Jed Bayes Releasing 'The Victory'
Christian Artist and Worship Pastor Jed Bayes releases his new single 'The Victory' on October 16th. This is the first song that he and his wife Emily have written together, born out of her struggle with ovarian cancer while pregnant with their son Lincoln and the journey to finding Victory.
The Bayes family has recently made a move from Georgia to North Carolina where Jed is the Worship Pastor at Grace Chapel Church in Sanford and Emily is a Physician Assistant at Duke Regional Hospital. For the last 5 years Jed has been traveling on the road as right hand man and keyboardist to renowned Worship Leader Charles Billingsley. Through those travels he has ministered internationally with some of the Christian community's finest including: Dr. David Jeremiah, Charlie Daniels, Lysa T erkeurst, Ravi Zacharias, Katherine Wolf, Michael English, Lisa Harper, and more. He is also regularly featured at Women of Joy Conference and Gridiron Men's Conference.
In January of 2017 Jed and Emily found out the exciting news that their family would now be a trio (or a quintet counting their 2 Basset Hounds). What should have been a wonderful experience unfortunately took a turn for the worse. At 11 weeks into the pregnancy Emily (A Physician Assistant) began to notice some terrible pain while in a patient’s room and wondered if she were miscarrying. She was rushed up to the OB floor and had an ultrasound, which showed a large suspicious cyst with a mass inside of the cyst. The next morning she saw her OB/GYN who thought it best to have surgery immediately to remove the cyst and mass. What should have been a quick procedure lasted nearly all day as the doctor had discovered the cyst was actually cancerous, which prompted the surgeons to remove her appendix as cancerous cells were found there as well.
They traveled home that night not knowing what the future may hold. Emily went into a depression, feeling alone, forsaken, and wondering if the baby would be all right or if the child would be affected by the trauma of the surgery. She knew that God was in control but was struggling with the thoughts of losing this precious child. Through all of this, Jed had been traveling heavily still, while trying to keep his family focused on finding joy and victory through the struggle.
The next week at the post-op, the surgeon began to explain that the baby and the cyst were fighting for space and because of that it brought to light the cancer very early, and it was unlikely that she would need further treatment. But, the most amazing part was, had she not been pregnant at the exact right time, the situation could have been much worse and the doctors would not have detected the cancer early enough to stop the spread. God used a child to save her life.
In September they finally got to meet their little miracle boy, Lincoln Jedidiah Bayes. The next year was full of joy and happiness, and out of that season Jed and Emily wrote a song together the night before Easter in 2018 claiming where their Victory is found.
But the battle wasn’t quite over for the Bayes family. During a check-up in February of 2019 it was discovered that another suspicious cyst had formed on Emily’s remaining ovary, her cancer enzymes had elevated again, and the pain had returned. A full hysterectomy was recommended at this point. Confused and left wondering what will happen next, they clung to the song they had written one-year prior… “The battle is over, the victory is Yours.”
By God’s grace alone after the same surgeon performed the hysterectomy, there was no cancer to be found! The battle was officially over at this point. Through the year following the cancer, there were many days of fear and anxiety, wondering would it come back after this surgery. “God used it for a true healing and the song ‘The Victory’ continued to play in our hearts and minds, knowing that not all is good but God has the final say. We relished in knowing that battles are fought but no matter what the situation, God had used His Son to win the war, and in this situation in our lives, God used our son to bring to light a battle that was ultimately won. Some may say, well the cancer came back, and they cannot have any more children, but that is all ok with us, because we can rest that the battle is over and the war is won and He used this pregnancy and our son and this cancer to heal us in so many more ways than just physically but spiritually and emotionally as well. We look at it as such a picture of Christ and his redemption story. To God be all the Glory and Praise.” - Emily Bayes
“The situation could have been much worse, which is what we keep in the back of our minds when we tell our story. We never want to claim that God can give anyone a testimony just like ours, because there are many situations that do not turn out the same. We want to say that even if He chose not to heal Emily, the battle over death has already been overcome by the King of Kings. Jesus defeated death through the conquest of Calvary and has given eternal life for anyone that will believe, and that is what gives us the victory in every circumstance.” - Jed Bayes
Later in 2019 Jed began to record their song in his own studio in his spare time, there were many obstacles to overcome but God’s timing is perfect. He played every instrument, edited, and mixed “The Victory” at Mountain Ridge Studios, where he is the owner and operator. He was assisted by James DeFriese during the recording process. James, Emily Bayes, and Joseph DeFriese were also background vocalists. The track was mastered by sought after industry professional Drew Lavyne at All Digital Mastering.
