Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[A Letter from our Mom to you! For English, please scroll down. Thanks!]
非常謝謝您們在這四個多月來的代禱、關懷及探訪。最近這二個月許多人也為我禁食禱告，使我非常感動。在此也要謝謝特地由台灣，加拿大，及美國各地來的親朋好友的探訪。就如保羅在腓立比書第一章第三節：「我每逢想念你們，就感謝我的上帝。」想到您們為了我這次的癌症病痛所付出的愛心和在主前為我迫切的禁食代禱及關懷，常使我感動流淚，真不知如何以我有限的言詞來表達我們全家人對您們大家的感謝之意，只有祈求上帝親自紀念您們每一位在主裡所付出的一切。

就如大家所知道的，我在MD Anderson醫院經過二次不同的化療共七個療程，結果都沒產生效果，根据上次的CT Scan報告，癌細胞仍再繼續擴散，的確讓我感到非常失望，既然兩次化療沒效，而考慮化療引起的副作用所帶來的痛苦及對身体的傷害，於是在與兒女一起禱告及討論後，我自己決定不再接受任何化療，而將此事全心全意完全交托給我們的全能上帝，相信上帝愛我，祂為我的生命有其美好的計劃及旨意。詩篇138:7 - 8：「我雖行在患難中，你必將我救活。我的仇敵發怒，你必伸手抵擋他們，你的右手也必救我。耶和華必成全關乎我的事。耶和華阿，你的慈愛永遠長存。」

感謝上帝，在這段化療期間，雖然肉体感到軟弱，但在每天清晨的靈修中，很奇妙地，上帝常常賜下慈愛的話語來安慰我鼓勵我，成為我的盾牌和幫助，使我在靈裡能夠得到平靜安穩。就如羅馬書第四章20 - 21：「仰望上帝的應許，總沒有因不信心裏起疑惑。反倒因信，心裏得堅固，將榮耀歸上帝。且滿心相信上帝所應許的必能作成。」讓我學習時時抓住上帝在聖經裡的應許，操練信心，耐心和等候神的功課，而將一切歌頌讚美都歸給我們的主我們的神。

再次謝謝您們在這幾個月來與我一起並肩作戰，您們就如上帝所派來的天使圍繞著我，以代禱和愛心來扶持著我這段抗癌的旅程，祈願您們在禱告的負擔裡，沒有憂傷或失望，而因上帝的愛而大有盼望。雖然我不知道明天的道路如何，但我深信上帝將掌管一切。請繼續為我的抗癌旅程代禱，求主完全來醫治，相信在人不能，在上帝凡事都能。

願上帝賜福您和您一家，常在基督豐富的愛，喜樂和平安裡。在這聖誕佳節，讓我們一同來慶祝耶穌基督的降臨，一同歡樂也一同來讚美祂。敬祝　聖誕快樂　新年如意！

璧姬
---------------------------------------

Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed and cared for me, as well as those of you who have visited me over the past few months. I am so touched by those who have fasted and prayed to the Lord on my behalf, as well as all of the relatives and good friends who have visited me from Taiwan, Canada, and many other places. As Paul said in Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” I am moved to tears every time I think about the love each of you has shown me. I don’t know how to use words to express my thanks to each of you on behalf of our whole family. I pray that God remembers each of you, and everything you have done on His behalf.

As many of you know, I was disappointed that the two different regimens of palliative chemotherapy I received at MD Anderson did nothing to slow down the growth of the cancer. After much prayer and discussion with my children, I have decided to no longer undergo any further chemotherapy due to its likely ineffectiveness and damaging side effects. I place my life in God’s hands, and fully rely on our almighty God. He has a good plan and purpose for my life. He loves me and will save me. I hold Psalm 138:7-8 close to my heart: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever.”

I thank God that during the difficult times undergoing chemotherapy, He never failed to encourage, comfort, and protect me through His Word. Though my flesh is weak, God never ceases to grant me spiritual serenity and peace through my early morning devotion times. As Romans 2:20-21 says, “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God has power to do what he had promised.” I thank God that He gave me this opportunity to spend more time studying the Bible. He has also been teaching me to be confident in His promises, to be patient and wait on the Lord, and how to give praise to God in all circumstances.

Thank you once again for joining alongside me in fighting this cancer the past few months. I consider you angels that God has sent me to pray for me, love me, and support me during this journey. I pray that you would not be saddened or disappointed while you are praying for me. There is hope because of God’s love. Although I do not know about tomorrow, I am confident that God will be in charge of everything. Please continue to pray for me, and ask our Lord Jesus Christ to heal me completely. I believe that God can do the impossible, and accomplish what man and medicine cannot.

May God bless you and your families, and I hope and pray that you would dwell in the love, joy, and peace we have in Christ. Let us celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Peggy

Celebrating Life... Together!

[F] Today is Simon's 34th birthday! Nine days ago, we celebrated his birthday in Houston with family and friends. However, he did not want his birthday to be about him this year. He took the time during his party to honor our mom and dad and share with those present the journey that he has had in getting to know them and the process that we have been going through with our family these past few months. He openly shared his love and appreciation for them in front of family and friends. He also urged friends to give monetarily to help fund pancreatic research. We are happy to report that that evening, friends gave $852 which will be given to http://www.pancan.org/ to help RAISE THE CURE for pancreatic cancer. At the end of the time, we had a chance as a community of family and friends to lay hands on our mom and dad and pray for them. Thanks SO much for the support of family and friends during this process! My mom and dad also had the chance to express a truly heartfelt thanks to those that were there. The message and letter that you read on this blog from my mom is the message that goes out to you during this CHRISTmas season also. We are EXTREMELY grateful for each and everyone of you during this season as we celebrate our dear Savior's birth.

