He's Always Been Faithful -- Surgery Update

Laura -- one day after surgery

I had surgery to remove my colon earlier this summer in June. Some of you probably already knew that, some of you probably didn’t, and some of you probably didn’t even know I was sick. Here’s some back story and an update on how I’m doing and God’s faithfulness through the whole saga. (If you already know the back story, you can skip to the end...)

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) about 13 years ago, shortly after my first mission trip to Mexico. UC causes chronic inflammation to the lining of the colon, and it can also cause systemic inflammation other places in your body. UC is autoimmune, considered incurable, and still largely not understood by doctors, as we soon found out. For a while we bounced around to different doctors. I always seemed to get worse on the medications they gave me. It took awhile to figure out that my body reacts severely to the main family of medications they use to treat UC.

So, I tried to live well and take care of myself, and didn’t really see the doctor regularly while I was away at college. I had a pretty good system down for managing my symptoms (and hiding the disease from others) although the disease was always active.

About 1.5 years ago, I got referred to a new specialist at U of M. We ended up with a great specialist who listened and explained well. He specifically emphasized these points:

• The longer I have active inflammation, the greater my risk for cancer.
• The only treatment options left to me were basically strong immunosuppressant drugs or surgery. Surgery is considered the final option.
• Immunosuppressant drugs can come with risks, but the benefits (e.g. lower colon cancer risk) outweighed the risks.

So we took the plunge and started immunosuppressive therapy. The transition was rough, but I got through it and was actually improving! I was so happy to finally be feeling better, and I was pretty optimistic as I went for a follow-up colonoscopy last April. The lining of my colon was looking less inflamed, but they also found several polyps throughout that needed to be sent to pathology.

Still, I was feeling cautiously optimistic going into May. I was just finishing a tutoring session with two Syrian students when I got a call from my doctor. Personally. I knew this was not usually a good sign. All the polyps came back with results of low- to high-grade dysplasia (abnormal cell growth that can be an early warning sign for cancer). At this point, my risk for cancer was so high that he recommended I have surgery as soon as possible.

I held it together for the phone call. Then cried. In the month that followed I struggled with feelings of:

• Failure. Like if only I had taken better care of myself or prayed more for healing this wouldn’t have happened. The surgery felt so final - like the bell at the end of a boxing match... I fought but not hard enough. K.O. for me.
• Fear. For the first time in my life, I felt extremely mortal. Death suddenly felt too close to me and it was scaring me out of my mind. I was afraid every time Andy left that something would happen.
• Depression. I didn’t connect to my passions anymore, and engaging with people just felt completely exhausting.

And yet, we could see (and have seen) God’s hand in my life. This included:

• A great doctor who was diligent to monitor me regularly.
• Early detection of the risk.
• Obedience to what we felt like was a specific leading from God to be faithful with my health and follow through with my treatment.
• A job at MSU that provides me with excellent health insurance so we haven’t been financially burdened (or ruined).
• God keeping me as healthy as I had been despite not having any treatment earlier.
• Opportunities to pursue my passions including traveling overseas several times.
• Countless times of God sustaining me, bringing me through situations people in my condition shouldn’t have been in, healing me of uncontrolled bleeding from my colon, arthritis in my joints, and uveitis in my eyes.

But I was still struggling and feeling burdened like I needed to DO something, anything, if God would just heal it all this time. Andy and I took a day to fast and pray for direction. As a result, we both felt like God was speaking rest, and the only thing I needed to do was trust in WHO He is - His goodness and love. And what a feeling of relief – the burden wasn’t on us to conjure some huge feat of faith. He wasn’t requiring anything of us. He wasn’t telling us we had done something wrong. We were reassured with His peace and trusted that He had us covered.

Well, I can’t lie and say I never struggled with fear or depression after that, but largely I experienced a new supernatural level of peace until the day of the surgery. The day of, I was pleasantly surprised at how not-upset I was.

The surgery took about 5 hours, but it went great. I remember waking up that first night in the hospital after all the anesthesia had worn off (I had woken up earlier, but I wasn’t completely lucid). I realized I had made it through the surgery. I had minimal pain and discomfort. I stayed awake for awhile, my spirit full of praise and thanks to the Lord. During our hospital stay we also got further reassurance as the nurses and other hospital spoke very highly of my surgeon, and oohed and ahhed over my tiny, neat incisions. (“His work is like art,” said one of our nurses.)

Recovery has had its ups and downs. I had one big down particularly when I contracted a stomach virus that sent me to the E.R. twice and eventually another hospital stay. I think we’ve experienced mostly ups, however, as after two months I’m feeling practically back to normal. It will still be a while before I’m completely adjusted to my new “normal” (I need to make it through one more follow-up surgery this fall, not as major). However, we are so thankful for God’s care through this recent health crisis, and we look forward to my health being better than ever.

We are especially grateful to all of you. We received such an outpouring of your concern, encouragement and prayers. THANK YOU!!!

God Gives the Increase

Andy - Laura - YuHua @ the fish ladder in Old Town Lansing

We met Yuhua two years ago, through another Chinese student who invited her to come with us to Lake Michigan for the day. (Actually, this is the connections between us and her: Yuhua – Coworker – Roommate – Friend – Us. Networking, folks…) We had a great connection and soon she started to attend Bible study with us. At the time we were going through the gospels, and had many wonderful opportunities to highlight the difference between the Old and New Covenants – Law vs. Grace.

The more we got to know each other, the more Yuhua opened up about her life. Although she was always cheerful on the outside, she carried around a deep hurt – something that had happened shortly before we met her.

