Special Request to our Sacred Art Community
Joe Richter, our dear friend and colleague, has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Please use the form section below to send him your healing thoughts and prayers during this challenging time.
For more than 25 years Joe Richter has been an invaluable part of Sacred Art of Living. His amazing talents have helped create so much of what our healing organization has become. Moreover, everyone who works with Joe appreciates his kind and generous spirit. His recent diagnosis of Stage 3 Kidney Cancer is a shock to our family and to all who love him. He is a candidate for immunotherapy treatments which could lead to a hopeful prognosis. In the meantime, we invite our community to send messages of prayerful support for Joe, his family and our SALC team.
Richard Groves,
Joe’s step dad, work partner and closest friend
Update - Joe’s Cancer Journey - March 1, 2026
Dear Friends & Family,
Here’s a little wellness update from me, shared with a grateful heart. Thank you—truly—for every prayer you’ve sent up on my behalf as I walk this Kidney Cancer road. I feel them, and I carry them with me.
Last month, I was invited to the University of Washington Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for their multidisciplinary clinic. I met with a whole team of doctors who had reviewed my case. When the lead surgeon walked in, he greeted me with such enthusiasm that it caught me off guard. He said, “I am so excited to meet you! The condition you were in last April–May 2025 was Budd-Chiari—a condition where most people do not live past 30 days. It’s really a miracle you are here.” After that, I’ll be honest, the rest of his words sort of floated away. Hearing that was a lot to take in.
Their team discussed the possibility of removing my right kidney along with the cancer, as well as the thrombus that has grown up into the Inferior Vena Cava towards the entrance to the heart. They perform this type of surgery a few times a month, but a case as complex as mine only comes around a couple of times a year. Because of that, they would need to bring together a very specialized group: cardio-thoracic surgeons, a liver transplant specialist to watch over blood flow, and the kidney surgeon to map out a plan. The good news is that they believe the cancer is still contained to the kidney area, and since my vitals are stable, they think the window for surgery is within the next six months.
They also shared that while the thrombus has shrunk a bit, they don’t expect it to shrink much more. It may even be fibrous—they won’t know until they’re in there.
Right now, this team is being assembled, and they’re working on a surgical plan. So we wait. And we pray. And then we wait some more. My hope is that everything—medical team, timing, insurance—lines up in the way it needs to for the best possible outcome.
You all have been my prayer team, my steady circle, and I feel humbled even asking for one more blessing. But if you have room in your heart, here’s the prayer I’m holding close:
“Dear God, please bring together the most skilled and steady-handed surgeons. If surgery is Your will, guide their minds with Your wisdom and their hands with Your precision of healing. Let Your loving care rise up in them as they care for me. Amen.”
Blessings to you all,
Joe
Iona’s Chapel Next to the Main Church in Iona Scotland
Votive Candles inside the Iona Chapel in Iona Scotland
UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 08: Flames of votive candles for prayer inside Iona Abbey ancient monument on Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides and Western Isles, Scotland (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
Shrine of Solanus Casey At Solanus Casey Center in Detroit MI
Saint Peregrine Patron Saint of Cancer At Shrine of Indian River
Cross in the woods Catholic Shrine of Indian River
The Grotto in Portland, Oregon
Please submit your healing thoughts and prayers for Joe using the form below. Please note: all comments will be subject to approval due to security and spam protection and will be published as soon as possible.
Hi Joe…On the recent Ennaegram Retreat, you sure looked and sounded stronger and healthy. glad to see this! You, and family, are in my continued thoughts and prayers.
Joe, I am so glad to read that you’re having a good experience with the immunotherapy! And that you have a new grandson that brings so much joy—that has to be just as effective if not more so! Praying for your continued healing and for a growing assurance of God’s holding you on this journey! Vicki snd Gary
Dear Joe, I attended Sacred Heart of Healing in Pullman WA in 2020 pre and during COVID. Sending you love and prayers and asking the Lord to heal every cell of your body, soul and spirit. May you feel God’s peace and know that he walks beside and before you, and your family and colleagues. Get well and take care of you! Warmly, Laura
Hi Joe. As we move into a new year you are in our prayers for peace, grace, strength and the highest outcome in the treatment of your cancer. We wish the best for you and your family. We love you all and miss talking with you. John and Kate McGreevey
Dearest Joe, please know that you are in our Ceile De prayers as well as my personal prayers for healing. You are still so instrumental in how I see the beauty of SALC and the precision of the programs–always bringing to us what we need.. May our prayers and well wishes bring to you what you need. May every hand that touches you be a healing one and may every heart you have touched (there are so many of us!) bring you the love and support that restores good health. I send you love, Jeannie
Hi Joe I’m writing on behalf of myself and Peter. You are in our prayers and we wish you continued healing and only good days ahead…Best wishes to you and Cristy also Richard and your extended family peace happiness and good health. . We have wonderful memories of being in your company Joe so continued healing – lots more adventures ahead! Blessings Love Finola and Peter. Happy New Year Joe!!!
Hi Joe You have been in my prayers since i learned of you diagnosis. My the Good Lord continue to help you as you work through your recovery journey. I have fond memories of sharing with you and Richard during the Healing The Healers program. I will continue to pray for you and Richard. Sincerely, Brian
Hello Joe, Im happy to read that there is progress even tho less than you had hoped. I continue to keep you in my thoughts snd prayers. And Silent Unity continues to pray for you 24/7 🥰 May you enjoy a beautiful Christmas season with friends and family. Much love snd Hugs to you, Anna