Much love to each and everyone of you this CHRISTmas season! May we rejoice in His coming to this earth and for the death He came to die on the cross for our sins so that we might have life today - and the hope to knowing that we together as a family will be together again one day after our time here on earth.

We love you and THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. THANKS!!!!

Love, Faye (on behalf of the family)

The picture above were those of us that there together that day. Friends, THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING!!! Love and thanks to each and everyone of you!! :)

Conquering Disease....with the power of Jesus.

Gene sent this blog post to our family - and he and I were greatly encouraged by it. We hope you all will find it encouraging as well - it's gut wrenching, honest, yet filled with hope. It is written by Lacy Banks, a sports writer for the Chicago Sun Times, who is also a baptist preacher. Basically, his mitral valve in his heart is failing, and he needs a transplant. He also has a benign brain tumor - however, he was also recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, which has removed him from being a candidate for transplantation for the time being. this is his latest post:

The actual link to his post: http://blogs.suntimes.com/banks/2008/12/im_tired_and_weary_but_i_cant.html

I'm Tired And Weary But I Can't Quit Because God Is Still Working On Me
By Lacy Banks December 12, 2008 2:08 AM

God bless you and Merry Christmas to you all. I feel like having church, if you don't mind. So if you have nothing better to do, I wonder if you might not mind gathering 'round me for a moment. Pull up a chair. Sit down, make yourself comfortable and let me share a word or two of the Lord with you. And in the process, I want to lace this presentation with lush passages from scriptures and gospel songs.
Sisters and brothers, I'm tired. I'm tired because suffering ain't easy. Pain has never been a friend of mine. And though I know that patience is a virtue, even patience often plays hide-and-go-seek with me. I'm tired. It's Christmas time. 'Tis the season to be jolly and I'm tired. I entered this blog with the best of intentions. I started it to chronicle the grace of God being manifested in His healing me. That was eight awful, agonizing, anguish-filled months ago.
And today I am still sick.
I'm better.
My brain tumor is benign.
I treat that cancer with a pill a week. My prostate cancer is in slow remission. My PSA reading last week was 2.01. That's better than the 7.01 that doctors said I had earlier this year. Still, the radioactive seeds cause me pain.
And my weak heart is holding steady with the aid of nine different medications I take regularly.
I first wanted the Lord to heal me instantly and completely. But He has chosen to heal me slowly. And with that slow healing comes much anxiety. So the challenge for me to is to suffer with faith, courage, hope and patience to wait on the Lord. And to those of you who are also suffering some health issue just like I am, you know what I'm talking about and I know what you are talking about.
Suffering ain't easy.
Suffering hurts. But it is my job as a preacher suffering right along with you to be a good example of how a Christian should suffer.
So I tell you as I'm telling myself day in and day out, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. But in our ways, let us acknowledge Him and He shall direct our path."
I don't know what ails you. I don't know what your health problems are. But trust in the Lord and wait on Him. I know for myself that it's difficult. The spirit indeed is willing. But the flesh is weak.
Nevertheless, wait on the Lord. I can't say that enough. So I sure can't say it too many times. Wait on the Lord.
He may not always come when we want Him to come.
He may not always heal when we want Him to heal.
He may not always feed or lead when we want Him to.
For His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He has His own purpose, His own timetable and His own place to do what He wants, when and where He wants. God has His own divine design.
But be not dismayed, whatever betide. In due season, God will take care of you. God will take care of you and me. He will not forsake us. He will not turn His back on us.
Weeping may endure for a night. But joy cometh in the morning.
Therefore, fellow sufferers, our challenge and our blessing, really, at this Christmas time, is to wait upon the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen our hearts. For they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Wait on the Lord! I said wait on the Lord.
He'll be there.
And when God shows up, He'll sho' nuff show out. When He shows up, he won't show up empty-handed. He will come packing power from on high.
Power to save.
Power to cleanse.
Power to deliver.
Power to set the captives free.
Power to restore the economy, tranquility, hope and happiness of America if we who are called by His name will humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways.
Power to assure us that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, there will be no need for us to fear any evil. Because He will walk with us and He will talk with us and He will tell us that we are His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever know.
Wait on the Lord.
I'm a living witness that He will make our weighty wait worth our while. I have been young and now I'm getting old. But in between the womb that bore me at birth and the tomb that waits to claim me at life's sunset, I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. Wait on the Lord!
Steady yourself.
Be not afraid! Fear not!
Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
Be still and know that He is God.
Wait on the Lord! And He shall grant thee the desires of thy heart. But you got to wait. You can't hurry God. You got to wait. And that's what I'm doing as best I can.
But I'd be lying if I said that I haven't found it rough many times waiting on the Lord.
I'm tired. I said I'm tired.
Really, sisters and brothers, I'm tired.
I'm tired of pills and doctors bills.
I'm tied of tears and fears.
I'm tired of going in and out of hospitals hospitals.
I'm tired of diagnosis and prognosis that are producing a special brand of psychosis.
I'm tired of needles and nurses who can't draw blood right because they don't know what they're doing and they blame their incompetence on me...."you got some funny rolling veins."
I'm tired of the worst-tasting food in the world that every hospital seems to serve.
I'm tired of nurses with attitudes and doctors who take too long to get back to you.
I'm tired of staying at home because I lack the energy to be out and about the way I've been accustomed for years.
Sometimes, one can be so tired that he can't even sleep. That's the way it is with me sometimes. There have been days I could not walk because of a sore foot, a sore knee or toe.
But whereas I'm tired, I'm also determined. Like Job, I believe I'll wait until my change comes.
I thank God for my darling wife, Joyce, of 40 years. I thank God for my children and grandchildren.
I thank God for a special loved one who has come back into my life from the forest of yesteryear to encourage me. I thank God for all you sisters and brothers of the household of faith.
I thank God for those of you who are praying for me, those of you who know the Lord is going to heal me completely, those of you who don't believe He will, those of you who don't even believe that He is and those of you who are waiting for me to die and are upset that I'm not dying quick enough.
I thank thank God for my ups and I thank God for my downs.
I thank God for my good days and I thank God for my bad days. But I can't quit. I am determined to get all my healing. I am determined to continue being tried in this physical furnace of afflictions until I can come forth as pure gold. I am determined to run on and see what the end will be. I can't quit. I can't give up. I got too much to live for. There are some flowers I yet want to smell. There are some sermons I yet have to preach. There are songs that I've yet to sing. I can't quit. I can't give up. I promised the Lord 56 years ago that if He saved my soul, I'd serve him until I die.
So right now, sisters and brothers, I tell you what I'm going to do:
I'm going to trust in the Lord until I die.
I'm going to stay on the battle field until I die.
I'm going to watch, fight and pray until I die.
I'm going to treat everybody right until I die.
I'm going to see God for myself when I die.
And on that glad morning, when this life is over, I'm going to take wings of a dove and fly away until I get to heaven. And when I get to heaven, as the old Negro spiritual says, "I'm going to sing and shout, and nobody there is going to turn me out. I haven't been to heaven but I've been told there's streets up there that are paved with gold."
Wait on the Lord!
Wait on the Lord!
Wait on the Lord!
God bless you and merry Christmas.

