As previously reported, STRYPER frontman Micahel Sweet's wife Kyle was diagnosed with ovarian cancer back in February. He has issued the following update:

"First, I want to take the opportunity to personally thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for the incredible love, support, thoughts and prayers for my family during this difficult time. Although it has certainly been the most frightening time of our lives, Kyle, Michael, Ellena and I have drawn closer to each other than ever before and we have drawn closer to our faith in Christ. We've learned that we must face trials and tests in order to build our relationship with The Lord, and ultimately, strengthen our faith in Him. Our faith not only has been shaken, but has become much stronger as well. We are putting our trust in The Lord and believing that He is in complete control. The love and support that all of you have shown to us has been an encouragement to our family - Thank You All!

As some of you may or may not know, my beautiful wife Kyle was recently diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Kyle underwent surgery on 2/14 and all visible signs of the tumors were removed. There are some suspicious areas in Kyle's lung that have led doctors to believe that they are related and this is why the doctors are calling it stage 4. We began chemotherapy on 3/14 and it was the first of a total of 6 treatments, every 3 weeks. I've been learning so much about this disease since Kyle's diagnosis and something that was shocking to know is the fact that there is no effective means of early detection and as a result, ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed in advanced stages. It's extremely difficult to diagnose due to the fact that symptoms are vague and subtle. We're hoping that in some small way, we can help raise awareness and encourage all of you to help us do so.

Something that has blessed our family so much during this time is the extreme large amount of people who have written with prayers and offerings of financial support. While we greatly appreciate that, we believe that we have created a way to help get everyone involved in the fight against cancer and to help raise awareness which is so important.

We’ve decided to offer five different packages at michaelsweet.com of the record Him at a discounted price. A percentage of the net proceeds (50%) will go to The Dana Farber Cancer Institute to help fund cutting edge ovarian cancer research programs that will bring us all closer to finding effective treatments and cures for ovarian cancer. The five packages we’re offering can be found here.

Another purpose of these packages is to encourage everyone to get the message of Him into as many hands as possible. Our vision and goal has always been to minister to people with the gift of music, and this record is made up of some of the most powerful hymns and lyrics ever written. It would mean so much to Kyle and I to see Him used as a ministry tool. If you were to purchase these packages and pass them out to friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, churches, youth groups, businesses, hospitals and so on, it would be a life changing opportunity for everyone to help fight cancer and at the same time, minister to others. We need your help to accomplish this. I've had many pastors contact me about purchasing Him in large quantities to pass out, carry in the church store and to use as a ministry tool. I've also had individual people approach me with new ideas and new ways to get Him out there in the hands of more and more people. Now, with what lies ahead, we've never been more committed to doing just that. We've seen the power of people who are passionate and committed to spreading The Word. That's how Stryper began and that's how the message of Stryper spread so quickly and so powerfully - everyone working together to 'spread the word'. We believe that together, with your help, we can touch the lives of multitudes with the message of Christ and at the very same time, join the fight against cancer and be a light for so many others who are battling cancer.

All of you who have expressed the desire to help - there couldn't be a better way. For those of you who purchase a package, your picture and story will be posted at WWW.MICHAELSWEET.COM and we'll all be able to see the effectiveness of working together to change lives and to help lives!

We appreciate your willingness to make this a reality and we can't tell you how much it means to us. We covet your prayers and we ask that you continue to pray for healing and remission. I believe without any doubt, that God can heal Kyle completely. I also believe that God can heal anyone who may be going through what we are going through. We want to be an encouragement to those of you as well. We love you and we can't thank you enough for helping us spread The Word!"

Always, with sincere gratitude,

Michael and Kyle