It seems as though her weakened body has placed her in a state of near immobility as she lies stationary upon the sofa in her Pell City home.
But as she recalls the events and adventures that have transpired on her many journeys, her spirit comes to life, giving energy to her entire being. She promptly rises to a seated position, eager to join her husband in tales of travel, adventure and a life well lived for the gospel.
When Ken and Evye Knight committed to follow Christ with their whole lives in 2002, they never anticipated the cancerous incursion that would manifest just five years later.
Days prior to a trip they had planned for Israel and Jordan in September 2007, Evye was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The Knights continued with their planned trips, but in February 2008, Evye found the cancer had spread into her liver.
Doctors said with chemotherapy treatments, she would have three months to live and without the treatment, they could not say how long. Evye started the treatments in hopes of slowing the rate of the growing disease.
Six months later, Evye is still here with Ken to speak of the disease as a mere part of the lives God has given them.
The couple refuses to allow the disease to impede their calling.
“After a while, you realize time is giving out,” Evye said as she recounts their missions experiences around the world.
“You can’t do everything, but you can do what you can do and trust God for the rest.”
In 2002 after reading an article in The Alabama Baptist about an upcoming missions trip, Ken and Evye knew they wanted to use their gifts to benefit God’s kingdom.
Members of First Baptist Church, Pell City, in St. Clair Baptist Association, Ken and Evye were both saved at early ages, but said it was not until their late 50s that they completely surrendered themselves to God’s service.
Now in their mid-60s, the Knights are taking advantage of every opportunity to advance the kingdom of God through missions.
“When we quit our full-time job, I told Evye to hold on to her hat — we were going for a ride, and it hasn’t slowed down yet,” Ken said as he scrolled through the digital evidence of their numerous trips.
Since the Knights purchased their passports in 2002, they have been on more than a dozen trips internationally and have had to add more pages to their passports in order to contain the marked voyages to various countries.
In addition to the seven children they sponsor in Kenya, Uganda and India, literally hundreds of people across the world have come to know Christ because of the Knights’ work in countries such as Dubai, Venezuela, Vietnam, Peru, Honduras and Israel.
Ken said God never ceases to amaze him with the provisions He makes for their lives.
Ken shared that on a trip he took last year to India, he was feeling discouraged and as if he were wasting his time.
“Just as I thought that a man and woman with their 13-year-old boy started talking to the interpreter,” Ken said.
The interpreter told Ken the woman came last year and he had told her about Jesus. She came back this year so he could tell her son and husband.
“She remembered I told her — me specifically,” Ken exclaimed as tears streamed down his face recalling the event. “Not only that, but these people had walked two hours to get there and God had them there the exact instance I needed them.
“If you ever have that happen to you, you have to go back. You have to keep going. There’s no other way I can explain it.”
John Thweatt, pastor of First, Pell City, said the Knights are setting an example of obedience for generations to come.
“They are continually showing us what its like to sacrifice,” Thweatt said.
“They’re a reminder of how we ought to spend our lives giving all that we have to share the gospel.”
The news they heard last September greatly impacted their lives, but Ken and Evye’s course was not changed.
Although her physical body grows weak, her spirits continue to soar knowing Christ is leading her every step.
As he thinks of his loving wife and the course God has led them on, Ken explained, “God is so good to us. I don’t know why she’s got cancer and why she’s going to die, but He’s given us 48 years of marriage, four children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. This is the first major sickness in our family.
“So who am I to argue with God with what He’s doing or what He’s given us or done for us?”
First, Pell City, members Richard and Betty Farrar, who serve as Sunday School teachers to the Knights, said they are constantly amazed by the Knights’ perseverance and fervor for life.
“Many people are bitter because of what is transpiring in their lives, but with them there were no tears shed at all,” Richard said. “She had accepted what God had in store for her and he has too.”
Although he is uncertain of the future, Ken said he is determined to continue forward with what God has called him to do.
“I’m going to sit beside my wife and hold her hand through this until she is healed and can go back with me or goes to be with the God we love,” Ken said. “As long as I have breath left in me, I’m going to keep on going.”
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