'Their faith keeps everybody going,' church member says about the Dempseys

Jan. 26--Family members of Mark Dempsey, a Stafford County pastor who was hospitalized last month with stomach pains then suddenly developed liver and kidney failure, are grateful for local friends and church members, as well as people from Alaska to Florida, who are praying for him.

"We've just got a lot of strong support," said his father, the Rev. Carlin Dempsey, who retired from King's Highway Baptist Church two years ago and turned the reins over to his son. "We're all worn out physically, and you still have that terrible ordeal of emotion. But we know people all over are praying for us."

Sadly, it's not the first time the Dempseys have been in this situation.

Carlin Dempsey battled cancer that first appeared in 2005 and came back three times. When typical therapies didn't work, he underwent a grueling operation and experimental vaccines to keep the disease at bay.

Church members rallied around him and held a 24-hour prayer vigil when the pastor faced the worst procedure, an operation in which his organs were removed and bathed in chemicals in an attempt to keep them cancer-free.

In a Free Lance -- Star story about that cancer journey, church member Matt Wagner said the pastor's experience gave hope to others with similar problems.

"There's a great sense of community in our church," Wagner said at the time. "No one goes through any of these things alone."

That sense of community came into play again in August 2013, when Carlin Dempsey's brother, Steve Dempsey, and his wife, Charlene, experienced horrific losses. Steve Dempsey is the former sheriff of King George County, and his daughter, Bethany, and 14-year-old granddaughter, Lauren White, were killed in an auto accident in Maryland on the way back from the airport.

Those affected by the latest Dempsey adversity are clinging to their faith, as they've done through other struggles.

"Please don't take this as cliché coming from a church," said Noreen McDowell, who directs the facility's school and day care center, "but in the Bible, Job lost everything--his family, his land--but he still trusted God, and that's where we are right now with the Dempsey family.

"Their faith and what they pass on to anybody who's in communication with them is full faith in God," she said. "It's very overwhelming because they've gone through so much, but their faith keeps everybody going."

Mark Dempsey, 46, was diagnosed with diabetes about five years ago, said his mother, Linda. He'd taken medication for it, made the necessary lifestyle changes and had continued with his work.

When he started feeling a little off in early December, the family assumed he was having a diabetic flareup. His eyes looked a little yellow, and later, so did his skin.

Pains in his abdomen became so severe that by Dec. 12, Mark Dempsey wanted to go to the emergency room. He eventually ended up at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, and after tests showed liver failure, officials there told the family "he was too sick for anything they could handle," Carlin Dempsey said.

The patient was taken by ambulance to VCU Medical Center in Richmond on Jan. 8 and has been there ever since. Doctors don't know why his organs failed, and as they've put him on dialysis for his kidneys and evaluated him for a possible liver transplant, other problems have surfaced.

His heart rate accelerated, but came under control, his mother said. Then he's been treated for bacteria in the blood and a bowel obstruction.

Mark Dempsey's family has been by his side around the clock. That includes his parents and teenage daughters, Victoria, 17, and Olivia, 14, and his younger brother, Matthew and Matthew's wife, Jennifer.

Assistant pastor Dylan Teaford also has been at the Dempsey bedside, but as the patient has been treated in intensive care, his family has determined he's too weak for other visitors.

Mark Dempsey said as much during a phone interview.

"Just let them know I'd rather be with them than laying up in a bed, immobile," he said, adding that the shock of everything that's happened so quickly "was pretty jolting. I'm just hanging in there, hoping for God's best."

The pastor said he missed seeing his people and was grateful for "great friends who call me, pray over me, make me cry."

Then he mentioned his brother, who regularly provides comic relief by coming to his bedside and telling the patient how awful he looks. A pretty good jokester himself, Mark Dempsey said: "His excuse is, he's jealous. I inherited all the good looks."

As Mark Dempsey has dealt with the possibility that his "life is coming to an end," as his father put it, he's wanted to be surrounded by family.

"Mark wants the support, and we are giving him all the support he wants," his mother said.

Victoria said she and her sister, both straight-A students at the church's South Stafford Christian School, have done their schoolwork in hospital waiting rooms near their father. Victoria also has rubbed her dad's arms and legs, washed his hair or face and helped him brush his teeth.

"I know it relaxes him, and that's a big thing, to make him feel relaxed," she said.

"It increases his spirits," his mother said.

"And we don't want him to get down," Victoria added.

Teaford started a GoFundMe account to help with expenses. Even though Mark Dempsey has insurance, his deductible and co-pays will be sizable, his mother said.

Church members also ask others to keep their pastor in their thoughts.

"Anybody who can join us in prayer is greatly appreciated," McDowell said.

___

(c)2020 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)

Visit The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) at www.fredericksburg.com/flshome

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.