staying warm!

it's super cold in houston right now...in fact, it's even snowing!  the trees in our backyard are all white now.  it's actually kind of pretty.  mom, dad, and i are just chilling at home right now, just trying to keep warm.  before i run downstairs for dinner with my parents, i wanted to give you all a quick update on some of the going-ons with our mom the past weekend. 

the shih's invited my parents to their house to eat along with some family friends.

here's our mom with mrs. shih, mrs.kuo, mrs. lin, and mrs. lu.  they are women in the taiwanese community here in clear lake that have been such incredible friends to our mom.  check out the food in the pic below...these ladies are crazy cooks!

mom and dad have been busy preparing for the 20th anniversary service for our home church (efc of nasa) which is this weekend.  anyhow, more to update later...got to run :)

The latest... after two rounds of chemo...

The results from the CT scan taken on 12/1 showed further growth in the lesions of the liver and the mass in the pancreas. We now have three options to choose from as a family:

(1) Pursue a third line of chemo: irinotecan + docetaxel. We most likely will not be pursuing this option because the efficacy of these drugs are very low... AND docetaxel would make Mom's hair fall out... in addition to the side effects of nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, slight numbness/tingling, etc. that were already present in the previous two rounds of chemo.

(2) Be part of a Phase I trial. Very little is known about the efficacy of the treatment given. Mom would in essence be a "guinea pig" on the human level in terms of the drugs that she would be receiving since Phase I drugs have only passed the "animal testing" phase. During Phase I, they are trying to determine the safety of the new treatment. While we will have an appointment to receive further information about what is available, we most likely will also not be pursuing this route of treatment also.

(3) Not receive any drugs or chemo. Doctors at MD Anderson would continue to monitor Mom's health periodically. We will be most likely going this route at this time. As you can see, effective treatment for pancreatic cancer is still very limited at this time. Please do consider how you can be a part of raising awareness and funds at http://www.pancan.org/.

Mom is ELATED about taking a break from chemo. We look forward to taking a trip together as a family to California where we will be attending a healing conference in SF 12/24-12/28 http://www.forerunner.cc/.

Giving Thanks...

together.

Thursday 11/27: Liaw-Lee Family Thanksgiving Dinner

Friday 11/28: Clear Lake Aunties (who have now been promoted to "Grand-Aunties") meeting Mariella for the first time

Sunday 11/30: Updated Family Pic after Enjoying Mom's cooking... Thanks, Mom! We love you!! :)

"family"

after thanksgiving, i've just been thinking about how we are so blessed to have such an amazing family around us, specifically extended family. when i think about simon's family and sharon's family, i'm just so touched at how they've been there to encourage us and pray for us every step of the way...

i think about the time sharon's mom, steve, sharon, and i were having dinner the week before thanksgiving. usually they let sharon or i say grace before our meal, and this time was no exception. however, after i said grace, sharon's mom really felt led to pray for our mom. it's not often i hear her pray, and i was real touched that she wanted to. they've been very supportive as well, as i know sharon has had to split more time between houston and dallas these days.

over thanksgiving, we got to spend time with simon's family, as susan opened up her home to us for thanksgiving dinner (as you can see in faye's pic above). the lee family is probably one of the most generous families i know :) simon, susan, and their parents are always so giving, and i know our mom has a lot of joy everytime she is around them. their prayers and support during this time has meant so much.

also, sharon's dad, yaling, and scarlette came down from san antonio to visit for the weekend! we were so grateful that they were willing to make the long drive to houston. it's been hard for me to be as mobile these days, and i know it meant a lot to sharon and i that we could spend the holiday together with them. they have been such a blessing and an encouragement to us. here's a pic of sharon's dad and yaling with my parents taking a morning walk:

here's a pic our families together:

we are so blessed...

much to be thankful for...

we just wanted to wish all of you a happy thanksgiving!  our family has so much to be thankful for this year.  each day, each hour, and each minute we have together is truly because of God's grace.  we hope each and every one of you has a blessed thanksgiving, and will take time to thank God for His provision and faithfulness this past year.

we also wanted to again send a special thanks for all of you who are praying or fasting on behalf on our mother.  words can't express the encouragement and blessing you have been not only to our mother, but to each and every one of us.  for those who are fasting, we have another couple weeks to go (2nd week of december) toward our goal.  we continue to especially ask for your prayers this week.  as we mentioned previously, our mom will be getting another CT scan on monday, and should get the results tuesday (12/2).  at that time we may need to decide whether to continue with treatment or not.  please pray for strength for our mom and our family, and complete healing from the cancer!  thanks again so much for fasting and praying alongside us.

we are so thankful for all of you, and for the community that God has surrounded our mom with.  God is good!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you..."
- 1 Thessalonians 5 :16-18 

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month (contd.)

