Ken and Chasity Branham, along with their four children, Abby, Emily, Rachel, and Zack, are long-time Lakelanders and some of the most selfless and adored people in the community. Ken has had a recent cancer diagnosis requiring treatments that have resulted in long hospital stays to manage the side effects.

On Easter Day this year, he felt a lump in his neck. Days later it was confirmed that it was tongue cancer and had spread to 2 lymph nodes in the neck. Praise God the original prognosis was good, but the battle with this cancer has recently grown long and complicated. He hasn’t been able to work since his initial diagnosis because his treatment has included daily radiation and weekly chemo. But it’s just these past three weeks that he has hit this medical snag. He is currently hospitalized for the second time due to medical complications. They are trying to figure out how to get him strong enough to finish the last two crucial weeks of treatment to fight this. With two of their daughters in college and their youngest still at home, medical bills can be a great financial strain.

The entire family has always poured into others. Chasity has dedicated her career to making an impact in her students' lives and continuing to do so even after they have graduated. I will always remember when Ken and Chasity Branham came over to my house and took my senior prom photos because my parents were out of town. Ken's selflessness has carried over to his line of work as well, once spending an entire day of work leveling out a new homeowner's backyard and refusing payment as his way of showing Christ's love. The two have dedicated long nights and weekends to assisting in after-school extracurriculars for students and even traveling as far as New York City to support these students on the sidelines. Their compassion, their selflessness, and their ability to show God's love in their actions are just some of the many reasons they are so loved by everyone in their community. Now our community has the chance to come alongside them, show Christ's love, and pour back into them. That's the definition of what living out the gospel in the community means.