April 2 2013

April 2 

Dear friends,

Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement.

Indeed the Lord has blessed me with an Easter message through the power of God’s Word in 1 Cor 2. I was blessed again by the affirmation that the Holy Spirit is here to teach and guide me. Verses you sent, songs, hymns and many other things lifted me up.

In one week Victor and I have accomplished a lot of things. My to-do list is not that long because in some way I have mentally prepared for this. However I was still stressed! I almost packed my office – since I do not have a shredder, I shred a lot of paper with my own bare hands, reminding me of the big and small projects (teaching, writing, etc.) in my past 5 years of work at University of Macau. These things are now really not that important but I praise God for the blessed years.

By Wednesday I am able to hold onto Philippians 1:18-20 “V18 Yes and I will continue to rejoice, 19 or I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

There are a few moments of meltdown triggered by different incidents – such as losing the mobile phone. The Lord reminded me to pray and have peace in Him. Then came the appointment with the breast surgeon. He (and doctor friends) told me that the PET/CT scan indicates hyper-metabolic activity. A biopsy is needed to determine whether the lymph node is malignant, and if so what type (recurrence of previous cancer or a new cancer) and then the treatment can be determined. This Friday I will get a biopsy.

I was emotionally quite drained after a long day. Waiting is always hard for me. But in the waiting the Holy Spirit is teaching me various things I need to learn. His presence is my comfort.

This experience is another wake-up call that salvation of lost souls is a life-and-death matter. This Friday there would be an Easter gathering for the mainland students on campus – please pray that some will accept Christ and that we may be able to form a small group. Unfortunately I would have to miss it. However I would need to learn that sometimes prayer is all we can do. Will update you when I have news.

Doris