HOW GOD GIVES ME HOPE AND A FUTURE AT THE LAST STAGE OF CANCER
by Shery Lim Testimony

“How God gives me Hope and a Future at the last stage of Cancer”

I would like to share with you how God gives me Hope and a Future in spite of my last stage of cancer.

In 1994, when I was 38 years old, I had 3rd stage breast cancer. I removed my right breast and eleven lymph nodes.

Twelve years went by and then in February 2006, I had a relapse. This time it had spread to the internal mammary nodes and sternum and is classified as the final 4th last stage.

The tumour size is slightly smaller than my fist, measuring about 6x7x4cm, sandwiched between the heart and the lung. It cannot be removed by surgery due to the location of the tumour and the spread to the sternum.

Upon discovery in February 2006, I was extremely sad and cried for hours. When I stopped crying, the first thing that came to my mind was 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 wonderful
    husband and son.

2) Secondly, I don’t want to die because I don’t feel I was ready to
    meet God.

My spirit was just not ready. I worked for 30 years in advertising and my whole life is nothing much but routine busyness, day in and day out, worshipping my job as though it were my God. And in the process weakening my relationship with God and people around me.

With this prognosis of 4th last stage of cancer, I felt completely hopeless because I know from statistics that 4th stage cancer patients usually die within months or a short period. I read that only 2 in 10 will live pass 5 years.

There was no one else I could turn to but to God and God alone. As I was crying and seeking Him with all my heart, all my soul and all my strength, He spoke to me through the bible in Psalm 107:20

‘God sent His Word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.’

So clearly God was telling me THERE IS HOPE through His Word and I don’t have to die so soon.

Then I began to spend much time in reading and meditating on His Word while I was undergoing treatment for 7 months from February to August in 2006.

The suffering of radiation and chemotherapy was so immense and intense.

(Not everyone suffers like me by the way.)

At times I was too weak to lift a glass of water, had 9 ulcers in my mouth,

had pain and aches all over my body, and had to take 6 painkillers a day.

The pain was so excruciating like a knife cutting all the time. At times when highly unbearable, I would yell for Jesus and Jesus would come to tame the pain and make me sleep. He is real!

So what happened after I finished my chemo in from February to August in 06?

In September 06, I did a CT scan and unfortunately the results were most disappointing. The treatment did not reduce the tumour size and had not regressed the cancer mass across the chest wall and sternum.

The doctor even said gently “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 this, my husband and I hugged each other tightly and cried for 3 days and nights as though I was going to die the next day.

At that time, Satan immediately pounced on 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.”

My heart was so heavy and tormented; wherever I walked in my house, the spirit of death was hovering around me. I felt an uphill battle as Satan was very fierce in his battle with me. But deep down I knew greater is He in me than he is in the world.

So I began rebuking 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.” (2 Chronicles 20:17)

And I kept rebuking Satan with the Word of God month after month by speaking out loud the Word of God. After many months of hard work, finally the spirit of death left me and it was replaced by the Spirit of Joy. Joy could not enter my physical body due to the pain, it could not enter from the outside in. But it entered through my spirit from the inside out penetrating to my soul and body. I realised that Joy repulses discouragement. As I marvelled that I could still have this Spirit of Joy while having cancer, I began to ask God what purpose He has got for my life.

God then purposed in my heart two things:-

First is to write a book call ‘There Is Hope’ to cancer sufferers. It took me a great leap of faith to write a book on Hope as a 4th stage cancer patient at that time.

Somehow I just went ahead to write because I sensed clearly it is God’s calling.

This book not only chronicles my journey and 10 Ways of seeking healing but also contains testimonies of seven others who have been miraculously healed by the Lord. One lady by the name of Chew Mei Lee, in 1982, she had a very rare cancer of the breast that has spread to the bones when she was only 27 years old and given 10 months survival chance. Today she is still alive! Praise the Lord!

There is also a section on How to Respond or Help a Cancer Patient and I believe this is very helpful to the family members and friends of the cancer patient. I came to realise that many friends want to help but don’t know how to approach a cancer patient. Also there is a chapter on ‘What is Cancer’, outlining its staging and treatment, who are at risks and its prevention, written by a gynae oncologist.

The book is available at MPH, some Popular bookstores, Canaan Land, Salvation Book Centre, Glad Sounds in Malaysia and possibly Armour Publishing Singapore. Do reach out to help a friend in need.

Second God has impressed upon me to start a Cancer Support Group. I asked God how could I ever do that when I myself have much to recover. But God said to me “You start and I will give you the strength and the wisdom. As I have comforted you, you can comfort others.” So I in obedience, I started the Elpizo Cancer Support Group in July 2007. Elpizo is a Greek word for Hope. It is held in a nice bungalow, opposite Assunta Hospital where we meet twice a month to share, worship, pray, give love and hope to each other thereby strengthening our faith. We often have pastors coming by to conduct holy communion and encourage us.

