Sitting in a hospital room after an unexpected but successful heart surgery in 2000, Guy Davidson tried to speak. He couldn’t get his words out. 

At age 70, Guy had suffered a debilitating stroke. Overnight, the Davidsons’ lives were turned upside down.

That fateful day began an arduous process of recovery for Guy and a radical transition for his wife and ministry partner, Martha, who immediately became his full-time caregiver.

The Davidsons were busy. During 50-plus years of ministry, Guy pastored six churches and Martha founded two far-reaching, innovative women’s ministries. The Davidsons served God all over the world. Their motto in their later years was, “No retiring, just refiring.”

Guy was known as a relentlessly optimistic, others-focused minister.  A pastor once told Martha that when he was a young man and had gotten off track in his life, he called her husband late one night, and Guy willingly met him at midnight. 

But Guy had not always wanted to do ministry. His dad was a pastor in Arizona, but until his graduation from Phoenix Union High School, Guy’s heart was “a little less than lukewarm.”

God used a casual date on graduation night with a faithful young woman to wake him up. She challenged Guy to take his relationship with Jesus seriously.

The next day, as he worked his janitorial job at his dad’s church, he knelt at the altar. “I give myself to You,” he prayed. “I will go to Bible school for one year. Let’s see what You can do with my life!”

That prayer eventually landed Guy in Denver as an associate pastor at Calvary Temple—where a lovely young lady named Martha became his secretary. 

“It was strictly a working relationship,” Martha recalled. “Guy didn’t let on at all that he had any interest in me.”

Martha eventually became engaged to another man, and Guy was called to a church in California. But Martha grew uneasy about her future. Realizing she and her fiancé were unequally yoked, she canceled the wedding and planned to head to Los Angeles for flight attendant school.

When Guy heard this, he called her up and offered to fly her to Fresno and drive her to L.A. She agreed.

And suddenly, on the freeway going toward the city, Guy pulled over and proposed to Martha.

“You know, God had me ready,” Martha said. “In my heart, I had always liked him, but we didn’t know that we had a desire for each other until all this happened.”

They soon married, and Guy—now side by side with his wife—served again at Calvary Temple. He then helped plant Grace Community Church in Tempe, Arizona, in 1967, which grew to be one of the first megachurches in that area.

At Grace Community, on Jan. 10, 1982, Guy ordained a man he had been mentoring by the name of Franklin Graham.

The Davidsons’ friendship with the Grahams dates back to 1974, when Grace Community was used for the School of Evangelism leading up to Billy Graham’s Crusade that year at Arizona State University. Mr. Graham called Guy a few times through the years, and Guy and Martha enjoyed a dinner with Mr. Graham and Ruth in 1982, sitting on the floor of their Arizona hotel room after Mr. Graham returned from meetings in Moscow.

Guy’s influence in Franklin’s life was so profound that one day, when Mr. Graham was about to board a flight to England, he called Guy. “I just want to thank you,” he said, “for stepping in for me as a mentor while I am traveling—for being by Franklin’s side and helping him on the straight and narrow.” That phone call touched the Davidsons’ hearts.

In the late ’90s, the Davidsons founded Arizona Community Church in Tempe. On Easter Sunday, 1998, its first service drew over a thousand people.

But just two years later, the stroke changed Guy’s life forever.

Guy instantly lost his ability to speak, walk or use his right side. “As a first-time stroke captive, I was a prisoner in my own body,” he said. “The transformation … was humiliating. Standing, walking, talking, drinking, eating, and even reaching for items was impossible.” 

But prayer and Scripture were his safe place. As he lay, his mind aware and his body helpless, the Lord brought precious truths to his heart. I know You won’t forget me, he prayed silently. Thank you for our blessed past; we will trust You for our unknown future.

Just days after the stroke, he stuttered a miraculous three-word speech: “I love Jesus!” From there, the Lord used music to help his speech return—starting with simple nursery rhymes—which astonished Guy.

Guy spent a few weeks in rehab in Mesa, Arizona. Seeing it as his “new assignment from God,” he diligently committed to the grueling schedule and diet, inviting those around him to join in—on both the commitment and wheelchair races down the hallway. 

After coming home from rehab, a turning point in Guy’s recovery was when he became the first patient in Arizona to receive constraint-induced movement therapy. It was a game changer. Before he knew it, he was able to drive again.

During his recovery, Guy used one finger on his left hand to begin slowly typing out his book, now published under the title When the Unexpected Happens: Looking Up With Hope When Life Brings You Down. “I was energized by the mental image of my stroke book getting into the hands of people who have experienced hard times or are currently walking a difficult path,” he wrote.

But as time progressed, Guy suffered seven more strokes, becoming weaker and less able to write.

After his homegoing in 2016, Martha did not want to finish his book. She didn’t think of herself as a writer—but the Lord graciously nudged her heart until she surrendered four years later. Despite some health scares of her own, she finished the task with perseverance.

As lively and driven as ever, Martha takes every opportunity she can to promote the book—and encourage others’ hearts in the Gospel with a love that flows from what she calls her “daily dates with God.” 

Guy’s story has encouraged hundreds. Earlier this year, Martha shared the book with her dentist, and the title caught his attention. “I really need this right now,” he said. 

Martha later found out that he had faced three major tragedies within the two previous months. “That’s the title that grabbed him,” she said. 

“The doors God has opened are absolutely incredible,” Martha said. “I miss Guy more now than ever—but more than that, I realized that God has a plan, and that plan is to get this book out.” ©2024 BGEA

Photo: Rebekah Petrino / ©2024 BGEA