THERE
IS HOPE
Shery Lim Testimony : LAUNCH OF 'THERE IS HOPE' BOOK AT SIBKL
Good
morning everyone. Today I would like to share with you how God
gives me hope and how God restores my soul.
In
1994, when I was 38 years old, I had 3rd stage breast cancer.
That was a great shock to me because in 18 years I took only 8
days of MC. So how could I have cancer!
Then in February 2006, I had a relapse. This was my second great
shock because the relapse was 12 years later. Normally doctors
say you are quite safe after 5 years.
This
time it had spread from the internal mammary nodes to the sternum
and is classified as the final 4th terminal stage.
The
tumour size is slightly smaller than this fist, measuring about
6x7x4cm sandwiched between the heart and the left lung, which
had spread to the sternum as you can see in the diagram. And it
cannot be removed by surgery due to the awkward position between
the heart and the lung.
Upon
discovery, I was greatly distressed and shaken, and the first
thing that came to me is that, I don't want to die. I don't want
to die for two reasons:-
1) Firstly, not at a young age of 50 leaving behind my husband
and my son.
2)
Secondly, I don't want to die because I don't feel I was ready
to meet God.
I have not given God priority in my life. My whole life is nothing
much but routine busyness, day in and day out, and often work
would come first, weakening my relationship with God and people
around me.
Since
I was not ready to meet God and with death lurking around me,
I wondered to myself, how could I ever have the time:
- to see my own transformation within my soul
and how could I have the time
- to do God's will when I am at this 4th stage of terminal cancer
With
this prognosis, I came to a point where I could no longer determine
what I wished to do. This statement 'There Is No Hope' was staring
at me.
I
felt completely hopeless because I know that from medical statistics,
fourth stage cancer patients can just die within months or within
a short period.
There
was nowhere else I could turn to but to seek the Lord with all
my heart.
Then I remembered Psalm 107:20
that says
'God sent His Word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.'
So clearly God was telling me THERE IS HOPE.
Yes, there is Hope through His Word.
Then
I began to spend much time in reading and meditating on His Word
while I was undergoing treatment last year.
If
not for the HOPE found in His Word, I don't think I would have
survived.
The suffering was immense and intense. Many times I was bedridden,
too weak to lift a glass of water, taking an hour to finish a
bowl of porridge, crying in immense pain despite taking six painkillers
a day, having pain and aches all over the body, swollen with as
many as nine mouth ulcers at once and waking up every hour in
the night to apply Bonjela. Sometimes I could not seem to find
my body; it was as though I was unable to locate my head, my hands,
my legs and my body organs. I went through the pits of hell of
suffering.
My
husband and I prayed and cried to the Lord for nights to get some
emotional and pain relief. Each time we cried, we grew closer
and closer to God.
Each
time I went for my chemotherapy, I increased my effort in Word
Therapy.
What this means it that as I read His Word, He spoke certain special
verses to me and I began to type them out and paste them all over
the wall next to my bed.
I
administered His Word a few times a day by speaking it aloud and
hearing it. Hearing my own voice on the Word of God,
sent an impulse into my spirit and gave much emotional and pain
relief.
The
more time I spent on God's Word, the more I feel the Spirit of
God living in me.
And today I am still alive because I am living by the Spirit of
God.
I
just cannot live so 'humanly' anymore; with the pain across my
chest still tormenting me each day, with the tumour on my chest
as though I am carrying a stone, for example when the car breaks
I can feel as though the stone is popping out.
It's just so impossible to carry on living sometimes. The only
way for me to continue living is to Live By The Spirit which means
I have to connect my spirit with the Spirit of God. When connected,
then only I can:-
-
Die to my sinful nature
- Die to my carnal feeling including pain which is so difficult
and
- Die to disobedience and appropriate God's Word in my life every
day
In
this process of Living By The Spirit, I realised that He Gives
me Hope and He Restores my Soul.
So
what happened last year after I finished my last chemo in August?
One month later, in September, my CT scan showed no improvement.
The treatment had not regressed the cancer mass across the chest
wall and sternum. The scans before and after the treatment were
about the same.
It was discouraging news to my husband and me.
We
cried for three days and three nights when the doctor said "Don't
know how long you will live. It could be months, it could be years.
I suggest you enjoy life and live one day at a time."
At
that time, Satan began to torment me with the spirit of death,
saying, "There is no hope, there is no hope. Time to give
up! You are fighting a losing battle."
Thank
God that I have hidden His Word in my heart, and I rebuked Satan
by telling him that "I will not have to fight this battle..
The battle belongs to the Lord. All I have to do is take my position,
stand firm and see His deliverance."
Over
a period of one year, the spirit of death left me and is replaced
the Spirit of Joy.
Filled with His Joy, as I chose to live instead of die last year,
God had said to me He will show me plans to give me HOPE and a
future.
As
I was searching for the purpose for my future, my heart began
to fill with compassion for the suffering cancer patients. Come
to think of it, God had allowed me to go the pits of hell of suffering
shedding buckets of tears for a purpose.
The purpose is to enable me reach out to other the cancer sufferers
by
- sharing with them how to deal with their painful feelings and
- move on with greater divine help from God above.
But
I did not know how to reach out and share with many people.
It was not until the divine visit of my church pastors to my house
in May last year.
During
that visit, my Senior Pastor Chew and his wife Pastor Lee Choo
began talking about caring for people as SIB is a church 'Where
People Matter' so says the tagline.
Whilst talking they said "Hey, how about you writing a book
to help the sick especially the cancer patients, its care-givers
and friends to walk the journey and find Hope and Peace?"
In my heart I was saying 'No lah, it could be such a strain on
me while still undergoing treatment. Aiyah just no way.'