Looking back at this painful experience in battling the disease, God has allowed me to go through the pits of hell of suffering for a greater purpose that is to reach out to the suffering cancer patients and declare His glory:-

1	He has made me write the book to touch thousands of lives, some have come to accept the Lord after reading the book. I received many calls and emails asking for advice and encouragement.
2	He has enabled me to start the Elpizo Cancer Support Group to bring comfort and hope to others.
3	He has sent me round to share my testimony to churches in KL and as far as Klang, Penang and Butterworth.
4	He has sent newspapers and magazines to interview me as in The Star, Nanyang Siang Pau, Women’s Weekly, Health & Beauty to sow seeds to millions.
5	He has sent to me Nilai University to talk to 250 medical students of many religions.
6	He has sent me to Actors Studio in Bangsar Shopping Complex in Oct ‘07 to share to the public my cancer journey with God. I was the only Chinese and only Christian amongst 9 Muslim and 4 Hindu cancer survivors who also shared their stories.
7	He has arranged for me to be interviewed in December 2007 by Pastor Vernon Falls and his wife Margaret Falls of Lifeline International Ministries for half hour on a programme called ‘It’s A New Day’ via a Christian TV channel. The scope of broadcast from the UK is to all of Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa, Tanzania, West Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan. It is also available through web broadcast to the world including Malaysia. The known viewer ship of this programme is over 1 billion people. My interview programme broadcast starts from March 2008. In countries where it is not televised, one can log on to www.lifeline-intl.org ‘It’s A New Day’ Season 5 Episode 12 - Shery Lim.

As I look back, actually a prophecy of one of my ladies named Agi, in my Cancer Support Group came to past. In her prayers for me she saw a vision where I was a flower and in the middle of the flower are millions of pollen. A strong wind came and these pollens were scattered throughout the earth. Now I know my job is to sow the seeds and He will water them and make them grow.

In spite of my condition still carrying the painful ‘stone’ across my chest last year, I went ahead to do His calling, even visiting cancer patients because He has spoken to me in Psalm 126:6 ‘He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.’

Today I am already carrying sheaves with me. He has begun His healing:-

*	All my 5 blood cancer tumour markers are within the range which means the cancer is under control.
*	On 11 September 2007 just 2 months after I started the Cancer Support Group, my CT scan showed that the tumour has miraculously shrunk by 70% from 6x7x4cm to 4x4x3cm!
*	On 12 February 2008 my CT scan showed a tumour reduction of 96% to only the size of a small hazel nut measuring 2x2x1.5cm!

Isn’t He amazing and faithful to His Word! No wonder His Word says in Psalm 27:13-14 to me that ‘You shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Take heart, be strong and wait upon the Lord.’

To cancer patients out there, I know it is very difficult to be joyful, patient, strong and faithful in prayer while suffering the trauma of chemotherapy and radiation AND facing a BLEAK future. In this suffering, I know there is:-

so much fear,

so much fatigue,

so much stress,

so much sadness,

so much despair,

so much loneliness,

so much isolation.

With all these painful feelings, the only way for me to survive is to live by the Spirit.

Someone asked me what it means to live by the Spirit? It means:-

dying to self,

dying to sin,

so that Christ can live in me,

so that the Holy Spirit lives in me,

so that the Spirit can overcome the flesh,

so that when He speaks to my spirit,

my spirit transcends His thoughts into my mind.

Oh God I really feel that ‘It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees’ (Psalm 119:71). I thank God for the positive outcome of the affliction that I cling on to the Word of God and OBEY Him - OBEY Him as instructed in

Proverbs 4:20-22 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life for those who find them and health to man’s whole body. In spite of the deadly circumstances discovered in 2006, I made a choice to live, by standing on God’s promises and surrendering myself to Him to mould me and use me.

God is faithful, as I held on to His promise in Jeremiah 29:11-14 since the relapse in February 2006.

He says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and bring you back from captivity.”

Throughout all the sufferings in 2006 and 2007, I held on tightly to this promise because He says in Hebrews 10:23

‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.’

Indeed He is faithful and a prayer answering God. I thank my Senior Pastor Chew Weng Chee and his wife Pastor Lew Lee Choo, all the church pastors and members, my Elpizo Cancer Support Group, my friends, my siblings and mum, my dear husband and son for their fervent prayers. God listened to their prayers, my non-stop prayers and heard my cries. He is abounding in love…I have found Him. I have experienced His mercy, grace and blessings! I thank Him over and over again for preserving my life to do His will.

All glory, praise and honour unto Him!

PS: Shery Lim can be contacted at sherylim01@yahoo.com