here in Calhoun at AdventHealth. I’ll have daily chemo and radiation for the next six weeks, then follow up again at Duke. So far I’m feeling good and I’ve even been able to resume running every day! My family is incredibly thankful for all of your prayers, encouragement, and support. We truly feel so loved and surrounded by you all! You are a light in this season of our lives
With Love, David
Note from the GCA Church - In addition to your prayers, if you want to support the Smith family with a meal or a financial gift, a number of their close friends have created a web page through Give InKind.
January 30, 2026 | Message From the Church
Pastor David continues to work closely with his medical team on a treatment plan. He has consultations at Duke Health in North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, and will begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments on Wednesday in Calhoun. Thank you for your continued prayers.
January 28, 2026 | Message From the Church
Due to the outpouring of love and support for the Smith family, a number of their close friends have created a web page through Give InKind to help coordinate meals and financial support. Please visit the page for more information. Thank you for continuing to lift up the Smith family in prayer!
January 21, 2026 | Message From Pastor David
I want to share a brief update and also say thank you for the love and care you’ve shown our family during this time. After extensive testing, and many appointments, consults and guidance from my medical team, we now have clarity that I’m facing glioblastoma cancer. Due to the locations in the brain, surgery is unfortunately not an option. I’ll begin chemotherapy and radiation next week or the following. We will continue to work in collaboration with my care team as we take this day by day.
Our family is so grateful for the love, prayers, messages, and support that you've surrounded us with. God has been faithfully carrying us through this season, and we are thankful for the peace He continues to give us each day. We are still praying for a miracle from God but prepared to walk whatever path is before us. We are trusting Him step by step. Your kindness and care have meant more to us than we can express, and we are deeply thankful for each of you walking alongside us.
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4
With Love,
Pastor David & Family
January 14, 2026 | Message From Pastor David
Friends, it’s hard to believe it has already been a full week since this journey began. As you can imagine, it has been a wild ride, marked by a wide range of emotions. Yesterday morning, when I woke up, Valerie asked me how I was feeling. The only word I could land on was gratitude. That has been the constant through it all.
I am so full of gratitude for so many things right now. Ever since word of my health challenges began to spread, the church body has been in motion. There truly isn’t enough ink in the world to express how full my heart is because of your actions. Thank you for the many ways you have shown love and care to me and my family. None of it goes unnoticed.
While the future is uncertain for everyone and there are never guarantees, in this season it feels even less certain. Still, we continue to place our confidence in Jesus.
I keep returning to the words of Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
January 11, 2026 | Message from Pastor David
Friends, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the love, prayers, messages, and practical support you have shown since Wednesday. From the moment this began, you have carried me and my family in ways we will never forget. While this is not a road I would ever choose, I have been deeply reminded of how rich a gift it is to belong to such a loving community.
I’m thankful to share that, other than fatigue from surgery and medication, I am largely symptom-free. We are now in a season of waiting as we await pathology results, and we continue to place our trust in God’s care. Valerie and I are experiencing God’s deep peace.
In the meantime, I am leaning on the very passage I have shared with you so many times over the years—perhaps my all-time favorite:
Romans 8:38–39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our.”
With love, David
January 11, 2026 | Message From the Church
Thank you to everyone who has reached out and held up the Smith family in prayer this week. So many have reached out with generous hearts asking, “How can I help?” As we continue to wait for the next phase of this journey, we will share specific ways to help with sign ups. For now, Valerie and David are grateful for your notes and messages of encouragement through text, phone calls, and cards. Please make sure to coordinate any visits with the family ahead of time. Mail can be dropped off or sent to the church, and we will handle delivering it to the Smith family. The church address is: 351 Academy Drive SW, Calhoun, GA 30701. Please make sure to visit and share this page for official updates.
January 9, 2026
We are incredibly grateful to be part of a community that prays and lifts one another up in times of need.
Yesterday, Pastor David was transferred to Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, where he underwent biopsies on two tumors in his brain. We are thankful to share that Pastor David was able to return home last night. At this time, we are waiting for results and guidance from his medical team, which may take up to a week to receive.
In this season of waiting, scripture reminds us that no matter the circumstance, God is very close: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Thank you for walking this journey with us and for your continued prayers. We have been encouraged by Valerie’s strong faith and Pastor David’s humor, even in the fog of the unknown. They wanted to share that they are deeply grateful for your support.
Please continue to pray and encourage one another. Remember that in moments of uncertainty, we can be confident that God is present. While we only know what we know, God knows all things, and the Smith family is being held by the righteous right hand of God.
Pastor Josh