[M] Hello everyone! In honor of November being National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, we decided to buy a bunch of wristbands (like in the picture below) for anyone that would like to join us in raising PanCan awareness. If you're interested, we'd love to send you one (or two or three or as many as you'd like). Just shoot me an email at gordongartrell[at]gmail.com with a mailing adress, and then check your mailboxes a few days later. Supplies are limited though...so don't wait :)!

Anyways, we wanted to thank you all again for all of your concerns and prayers!

God is good...amen?.

Ayyy-men.

Mariella's Infant Dedication 11.23.08

Thanks, Grandparents, for coming!!

Here is a link to more photos: http://feeenix.smugmug.com/gallery/6637527_JgpPa#423383693_qD55d

Courtesy of Phoenix Mak.

Thanks, Phoenix!!!

Out-of-towners visit :)

just wanted to share some pictures of some friends who came in from out of town to visit our mom last week.  first, pastor pai from louisiana came down to visit.  before having lunch at kim son with pastor albany and yvenn, they went to simon's dad's office to pray with our mom.

later that weekend, april lang and ben lam came down from dallas and visited our mom at home.  here's a pic of april with mom and dad:

also, my mom's old college roommate ruth (who is mrs. liao's sister) came to visit all the way from vancouver!  here's a pic of the three of them together: 

we are so touched by the support and prayers from all of you!  thanks so much for being such an incredible blessing!

Mom shares testimony

for many years, my mom's church has sponsored an annual thanksgiving dinner that many members of the taiwanese community in clear lake participate in.  this year, our mom had the opportunity to share her testimony during the dinner, specifically how God has been faithful to her in the midst of this trial.  here's mom speaking to the people attending that night (11/22):

also, here's a pic that my mom took that night with a lot of the women in the taiwanese community who have been such an incredible support to her:

gearing up for thanksgiving + quick update

thanksgiving is just around the corner, and our family is really looking forward to it.  matthew should be coming back on monday from california, so our mom is real excited :)

anyhow, a quick update on our last visit to md anderson on tuesday.  we found out that her CA19-9 level is around 65,000 U/mL (previous measurement was around 33,000 U/mL).  this is evidence that the disease may be continuing to spread quite rapidly.  because of this, the doctors have decided to move up the CT scan to two weeks from now, so that we can know the state of the disease.  we were all a little discouraged at the news at first, but we are continuing to trust God.  she just had her third round of chemo after the doctor's appointment, and has a little bit of nausea today, but not too bad.  praise God!!  thanks again for all your prayers, and for all those who are fasting alongside us...i know i probably say this each time, but words cannot express how much they mean to our mother and our families.

anyhow, i know my parents and simon&faye's family are looking forward to mariella's dedication at whcc this weekend.  hopefully our mom will get to see some of y'all there on sunday :)

God is good

Prayer request

our mom will be seeing dr. varadhachary again tomorrow (11/18), and will be receiving the third round of her folfox6 chemo. lately, our mom has been more tired and fatigued, as this regimen seems to be taking more of a toll on her. as she receives her next treatment, please be praying for special strength to overcome the side effects, and for continued healing.

thank you so much for your prayers!  God is good.

"We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you."

-Psalm 33:20-22

Calhouns visit Houston

on sunday 11/9, the calhouns (or mr. and mrs. c as many of us at efc affectionately call them) came to visit from san antonio.  robert calhoun was the english pastor at efc for many years, and the calhoun family has been such an incredible blessing to our family ever since.  for those who don't know the story, they actually ended up at our church by "accident".  they were headed to another church, but got lost.  they ended up driving to into efc, and the rest was history!  it turns out they had actually served in taiwan as missionaries for many years, and efc was in need of an english pastor at the time.  it was definitely a divine appointment!

robert & linda with mariella :)

anyhow, we all met up at simon and faye's place, and it was a great time to catch up with everyone.  sharon and ricky (and james!!) were able to come visit as well.  at the end of our time together, robert shared some psalms with our mother (i think psalm 31,32,33, and 16), and spent time praying for her.  simon also prayed for robert and linda, who will be heading to scotland in the near future, as robert will be pastoring a few churches there.  it was definitely an encouraging and blessed time.

we will miss the calhouns, and hope to visit them in scotland!

EFC Women's Fellowship

so the Women's Fellowship at EFC (my mom's home church) were joking the other day about how they wanted to take more pics so they could be posted on the blog...so i'd thought i'd make them happy :)  here they are a week and a half ago on thursday 11/6

this group of women has been so faithful in praying on behalf of our mom, and such a source of encouragement and joy for her.  my mom is blessed to be surrounded by such an amazing community!

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

thought i'd share this with y'all.  here's randy pausch's heart-wrenching testimony before congress to call for more pancreatic cancer funding.  this was given a few months before he passed away.

11/1 weekend upate (a little behind!)

first of all, i wanted to thank all of you who were praying for our mom through her second round of palliative chemo. she's been having some nausea and tiredness, but other than that, she has been tolerating it reasonably well. praise God!!

sorry we are running so behind on these updates. lots been going on...it's hard to keep up with my mom :) last-last weekend (10/31-11/2) a lot of my mom's family came to vist her in houston. they spent a lot of time talking, sometimes late into the night. even though they've always been close, i know this trial has really brought them closer together. they travelled from all over the place to visit houston. my mom's oldest sister came all the way from taiwan to visit, my mom's oldest brother and his wife came from california, and our cousin elsa came from NYC. i know my mom wished that they could've stayed longer, but she was so thankful to have spent that time with them. here's a pic from that weekend:

from left to right in the front row: dad, mom, dwah-yi (mom's oldest sister), 

sehan a-yi(mom's youngest sister). from left to right in the back row: elsa (our cousin), mariella, simon, faye, ah-geem (mom's sister in law), ah gu (mom's oldest brother).

also, miho and bryan visited from san francisco, along with his mother gloria, and their dog mei mei visited that weekend. thanks so much for the wonderful gifts as well! 

there's a lot more that's happened this past week, that you'll have to read about later :) please continue to pray for strength, faith, and encouragement for our mother, continued healing from the cancer in her body, and that God's glory would continue to be shown through this trial. 

until next time!