But
somehow I could not escape what the Pastors suggested. One week
after their visit, I woke up at 5am and started writing the contents
of this book. I did not know why I did it and how I managed it.
All I knew is that the power of the Holy Spirit has made it possible.
So
the seed of writing a book was sown by my dear Pastors and God
has watered the seed and made it grow.
Today
the seed has grown into this book called 'THERE IS HOPE'.
I
must share with you that while writing this book, I was in constant
pain and I thank God that never a moment I felt like giving it
up. I could carry on writing because my strength comes from the
Spirit of Joy. Joy could not enter through my physical body due
to the pain,it could not enter from the outside in. But it has
entered through my spirit from inside out penetrating my soul
and body to give me the strength.
I thank God for His strength and wisdom to enable me to finish
writing.
And now, let me share with you a sneak preview of the book.
There are 3 sections:
Section
1 is about:
- Understanding
A Cancer Patient's Feelings, Concerns and Fears
- How to Help Someone with Cancer
- My Journey
There
is also a special chapter on 'What is Cancer?' which includes
- Who are at risk
- Prevention
- Staging and
- Treatment of Cancer.
It is contributed by none other than our Church Council Member
Dr Wong Sum Keong.
Section
2 of this book is about my spiritual walk on 10 Spiritual Ways
to Release Healing which I believe is applicable not only to the
sick but also to all healthy people for disease prevention and
emotional healing:-
The
10 Ways are:
1 Salvation 6 Faith
2 Forgiveness 7 Laying On of Hands
3 Pleasant Words 8 Overcoming Fear
4 Merry Heart 9 Obedience
5 Word Therapy 10 Persistence and Perseverance
And
the last section of this book, section 3 is on Healing Testimonies
by 7 SIBKL members. And I want to thank the 7 of you very much
for your contribution.
As
I wrote the whole book, I myself gathered momentum in my healing.
Today I thank God that my blood tumour has improved with every
bi-monthly test. My tumour marker range should be between 0 to
35.
My Tumour Marker Range 0-35
Jan 06 110
Feb 06 71
Apr 06 41
Jul 06 31
Oct 06 21
Dec 06 16
Feb 07 15
Apr 07 14)
And my marker kept dropping from a frightening 110 last year right
down to 14! The marker is well within the range which means the
cancer is under control. Praise God!
However
whilst physical healing has begun, more importantly, I sense that
each day He is transforming me. Specifically, He is transforming
me in 5 ways:-
1
Confess and repent. Yes truly repent and walk away from sin
2 Forgive, forgive and forgive many times over no matter who and
no matter what, for if I do not forgive, God will
not forgive me
3 Love the agape way, for God has shown me He is no respecter
of persons as far as love is concerned
4 Not only Trust but to OBEY His Word by living it out. Even to
the point of not judging people. For He clearly
says in Romans 2:1 -
You have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for
whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself,
because you who pass judgement do the same things.
5 Have a merry heart for it is good medicine for my soul and body.
I
believe that God has a purpose for my transforming me in these
5 Ways.
I now see that He was actually preparing me to face a greater
future.
What
future as a 4th stage cancer patient?
A future, as a 4th stage cancer patient, where I can give encouragement
and hope to cancer patients in the 1st to 3rd stage and the 4th
as well.
As
such, God works in ways we never know,
God has sent me Tian Hooi, wife of our church elder SK Ng,
to start our own private Cancer Support Group.
We have called it Elpizo Cancer Support Group. Elpizo in Greek
stands for Hope.
It will be held at a Ministry House opposite Assunta Hospital
every fortnight Thursday. The first session is scheduled on July
12.
The
proceeds of the book will help run this Cancer Support Group.
The book will be on sale at the lobby after the service.
Thereafter it will be available at Canaan Land, Glad Sounds, MPH
and Popular Bookstores.
All
cancer patients are welcome and you can contact either Tian Hooi
or myself for further details. Note that it's not just for the
ladies.
There will also be a men's group, the husbands of the ladies can
join in too.
Having
said all these, as I look back at the my first slide,
Where
I wondered how could I ever have the time:-
- to see my soul transformation
- to do God's will
I
learned that:-
as I change myself instead of expecting others to change,
as I focus on Jesus and wait upon Him,
He
is faithful and today He
- has transformed my soul and
- prepared me to do His will in reaching out to the suffering
people.
For
this, I am ever grateful to Him. Every night before I sleep, I
still cry thanking Him for giving me one more day to serve Him.
For
where I am today, I must also thank the following people for their
support and prayers:-
-
My 110% supportive husband and understanding son
-
Pastor Chew and Pastor Lee Choo and all church members who upheld
me
-
Dato Chua Jui Meng and Dr Florence Wang for endorsing my book
-
Naga DDB ex-colleagues who continued to pray for me even after
I resigned last year. They really touched my heart to the core.
And I thank you all so much for your attendance here today.
-
And last but not least my many friends who are here for the first
time today. You have truly encouraged and supported me emotionally
when I needed it most. Thank you so much.
In
conclusion, I believe that out on the waters of faith, Jesus was
waiting to meet me in ways that would change me forever, deepening
my character and my trust in God,
and calling me for His purpose.
In
spite of the tumour and pain I still have across my chest wall
and sternum,
I will press on by continuing to step out of the boat and walk
on water.
I
chose to walk on water because God has given me a Hope and a future.
And I know I will be able to attain it as I remain:-
-
Joyful in Hope
- Patient in Affliction
- Faithful in Prayer
In
God I put my trust, THERE IS HOPE.
Thank
you.

Available at Canaan Land, Glad Sounds, MPH and Popular
Bookstores.