Missionary David Allen is ill and needs prayer-Truth! but Resolved!

Missionary David Allen Needs Prayers for a Mysterious Intestinal Condition-Previously Truth, Now Resolved!

Summary of eRumor:
David Allen is a missionary in Thailand. He is critically ill and could die within two months. A message from him says he's been suffering for so long that he's discouraged and is facing the possibility of dying. He can't handle normal food, keeps ending up in the emergency room, and multiple tests for parasites have not found the problem or a solution.

The Truth:
David Allen is a real person and a missionary to Thailand and he was seriously ill, but we classify this one as fiction because the email that is continuing to be circulated on the Internet is from 1997. The last report we heard was from a year later and David was happy, optimistic, and back on the mission field. He said that parasites had done severe damage to the lining of his intestines, but that he was about 80 percent recovered and just trying to stay away from spicy foods. Early tests had shown the presence of parasites, but doctors could not narrow down what they were or how to attack them. David credits the prayers as responsible for sudden tests that could not find the parasites and marked the beginning of his recovery.

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Dear Friends:

Please take some time to email this to other Christians. It's important to pray for our dear Brothers and Sisters around the world.

Ezekiel David Allen is a young missionary on the Chiang Mai, Thailand mission team. He is critically ill with an unknown parasite and apparently WILL DIE WITHIN TWO MONTHS unless there is an intervention by the Lord. Please help create a global blanket of prayer for David, Michelle and their 4 month old daughter, Brianna.

From: David Allen My condition is serious now. The body is beginning to break down because I have no more fat or nutrient reserves. My diet consists mostly of vegetable broth, Gatorade and saltine crackers. I tried homemade bread a few weeks ago and ended up in the emergency room. I am in constant pain and have taken painkillers regularly. The severe diarrhea has continued for 7 weeks and I have been in the emergency room 5 times. In the last 3 days there have been sharp pains in my kidneys, so they are running tests to see if my kidneys are infected. So far, 8 doctors have not been able to diagnose the parasites. One lab in Dallas thought they had a positive diagnosis (a rare parasite called cryptosporidium), but the Public Health Center of Disease Control in Houston said it was an incorrect diagnosis. They have found 2 foreign agents, but no one has ever seen them before or can identify them. One is a parasite and the other looks more like an amoeba. One of the effects of the parasites is to prevent my GI tract from absorbing nutrition. The CDC in Atlanta is 3-6 months behind, so they cannot help in time. My doctors are trying everyone else. They are in contact with one of the top infectious disease doctors in Thailand and several of the experts here in the states. I believe that the pictures of the parasites are to be passed around until someone can identity them. I am not doing well. I feel like I am in a very dark valley right now. I have been praying for so long for help with no response, that I have become discouraged in prayer. This is a first for me in my life. Michelle and my parents are being a tremendous support for me, but they are having a hard time seeing me suffer so much. My prayers now are very elemental "Father, save me!" But the pain continues each day and I continue to lose weight. Please pray not only for my body, but for my spirit. I have not known fear like this before. I don't want to be fearful, and I don't need to be fearful because I am confident in my salvation. I think my fear is related more to the thought of not being with my wife and the new baby. This was the happiest time of my life before I became sick. David Allen

We are encouraging everyone we know to lift up David and his family before the Lord of Lords. Please forward this message to those you think will join us in this global chain of prayer.