Hear Our Prayers

This song came to my mind as I thought and prayed tonight for our friends who are struggling with cancer in their own lives, families, and loved ones...

Hear Our Prayers ~ by Glorious Unseen

Hear our cries Lord,
Hear our prayers.
Take our burdens,
Calm our fears.

God will you make us
A people that love You.
Please take our offerings
That we set before You.

God hear our prayers
That we're lifting up to You.
God see our tears
That we're struggling to see through.

God, hear our prayers to You.
In our weakness,You remain.
When we're broken,You sustain.

God hear our prayers.
We lift them to You.
God hear our prayers,
Lord make our hearts true.
Will You make our hearts true?

Hear our prayers Lord.
God will you make us
A people that love You.
Please take our offerings
That we set before You.
God hear our prayers
That we're lifting up to You.
God see our tears
That we're struggling to see through.

God hear our prayers
As we lift them to heaven.
We're praying the angels
Receive and embrace them.

The cries of the broken.
We're reaching our hands out,
Oh Lord will You hold them?

God hear our prayers
That we're lifting up to You.
God see our tears
That we're struggling to see through.

Prayer requests

my mom had a great weekend!  so many people came to visit: her oldest sister from taiwan, her older brother from cali, my cousin from NYC...along with bryan, his mom, and miho.  we'll have to give a more detailed post later (along with pics!), but i just wanted to ask y'all for special prayer tomorrow (11/4), as our mom will receive her second dose of chemo.

praise God that she was able to tolerate the first chemo fairly well!  she had some nausea, but by God's grace it didn't keep her down.  please pray for the following

• pray that God would protect her from the side effects of the chemo.  the side effects are usually cumulative, and could get worse with each treatment.  pray that God would allow her to not feel the side effects

• pray for continued strength and encouragement for our mother 

• pray that God would continue to heal her completely from the cancer!  we understand that there is no medical cure, but we do not want to let up in asking God for a miracle that only He can give.

thanks again so much for all of you who have been praying for our mother, and for those who have been fasting alongside us.  it means so much, and we truly believe that God is hearing your prayers and sustaining our mother.  may God continue to get all the glory!  God is good!

Gary + Monica :)

gary and monica came down to clear lake last thursday (10/30) to pray for with our mother.  it was such a blessing to have them here!  God has really blessed them with a sensitivity to the Spirit, and He has used them to be such an encouragement to our family during this time.  it was the first time for my mother to meet them, even though they have been so involved in praying for her the past few months.   during dinner (which our mom cooked up!) we also got to hear some amazing stories of how the Holy Spirit has been working in such a powerful way in their lives....some really crazy stuff!  they'll be leaving the country this week to the mission field, and we can't wait to see them again when they get back.  we'll be praying for them!

Pancreatic cancer research underfunded

came across this article that does a pretty good job of summarizing one of the big problems in how cancer research is funded: Deadliest cancers lag in research funding

check out this chart:

in my opinion, this distribution of funding is unacceptable.  like this blogger here (Cancer Funding: Does It Add Up?) points out, perhaps it would make more sense to appropriate funds based on a mortality rate, rather than a new incidence rate.

it hasn't been until recently that people have become more aware of pancreatic cancer, through the efforts of people like randy pausch.  hopefully awareness of this deadly disease will continue to grow...

Thanks!

i wanted to give a special thanks to all of you who are fasting and praying along with us.  the other day, i was telling my mom all of the people who were fasting and interceding on her behalf, and she was so moved and touched.  may we continue to pray for complete healing, so that God would get all the glory!

in the mean time, our family understands that each day we have is a gift of God's grace.  our mom is too busy to let the disease get the best of her!  here's an update of what our mom has been up to the past couple weekends:

friday 10/17 - our mom went to a women's prayer meeting in the morning, where many women in the church were able to pray for her.  sharon also came down to houston, and we all had dinner with simon, faye, and mariella.  mom got to see mariella again!

saturday 10/18 - our mom went to celebrate with the kuo family at yvette's wedding at fung's kitchen.  it was a great time for her to reconnect with a lot of friends from the taiwanese community.  here are mom and dad before the wedding:

sunday 10/19 - our family was able to worship together at EFC that morning, and have lunch together.  that evening, we had dinner at dr. hwang's house, since mrs. hwang's mother was visiting houston.

this past weekend ( 10/24-10/26), my mom got to visit mariella again!  also, she attended a fundraising dinner at Ocean Palace for Far East Broadcasting Company, an international Christian radio network.  as you can see, mom has been quite busy!

we also want to thank alex&mickie&brownie for the beautiful flowers!  and also wanted to thank steve and sharon's mother for the wonderful fruit basket...and christina, grace, and chin for the gift card...it would be impossible to list all of the people here who have given so much to our mom.  we are so incredibly blessed to have such a loving community around us, and are touched by your generosity.

most of all, we want to thank you all for your prayers.   please continue to pray that mom would have strength following the chemo.  after her first round, she has been experiencing some nausea, but praise God, it has not been enough to keep her down.  again, let us not cease in asking God for a miracle that only He can give!  God is good!

until next time...

