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.