Allen Lawson Barber
Allen Barber was born on March 10, 1996. He passed away on July 13, 2018. In his short twenty-two years, he served his Savior well and impacted countless lives as a talented musician, songwriter, and speaker.
In the summer of 2014, Allen was diagnosed with progressive Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare pediatric bone cancer. Through this dark time in his life, Allen's ministry began to take its form through inspirational messages on social media. In February of 2016, he went into remission. He traveled around the country playing, singing, and sharing encouraging words about his life's journey. He was diagnosed again seven months later; this time, the cancer had become much more aggressive. Despite a diagnosis and treatment plan that focused solely on slowing the progression of the cancer, Allen continued to travel and minister to people. His audiences would hear him tell his story of cancer, as well as new songs he had written about God's faithfulness. In his final days, many of his friends were gathered at his bedside singing hymns and songs he had written. As they sang one of Allen's songs, "I Have Victory," Allen, who had very little strength left, raised his hands weakly in praise and sang "By the hand of my Lord, Victory is mine." "Death is unavoidable, Death is inescapable: No matter how hard I try, I'm gonna die; But the second that my life is ended, My spirit will fly." --God Gave a Promise, by Allen Barber #LifeIsAGift |