Praying and Fasting in the Community of Christ

Hi friends and family,

We thank our awesome God for those of you who have already signed up and committed time to pray and fast with us for God's glory to be displayed in our mom's life through complete healing - no matter whether if it's one meal or many, either way, it means a lot that you guys are willing to do this with us and is an incredible act of Faith! We have no doubt that God will hear and answer our prayers, in His own timing, and His own way... There are still some open slots available if you haven't already signed up, and please please feel free to sign up even for meals that are already covered, because no matter what, the more people praying and fasting, the better! We currently have about 30 people signed up to pray and fast with us for the next 8 weeks, which is totally awesome and SO encouraging, but we are asking God to provide 50 prayer and fasting warriors alongside us....and we have faith that He will. Please only do this if you feel led to do so, because we know it is a huge act of faith and commitment to take. :-) Please email gene at geneliaw[at]gmail.com :-)

Also, just to encourage you guys, Gene reminded me of this passage in Luke 18 (pasted below), where Jesus specifically tells his disciples to not give up on praying, and to continue to do so...I really ask you guys to read it, and that it would encourage you as it has done for us!

One more thing - we strongly encourage you guys to use this time of fasting and prayer for other people's requests as well!!! We also want to know how we can be praying and fasting for YOU...already, many of ya'll have let us know personally or via email how we can pray for you, and believe me, we ARE praying and fasting for you as well. :-)

The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

with faith the size of a mustard seed,
sharon and gene

calling for prayer and fasting!

i wanted to give y'all a brief update on what's going on, and some things you can pray for.  it was a refreshing weekend for my mother and our family, but i will post on that later...

this week, our mom will begin treatment on a chemo regimen called FOLFOX6 (5-FU, folinic acid and oxaliplatin).  at the very best, this chemo can only slow down the disease, which is currently progressing quite rapidly.  again, we are placing our faith in God, not in the medicine itself, but we understand that He can use anything to heal our mom.

please pray for the following:

• we are praying that God would provide a chain of committed people willing to fast and pray across the next 8 weeks.  we ask that God would provide more prayer warriors than we can ask or imagine.  if you would be willing to fast for at least one meal on any of those days, and spend that time in prayer, please send me an email at geneliaw[at]gmail.com with the date(s) and meal(s) you are going to fast.
• our mom will get a port-a-cath installed tomorrow (10/20) at st. luke's hospital.  it is a routine surgery, but please pray for physical protection and a smooth install
• please pray as our mom begins her first round of 2nd-line chemo treatment this tuesday (10/21). praise God that she tolerated the last 2 months of chemo quite well - even the doctor was amazed! and we know that this was because of ya'lls prayers! pray that she would be protected from the side effects from this 2nd set of chemo, as it could potentially take a bigger toll on her physical health than the previous.  pray that God would protect her. 
• pray for continued faith, strength, and encouragement during this tough battle.  we believe that God has selected our family and our mom to go through this trial, and want to pray for special strength for our mother.  praise God that her own faith has not been shaken, and may this be an encouragement and challenge to the rest of us as well!
• pray for COMPLETE 100% healing from the cancer in her body.  we are continuing to ask God for a miracle that only He can give!
• most importantly, pray that God's glory would be made known through our mom, each and every day of this battle

again, we thank you so much for your prayers and support during this time.  God is good!

Prayer requests

as faye posted earlier, we really do believe there is a great need for fervent prayer, that God's glory would be made known through the miraculous work He is doing through our mother. we thank each and every one of you who have been praying, and for those who have signed up for the prayer calendar. here are some prayer requests for this week:

1. our mom has been coughing ever since she has gotten back from hawaii, and it hasn't gone away yet. please pray that she would be restored in this respect as soon as possible
2. our mom is going to have a CT scan done tomorrow (10/13). the scan should tell us what the state of the disease is. please continue to pray for complete healing of the cancer. as y'all know, the chemo she has been going through cannot cure her, but we are putting our faith in God!
3. pray that our mom would overcome the side effects of the chemo. each successive round, it seems to be taking her longer and longer to bounce back. we will keep everyone updated when the next treatment will be.
4. continue to pray for strength, faith, and encouragement for our mother

again, we cannot thank you all enough for all your prayers!!  God is good!

10/12/08 Weekend Update!

hi y'all!

my mom's had a great weekend, albeit a very busy one.  on saturday, she was part of a panel during a seminar for those interested in learning more about how to best show support for cancer patients.  it was great hearing her share a little of her testimony, and how God has been faithful to her throughout this whole experience.  her college roommate, helen, visited her at the seminar, along with many other friends.  thanks so much to helen for coming all the way down from philadelphia, for violet driving helen all the way down from dallas, and for mary hosting all of them.  my mom was so encouraged, and is so blessed to have such amazing friendships!

later that evening, she was able to have a mini reunion with her old taiwanese college classmates from tunghai university over dinner, some who had come in from out of town to visit her.  they all had quite the time :)

in my last post, i promised to upload some pics of my parents vacation to hawaii.  here they are!  gallery link

4th round of chemo?

hello again!

praise God that mom and dad had a GREAT time in hawaii last week!  hopefully we can post some pictures up on the blog this week :)  

however,  my mom did get sick last week (perhaps a cold?), and has been coughing pretty bad :(  she is scheduled to have her chemo tomorrow (9/30), but i'm not sure if they are going to go ahead with it or not because she's sick.  if possible, please pray for the following:

1) God would help her get over this recent cold quickly
2) God would protect her from the side effects of the chemo
3) God would continue to be healing my mom from the cancer!

there are many exciting things to be shared, but i'm going to let sharon post about those later :)  God is so good.  thanks again SO much for all your prayers, and for your support.  we are so truly blessed by all of you!!

Faith in the Unseen

Coming back to visit this weekend was good...


