When Amber Terwilliger was diagnosed with cancer, her family made a decision to not only seek medical help, but spiritual help also.

A 10th grader at Butler Intermediate High School, Amber remembers that day in 2005 when she learned she had Ewing's Sarcoma.

"I had a tumor in my pelvis," she explained. "I thought, 'How could this happen to me?' I also was a little confused, wondering what I did to make God allow this."

Immediately after hearing the news, the Terwilliger family picked up the phone and called their church.

"We didn't hesitate to seek prayer for Amber," said her father Terry. "I called our church and by day's end people were praying for Amber. We had no idea how far that prayer request would actually reach," he explained.

The Oakland Township family had activated the prayer chain at East Butler Presbyterian Church.

To activate the chain, the Terwilligers called the church's clerk of session, the first of about 10 people in the calling lineup.

"The prayer chain is a way to immediately mobilize prayer until the whole church can pray together on Sunday," said the Rev. Mary Sickles, pastor at East Butler.

"In a sense, the prayer chain is a subset of our entire congregation's prayer life."

But the prayer chain didn't stop with the East Butler congregation. Like many prayer requests, Amber's continued to circulate by word-of-mouth and over the Internet, reaching people all over the country.

"It was amazing to see e-mails from all over that people had been praying for Amber," Terry said.

"It was even put on a prayer list at the Vatican in Rome."

The Terwilligers say when Amber was first diagnosed, the tumor was too big to attempt surgery, so medical professionals were surprised at how she progressed.

"Doctors were stunned that within 12 weeks it was totally gone," said Amber, whose family decided to follow up with the recommended 15 doses of chemotherapy over 11 months.

Amber said the experience reinforced her belief in the power of prayer.

"I believe that it really did help me," she said. "I never really got depressed from the whole situation and I'm sure that the prayer helped. I always kept my spirits high."

Although Amber remains cancer-free, the Terwilligers say they understand the prayer did not guarantee her recovery.

"I say the Lord's Prayer every day and in it, it says 'Thy will be done.' So basically we are asking the Lord's will be done. ... If God would have chosen not to heal Amber, I would have been angry — but not at God, at cancer," her father said.

"I believe that when bad things happen to us, it makes us stronger. If we walk through a hardship we are better for it on the other side. ... Amber is a much stronger person and much stronger in her faith," he added.

"All prayers are answered, though not always the way we'd like."

"God answers all prayers," Amber's mother, Debbie, agreed.

"There are times the answer is not what you want to hear; but when you believe, your faith is what helps you accept the answer. Faith makes you a very strong individual; in turn, you learn to deal with what we encounter in our everyday life with a positive attitude.

"Amber's strong faith is what helped her deal with her disease. She had a very positive attitude during the entire time of treatment. It definitely takes trust in the Lord and a positive attitude to beat cancer."

While the impact of prayer chains is most often seen by the recipient of prayers, Sickles believes the blessings go both ways.

"Amber's story was a tremendous victory, and our church saw this healing as a testimony to the power of prayer," she said.

While churches are the main connections for prayer chains, other groups also form networks.

The St. Fidelis PALMS group, a meeting of mothers of preschoolers, has its own prayer chain.

"At the beginning of each PALMS meeting, we ask for prayer requests and praises from the members. These are posted online and printed in the following meeting's newsletter," said PALMS member Christine Rockcastle of Lyndora.

Rockcastle said as well as offering a spiritual connection, prayer requests allow people to aid each other in tangible ways.

"Many who made the prayer request will hear from other moms later offering help — like free baby-sitting for one member who said she needed time to reconnect with her husband — or advice from someone who has been in a similar situation," she said.

Like many prayer groups, PALMS members say they continue the practice because they get results.

"Often, we hear updates on answers to prayer or continued prayers at following meetings," said Rockcastle.

"Keeping track of the requests in our newsletters, we can read through them to see how prayer has changed things."

Bill Halle, founder and CEO of Grace Youth and Family Foundation on Center Avenue, utilizes a prayer chain of staff and volunteers.

"It is amazing to watch how God uses the prayer chain to open up people's hearts and minds. There have been countless situations where God has miraculously answered prayer," said Halle, recounting the story of an accident victim.

"He had head trauma, multiple broken bones, and his internal organs were so badly damaged that they literally had to leave him lying opened with his internal organs exposed because they were too swollen to put back inside," he explained.

"He not only miraculously lived and made it through multiple surgeries, but he is beginning to heal. Doctors are astounded and have no earthly explanation."

With the popularity of the Internet, prayer chains are also common in cyber space.

Mary Ann Haslett of Plum Boro launched the My Prayer Box Web site in May 2005. Haslett also authored a book by the same name.

Haslett's Web site evolved from a column in the now-defunct Pittsburgh Christian News, which couldn't accommodate the volume of prayer requests she received.

The overflow was posted on the site, for which Haslett spends four to six hours each week compiling e-mail.

"I pray for each request as it comes in and then add it to the list," said Haslett.

While there are 40 people on Haslett's list, she said the requests reach far more than that.

"I have folks that e-mail it to family, friends and even someone e-mails it to Scotland," she said.

"Folks are grateful for prayer and to be able to share their requests with others," she added.