Dr. Judy Hunt gathers Julia's family to tell them the grim news. They already know that 17-year-old Julia has terminal cancer. But today Dr. Hunt tells them that it has advanced much faster than anticipated. The CT scan shows it has spread all over her liver and pancreas, as well as the area between her diaphragm and heart. The news is heartbreaking. The family cries some, but Julia seems to accept it. They talk openly with Dr. Hunt, who has become much more than a physician to them. And Julia's mom, grandmother and sister are comforted by the surprise, which Dr. Hunt has orchestrated for Julia that will come the next day.

For Dr. Hunt, her career in medicine is her spiritual calling. She not only does her best to physically heal her patients, but she also helps them draw closer to Jesus.

Before becoming a physician, Dr. Hunt served in the United States Coast Guard for four years. Then she married a pilot, John, while in her residency. Shortly after, with two years left in the program, they discovered she was pregnant. Then, just before their first wedding anniversary, John died in a plane crash, leaving his pregnant wife a widow.

"The pain of losing my husband was incredible," Dr. Hunt remembers, "but I know that God was right there in the plane with him." She considered dropping out of medical school then, and sought the counsel of a Christian doctor whom she thought would tell her to quit. But he reminded her why she went into medicine in the first place—to serve Jesus. So she stayed.

Dr. Hunt trained under other Christian doctors as well, who not only taught her how to care for her patients physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. Those physicians were part of the Medical Strategic Network, an arm of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Upon completing her residency, Dr. Hunt moved to Payson, Ariz., a predominantly Mormon mountain community of 14,000, and began practicing medicine. She also stayed involved with MSN.

After a few months though, she began hating her working environment and found it difficult to develop relationships with colleagues. "I felt very alone and isolated," says Dr. Hunt.

So she visited Dr. Harvey Elder with MSN. "I was looking for compassion and mercy," she says. Instead, Dr. Elder gave her a dose of truth.

"Sounds like you've lost your saltiness," he said, referencing Jesus' remarks in Matthew 5:13: "You are the salt of the earth...." He asked if she had been praying for her colleagues. She hadn't been.

After that conversation, Dr. Hunt returned to Payson a different woman. She began praying for her co-workers and patients. She told them about her relationship with Jesus, and how they could know Him. Many showed interest.

	Dr. Hunt massages Julia's head.

Dr. Hunt also began to influence Bonnie Kenneally, the nurse who worked for her. When they met, not only was Bonnie an atheist, she was cold and almost militant.

Bonnie watched her boss pray for patients, and she secretly read the spiritual books Dr. Hunt brought to patients.

Dr. Hunt showed Bonnie the Four Spiritual Laws booklet, which explains how someone can know Christ personally. Bonnie began keeping copies in her drawer, and would pull out one sometimes and hand it to Dr. Hunt, whispering, "I think this person needs to hear this," though she herself didn't yet follow Jesus.

When Bonnie was later diagnosed with cancer, Dr. Hunt visited her late one night. Bonnie said, "Dr. Hunt, I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" she asked.

"I want to accept Jesus."

By the next morning Bonnie was a new person—humming and happy. She began telling everyone about Jesus, including people in grocery-store parking lots. She died a year later, but not before her daughter and son-in-law accepted Christ.

Bonnie isn't the only person whom Dr. Hunt influenced for eternity. Darlene Bourguignon was referred to Dr. Hunt by another physician. The 60-year-old states that she deals with depression, and was contemplating suicide, perhaps stemming from a traumatic event that happened when she was 11: She watched her father kill her mother and then turn the gun on himself.

When Darlene was in her office several months ago, Dr. Hunt used the exam-table paper to scribble a drawing of the Grand Canyon. Using a classic evangelistic illustration, she explained how sin separates us from God, and how Christ bridges the gap between us. Darlene accepted Christ then.

"I wish it was a lot sooner in my life," says Darlene. "I'd probably have been a lot happier."

Later, after a check-up, Darlene asked Dr. Hunt to pray that her husband would begin a relationship with God.

While sitting in her short, swivel stool-chair, Dr. Hunt positioned her arm around Darlene and prayed for Darlene's husband. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and Dr. Hunt paused to offer her tissues.

"Doctors are so professional that they don't get into patients' crises," says Darlene. "She goes way beyond being a doctor."

Medical Strategic Network taught her that. She's experienced joy with Darlene, but there's a difficult flipside to her involvement in patients' lives—for instance, when she realized 17-year-old Julia wouldn't live to see another birthday.

Julia is surprised to be given a horse of her own.

When Dr. Hunt first discovered Julia's cancer, she also discovered that Julia needed a friend. She gave her daughter, Jordan, 13, the option of befriending the girl. Jordan, who visits the hospital so much with her mom that she could insert an IV and read EKGs, explains, "I heard Julia was in Hospice House, and that she loved horses. Mom warned me Julia could die." But Jordan is used to dealing with loss since she never met her dad, her nanny died, and Bonnie, to whom she was close, died, too. Jordan decided to meet her. Now the two are inseparable. They ride horses, shop, and eat together—when Julia feels up to it. She's beginning to feel sick.

"We're dealing with things that medicine won't fix," says Dr. Hunt. "The most important part of Julia's healing will be through Christ."

While in hospice one day, Dr. Hunt and Jordan watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe with Julia. Jordan helped Julia understand the movie's biblical parallels. Julia placed her faith in Christ. And her mother and grandmother soon recommitted their lives to Jesus, with Dr. Hunt's help.

They couldn't wait to surprise Julia, whose greatest wish was for a horse. Time was running short. After no response from a foundation, Dr. Hunt set a different plan in motion. She recognized that Julia didn't have much time left in which she would feel well enough to ride.

The day after hearing about her advancing cancer, Julia's family and friends—like Jordan and Dr. Hunt—congregated at an equestrian riding arena. The physician helped arrange for a couple to donate a beautiful pinto horse to Julia. Before being presented with the surprise, the teenager told her family, "My future is in God's hands. It's whatever He wants."

Dr. Hunt taught her that.

Contact the writer at jennifer.abegg@ccci.org.

Editor's note: Shortly after this article was written, Julia lost her battle with cancer. "Julia was a wonderful part of our lives," says Dr. Hunt. "We just praise God that she knows Christ, and she had months of knowing Christ before she died."