Gene and I got to cook together with mom - and we learned a lot of simple dishes that I can easily reproduce in Dallas. :)

And of course, we got to see our adorable little neice Mariella ~ (Gene's holding her in the pic below, and she was fully awake this time!)


but at the same time, just a little more sobering and challenging...

So our mom has had three rounds of chemo so far (last one was just last Tuesday). The CA 19-9 test (tumor marker for pancreatic cancer) came back at 16,000 (higher than last time's 14,000). Even though Dr. V. says this number isn't that significant and we shouldn't pay too much attention to it, it's kind of hard to ignore it. The abdominal discomfort (that had gone away for awhile before she had even started chemo) has returned...She's feeling more tired/fatigued, taste buds have changed, and loses her appetite sometimes.

It's been about 2 months since her first CT scan result, and the next one is due October 13th (about 3 1/2 weeks from now). I think we're partly scared to see these results - afraid of what it might show us...

At the same time, I feel God speaking to me through Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

We already know that the chemo is destined to fail, and we can't put our hope in it by itself. Every time I start doubting Him, the Holy Spirit brings me to this verse...As tough as it is, to be able to see past the numbers and what's in front of our eyes, only comes by faith. I refuse to believe that all of your and our prayers are in vain...God knows what glory and honor to His name will come through all of this. He knows how many lives will be forever changed through this... He has already brought us so far - through so many small miracles that have already happened - that I can only be assured that He will take us to the bigger miracles to come...

For the next 3 weeks or so, please join us in praying for these things specifically...

*We ask that you to please continue praying hard and strong for our mom - that God would deliver her through this fire - and for God to be victorious over this cancer - because we know He IS victorious over all things.

*Please also pray for mom's faith specifically, ours as a family, and for your own faith as well...that all of our faith would be refined and strengthened in Him during this time -and that our faith would not waver like the waves of the sea, but remain firm as a rock that can withstand all circumstances.

*Please pray for Faye, Simon, and Mariella, as they're still living with Simon's parents due to no electricity/power at their own home. Praise God that Simon's parents were one of the 5 houses in their entire neighborhood to have power starting the day right after Ike hit! May God's favor remain upon them and protect their household. :)

*Please pray for me and Gene - as some of you may already know - Gene is living in Houston temporarily to help out his parents, spend time with mom, and to finish his pre-reqs for PA school - while I'm in Dallas working. It's been tougher than we thought it would - but at the same time, our marriage has definitely been strengthened and deepened through it all.

Thanks guys for reading, praying, and showing us your support! Don't forget to sign up for the prayer chain (link/directions located to the right) if you can!

Love,
Sharon

aloha!

thanks again SO much for everyone's prayers.  my mom had her third round of chemo, and did experience a bit more side effects than she normally does.  however, i think she is starting to recover a bit.  if possible, i was hoping y'all could pray for her this coming week, as she will be going with my dad to hawaii!  please pray that she would recover her strength and keep her safe on the trip.  we're all hoping it will be a relaxing time for them :)

as an update, my mom will have her next CT scan in another three and a half weeks.  the scan will hopefully let us know the state of the disease.  we will for sure update y'all when we find out.  please keep praying for complete healing!

the city of houston and galveston are still slowly recovering from the hurricane.  this past week, i really got a glimpse of how bad the damage really was.  over a million people in houston are still without power!  God was definitely graceful to our family to allow us to have electricity, which gave my mom time to rest comfortably following her chemo.  here's a pic from one of our neighbors, to show you how strong the winds were:

for those who are interested in more pics of houston and galveston after the storm, check this out: http://www.tpicks.com/pictures%20people%20have%20sent%20me.html

again, we thank each and every one of you for your prayers!

God is good.

ike!

just wanted to report the family is doing well after ike passed through.  they evacuated to live with their friends in bellaire during the storm, and like most people, were without electricity.  as of this evening, electricity has been restored at our house in clear lake, and they are now resting comfortably there.  thanks for all those that were praying for us during this time.  our prayers continue to go out to other houstonians and galvestonians who were affected by ike.

tomorrow, matthew heads back to stanford, and we will miss him.  the third round of chemo for my mother is scheduled for tuesday 9/16, and we'll also see the doctor at that time.  hopefully i'll have more news to report then.  thanks again so much for your prayers.

God is good.

Mom is feeling well this morning!

[F] She is energetic this morning... and wants to bring food over to us for lunch?!

Mom: How was the baby last night?
Faye: Good, she just woke up from 5 hrs of sleeping!
Mom: Do you have lunch for today?
Faye: I think we're okay.
Mom: Can I bring lunch over to you?
Faye: Are you sure, Mom? What time did you get in last night?
Mom: 12 midnight. I woke up this morning and had devotions this morning... and still feel energetic! Gene told me to eat some nausea medicine, but I don't feel nauseated so I'm not going to eat any. I'm already cooking...

So it turns out that both my mom and mother-in-law will be coming over to bring food to us... and they'll be joining us for lunch... along with our dads.

Praise the Lord.

Just talked with Mom...

[F] Blood test shows that there were no major biological side effects from the 1st round of chemo. Praise the Lord! Therefore, she will proceed with her second round of chemo this afternoon to evening: 4:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. at MD Anderson.

Praise the LORD!!! :)

Keep on praying for complete healing! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts for our mom!! :)

2nd round of chemo...

my mom will be undergoing the second round of her gemcitabine+ cisplatin chemo regimen tomorrow (9/2/08). she also has an appointment dr. varadhachary before she starts her chemo, so we should have more info to update y'all with after that. hopefully we'll have an idea of when they are going to do the next CA19-9 test (a tumor marker that is often present in pancreatic cancer) or CT scan so we can have an idea of the state of the disease.

specifically, please pray for the following:

1. continued healing for my mother! as we may have mentioned before, this palliative chemo is not a cure, as it is only meant to temporarily control the growth of the cancer. however, we are praying that God would do a miraculous work!
2. minimized the side effects of the chemo: praise God our mother did not experience any major symptomatic side effects from the first round of chemo! the only thing my mother experienced was a little bit of nausea following the first round of chemo. please pray that she would continue to not have any major side effects this time around. tomorrow's blood test will confirm from an objective standpoint if blood counts are low or any other biological side effects have taken place. please pray that God would also protect her kidneys, as cisplatin can be pretty tough on them.
3. peace, patience, and continued encouragement from God, as we await the next test to determine the state of the cancer

thanks again SOO much from your prayers...we cannot express how grateful we are for all of you...

