This year is both very memorable and unforgettable year for me because of tragedies and miracles that happened to my family.
On May 11th my mom believed in the Lord (I was the one preached the gospel to her) and in August I went back home in the Philippines because my brother passed away. However, when I arrived there, my family told me also that my elder sister Chit was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, and my younger sister Maxwell had on-and-off fever. The worst thing happened 5 days after we buried my brother–my father passed away. At that time I was with my younger sister on my way to Manila (she was having fever again) to process the documents that I need to go back to Vancouver. When I heard the news from my nephew, I felt so shocked and didn’t know what to do, but kept crying and asked the Lord why these happened to my family. I wanted to go back to our home town immediately, but there was no more bus that could take us home because it was midnight. I have no choice but to keep going. When we arrived in Manila, my younger sister had a high fever, so I took her to the hospital nearby. The doctor told me that she needed to stay in the hospital and to have a surgery because she had a huge lump at her uterus and it was infected already, and the poison of it had already spread to her blood. We stayed there for 3 weeks and we could not attend our father’s funeral.
During the time that we stayed in the hospital, I was totally down and had no appetite to pray or to draw near to God. I was overwhelmed with so much pain, sorrows, and sufferings in my heart. Also, being the only person to support my family financially, I didn’t have enough money to settle my father’s funeral expense and my younger sister’s hospital bills. I kept asking the Lord why He gave me such trials that were too much and unbearable for me. However, I give thanks to the Lord that He sent Brother Paul and Sister Hannah to visit us and to help my younger sister to believe in the Lord. Moreover, I really give thanks to brothers and sisters who love and care for us through their prayers and financial support.
Through this very tough situation that I experienced in my life, the Lord let me feel His unchanging love and care for me and even for my family. He let me know that He is always there for me no matter what. I also did really feel the love and support of this family of God to us.
Truly the Lord is so merciful, loving, and caring, because not only He saved my younger sister but He also saved my elder sister Chit on Nov 16th (I preached the gospel to her also).
Through these things that happened to my family, I was really encouraged to keep praying for my 2 other sisters and the rest of my family and to bring them back to the Lord.