Dear family, friends including supporters,
It has been about 6 weeks since I last updated you, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge, or maybe the roller coaster ride caught my breath for a while. The last you knew I was going through radiation for a Myeloma tumor that had formed on my clavicle with a resulting pathological fracture of my left clavicle. For a month or more up till then I was having some breathing problems at night and I though I was developing breathing apnea, where at times I would gasp for air. I don't remember the exact date but early October I started feeling not so well and started having a low grade fever. I went to the emergency room, as it happened on the weekend. They checked me out and sent me home. During the next week I continued to have increased fever and then went into my regular oncology clinic, and was immediately admitted to the hospital for 2 weeks. Later my oncologist was rather livid because the emergency room hadn't contacted him about my case. Well, I was coming down with another heavy case of pneumonia, I think my 5th during this past 10 year journey with Myeloma, but the first time it didn't follow a cold. Praise the Lord that He again brought me through, though for a while I and my family wondered if it was going to be my upward call. Poor Jeanette, and my kids as well, who have faced that possibility on a number of occasions. It has made us somewhat more free to talk about this reality. How wonderful is the living hope that God has given us.
But I cannot write this without giving much praise to the Lord. I had opportunities to witness to several nurses how God had met me through all this sickness. I could see tears in the eyes of two or three of them as they listened intently. May the Lord bring them to Himself. Pray for them. One is Rachael.
But there is something much closer to me that God did as well. I will quote part of a little write up of Josiah Dudley (Melodie's and Curt's oldest son, soon to be 21).
"For all my life I have never known anyone close to me to have been close to death. At least until just a couple weeks ago. I had this attitude in the back of my head that life here was eternal, that nothing could really harm me, and that I could do whatever I wanted, without true consequence. Even though I knew this wasn't really the case. I knew mentally what God had to say about (it) and to me and how I should live, but it wasn't fully understood or made real in my heart. But when I heard that Grandpa's condition had worsened and that he might not even live out the next day, I was shaken to a reality that not only death was real, but that all God had done was also real. That we live this life completely for Him, because some day we will pass on and all We’ve done on this world will be taken with us (of course I’m not speaking of earthly things but of our salvation). So why live this life for my own pleasures when the only thing that matters is to please Him? Grandpa had me read out of 2 Corinthians as he was lying on his what seemed to be “death bed”, and stopped me at 2 Corinthians 5:9 which says “So we make it our goal to please him, weather we are at home in the body or away from it.” He turned to me with tears in his eyes to say “Now this is the whole point, in this life, or the next, it is to please him……keep reading.” I have had more meaningful conversations with Grandpa the past couple weeks than I have had with anyone. I would like to continue to tell you story after story of what God's done for me through Grandpa. But I actually have to be going, and don’t have the time right now. Just know that I thank God for my grandpa, and what he has had to go through recently, because God has drawn me and many others toward Him through it. I pray for him and that he would get well soon and that God would give him rest. I thank him for what He has done for me through the past couple weeks. His grace amazes me every day. I have more desire to know Him now than I think I ever had before. God has drawn me close to Him and I am forever changed. My brother Michael, cousin Nathan, and I have a drive to not be lazy in our faith and that in everything we do to do it to our best ability for Christ’s sake. Grandpa is doing better now every day, and I thank Him for that.
Josiah Dudley"
This has made a dramatic change in Josiah, in the music he now listens to, his hunger for God's Word, his purpose to serve the Lord with his whole life, and to be much more intentional in doing God's will. I told him that what I saw God do as a result of my illness made it fully worth going through. Did not Jesus go to the cross on my behalf. Like Josiah said, this has also impacted some of the other grandkids and others in the family as well. How wonderful to serve a faithful Creator who always does everything perfectly. The promise He gave me at the onset of this battle over 10 years ago, has continued to bear me up, Isa 41:13 "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.'" Recently one night when I was struggling a bit, I prayed, "Lord help me." Immediately the last phrase of that verse came to mind, and I thanked the Lord that He was in fact doing that and again rested.
I am quite slow in regaining strength during the last 3 weeks since coming from the hospital because of the intestinal affects of all of the antibiotics. As soon as I am able to tolerate it, I need to again go on chemo treatment as my counts are again on the increase. I will likely start in two weeks after Thanksgiving as the main chemo is also a bit hard on the digestive system.
Thanks for your prayers on Jeanette's, our family, and my behalf. I am overwhelmed with how many tell me they are praying for us. How great the body of Christ is!!
Held by His right hand,
John
PS Rick Calenberg and Gary Dozier (Associate Senior Pastor at SW Bible) just returned from 3 weeks in Nigeria with much encouragement and enthusiasm from how the churches are embracing the Romans Project. Since the project is just beginning in some places they distributed 135 players but hundreds more have signed up to start the project. Rick, at the last minute, was able to also add Ghana to his itinerary. He found the churches and some other support groups very enthusiastic to become involved in the project. We expect a dynamic expansion of the project there. Likewise our national coordinator in Liberia, Momoh, has been traveling through much of the country in expanding the project and many church groups and denominations are embracing it. Let me give one testimony from Nigeria which Rich sent out:
"The Book of Romans is very rich and full of doctrinal issues that address the Christian life. It helps in developing my spiritual muscles. . .It teaches about our position in Christ and I now have assurance of salvation and how I should live a life worthy of my calling. I learned to use the copy of the notebook [in which he copied Romans] for evangelism among the Ms (Muslims) without holding the whole Bible in my hands, as they like privacy. It is a good strategy to adopt in reaching the Ms as it helps them to study the passages as if they are reading a school notebook [so it does not draw attention to the fact they are reading a Bible]".
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