As time went on, she was still very interested in learning about the Lord, but we recognized that she needed someone who could take a role of more authority in her life – especially in Chinese culture, we were not as qualified to “teach” her as we are younger and less educated than she is. Fortunately, earlier Yuhua had spent some time with my family and maintained a relationship with my mom. So, when my mom asked if she would like to meet for continued discipleship, Yuhua eagerly accepted.

Zhao Yang - YuHua @ Weicong's birthday party

"I woke up one day recently and I realized that the pain was gone."

At a recent meeting, Yuhua said that she realized that the deep hurt inside of her was now healed. She had received lots of good advice and positive encouragement before – but it was not these things that brought the change in her heart. She recognized and acknowledged that is was God who had brought healing to her from the inside out.

Having experienced the loving touch of the Father on top of a firm foundation in the truth of Jesus' work of grace, Yuhua was eager to commit her life to Christ and become a Christian! She is telling everyone around her, including her parents. She is waiting for them to come visit next month so they can witness her baptism.

It's hard to explain the feeling of joy at her spiritual rebirth, I felt like I was in shock, a shock of overwhelming joy! It just brings to light the truth that WE don't accomplish the work – we are simply partners to what God is already doing in people's lives. Sometimes we get to join in harvest, other times we faithfully water and plant – but it is GOD who brings the increase. Either way, we feel incredibly privileged to be a part of God's active plan of redemption at work!

Vacillation

Our friend Weicong was struggling with acceptance recently, but not from someone in particular. MSU was holding Weicong in limbo between acceptance and denial for continuing education as a graduate student. At first it seemed likely, then they told him no, and then again they were reconsidering his acceptance a second time. This vacillation lasted most of the Spring semester and caused much frustration for our foreign friend. It seemed like our time in close proximity was nearing an end.

We've experienced many lifelong memories with our friend Weicong. It's been a real honor to get to know him, and to say goodbye at this point, just when we are drawing closer together, would be a huge disappointment. I'm sure he would say the same about us, and the truth is that we've learned just as much from him as he has from us.

Weicong's story is not an uncommon one compared to the other Chinese students at MSU. Following suit with the rest of the foreign student population, his time here has been fraught with intercultural complications. This very frustration presents itself as one of the best opportunities we have, as US citizens and Christians alike, to reach out with Christ-like love to the nations. When we step in and fill a gap in someone's life the results can be lifelong and beautiful.

"If I don't get into a top school like Harvard, I want to stay at MSU. I want to be near you."

Recently while still uncertain about whether or not he would stay, Weicong said of us, "If I don't get into a top school like Harvard, I want to stay at MSU. I want to be near you." Sometimes you don't know just how deep a simple friendship based on uncomplicated kindness can reach. He may continue to vacillate between faith in Christ and ancient Chinese beliefs, but in the matter of keeping a lifelong friend the decision has already been set in stone.

The decision process for Weicong's grad school acceptance had taken several months and Weicong only just found out whether or not his ticket to China should include a return trip, which it will! Weicong will indeed return in the fall and we can continue to forge a deeper relationship. I pray that as we continue to uncover deeper truths about each other that all Weicong finds at my core is a deep love for Jesus Christ. I know there is nothing more attractive than discovering this treasure within someone else. A decision will always be made regarding matters of great importance, and I hope to be there for Weicong in the future for more than just education and airfare.

Discipling the Unlikely

Do you ever catch yourself labeling people "least likely to get saved" or "closest to the kingdom"? I know I do at times, without even meaning to.

Well, doesn't God just like to burst our little bubble.

One student in particular we thought was least likely. Weicong (pictured above, far left) started coming to Bible study just because he was new to MSU and he had friends there. Eventually those friends left MSU, but he stayed at Bible study.

I feel like maybe we spent more time investing in other students because we expected he wasn't as interested. We eventually realized that maybe God was working in his heart, too. So recently Andy asked him if he would like to do more intentional one-on-one discipleship, to which he replied, "Of course!" Maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, but we were! He and Andy have been now meeting regularly and going through the Purple Book. 

More on discipleship....

We are called to go and make DISCIPLES. Jesus spent three years just living life with his disciples. It has become increasingly clear to us that a lot of Kingdom of God stuff happens in a normal, daily-living, yet intentional discipleship context.

Chi Alpha is acting on this conviction with separate discipleship groups for the girls and guys. We're being open and honest, pursuing God and truth together, and experiencing change in our lives. We also meet with several students one-on-one.

Sometimes it's shocking to discover what some students don't know about God. There is no shame in this – it just brings to light what kind of issues are so easily missed when there isn’t intentional discipleship. 

Holy Spirit Time

Recently we had a great speaker, Dick Schroeder, come to MSU Chi Alpha and share with the students on the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and just give general ministry and counseling where needed. It was a wonderful time for the students. Dick was an excellent listener and encourager, which is precisely what some of these aspiring professionals need. He really laid a good message on the table the evening that he was with us at Pastor Mark's house. Three students in particular were eager to be prayed for baptism in the HS and showed a great passion to pursue God more intensely moving forward. Praise God!

Here's a little more about Dick and his HS Series. He basically travels almost exclusively to XA (Chi Alpha) ministries, but also other venues, around the nation just to serve them however they feel they need service at the time. He's a cool guy.

One of the great things about Dick is that he is so sensitive to the what the Holy Spirit is speaking. He spent a whole day just meeting one-on-one with Chi Alpha students, listening and speaking encouragement. Afterward, we had a time of feedback with students for them to discuss their expectations and experiences with Dick. It was really valuable to see the different ways the Holy Spirit was speaking to each student exactly what they needed - it really helped to grow our faith in how to listen to the voice of God.