A Proud and Happy Grandma! :)

One of the things our mom was looking forward to most when we first found out about the diagnosis was that she would be able to hold her first grandchild! Here she is with Mariella! We love you, Mom! Happy entry into grandparenthood!

Welcome Mariella!

apologies for the lack of updates, but as many of you know, our most regular bloggers (simon&faye) have had their hands full as of late :)  as of today, my mother has been officially promoted to grandmother!  simon and faye welcomed a new member to their family: mariella!!

it's been a very joyous time for the family, and especially for my mom!

---

yesterday, joel came all the way down to clear lake to pray with my mother.  i know God really used joel to speak to my mom and encourage her.  it was a real sweet time of worship and prayer.

then mom, dad, joel, and i went out for some fajitas at lupe tortilla.  i still think you'd be hard pressed to find a better fajita place anywhere in texas!

thanks so much joel - you were truly a blessing to our family!

A Letter to All From the Heart...

[S] First, let me personally thank each and everyone of you during this very tough time for our family. Though it has been tough, our family has expressed much peace and joy through your prayers from our Lord Jesus Christ. From our family, thank you for the bottom of our hearts!

This past week, I personally made some very radical statements regarding the idea that God has healed my mother-in-law already. I wanted to use this letter to further clarify what I meant by these statements so that there will be no misunderstanding and so that I won't lead anyone astray from the Truth of God's Word.

From the very beginning (last Tuesday 8/12), this trial has never been about the cancer, but rather to bring full glory to Christ. Our desire was that God's kingdom be expanded and that somehow people would be touched and changed through this trial. We didn't know how this was going to happen, but we knew that was God's will for our family.

With God's glory being the foundation of our goal, we asked God for a miracle that only He could give. We asked God whether it was His will for my mom to live. Either way, we were okay with the answer because my mother-in-law (Peggy) is a believer and she has lived a God-fulfilling life and we will see her again. From Scripture, we know that God can and will heal people, but at the same time, God does not heal everyone for one reason or another. This is a mystery which I don't claim to know. So, the issue was whether God wants to heal my mother-in-law - not whether He can heal or not.

On Thursday 8/14, I went before God's Word and His presence and I really sensed God's prompting in my heart. Since January 2008, I have been asking God for a greater understanding of His prompting and that I would be more sensitive to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. Through a confirmation of a friend in Houston, we both sensed that God was going to bring peace to our family and that everything would be okay. We also sensed that God has already healed my mother-in-law. This is where the bold statement begins. Since I made this statement, this has been confirmed through Jay West and couple of other friends and family members. We don't believe we are incorrect, but if we are, our faith in God will not be shaken because we know that God does not make mistakes - only humans do. So I would repent to God if I am wrong and ask God to teach me more about His Holy Spirit's prompting.

I understand that many of our friends and family members have passed away from different types of sicknesses. My intention from the beginning was not to say that God heals everyone. I really don't know why sicknesses happen to the best people, but my intention was to say that we live in a depraved world. I don't know why God chooses some to live and some to leave this earth. But, I do know - that we as believers - whether we live or die, it is always for the glory of God, as Apostle Paul stated so eloquently.

I continue to ask all of our friends and family to continue to pray for my mom's full recovery. It will be a long road, but we are willing to journey in this with my mother-in-law. This trial has brought our relationship with God closer and it has also brought our family closer. God has chosen our family to bear witness to the goodness of God so that the world will know that Jesus Christ is Lord above all.

I still stand to the statement that I truly believe that my mother-in-law is healed from this deadly cancer. I hope this statement will give you true hope in Christ rather than false hope. If I am wrong, I hope that you will not view God any different, but to realize that I need to repent and learn how to hear from God better.

Dear friends and family, we love you guys very much. I hope that by praying for our family that your faith in Jesus Christ is strengthened and that your love for Him is increased. If these two things are accomplished through this trial, then I believe that God has accomplished His greater purpose for His kingdom.

Thank you guys and thank you for your love for our Lord Jesus Christ and for our family!

Love in Christ always,
Simon

His mercies are new every morning!

thanks again for everyone's prayers!  today is a good day.   it's raining, but i've always found the pitter-patter of the rain to be quite soothing.  my mom had her first round of her gemcitabine+cisplatin chemo last night, and is feeling great this morning!  praise God!  your prayers have really carried her through...i truly believe it!

i took my brother to the airport today for him to fly back to stanford.  before we went to the airport, he bought like 4 boxes of kolaches to take back to his mates in cali.  apparently they don't have them out there.  thanks again to brychao for giving him the mileage to fly back to houston.

this is our (sharon&i) last full day in houston, as we're heading back to dallas tomorrow.  we hope to make the most of it.  it's been a week of ups and downs, but God has shown Himself to be faithful through it all.  God is good all the time :)

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
  his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
  great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

Our mom's first round of chemo...

God is good...ALL THE TIME... Amen? :) It's funny - this past week has been quite a journey, but a good, Spirit-filled one... It feels like God called us to go on a missions trip to our own family...

Gene's mom, Peggy has continued to stay free from discomfort in her abdomen - Praise God for that. She started her first round of chemo today at MD Anderson and she has done well so far. Thank you guys for praying - today nearly all the prayer spots on the calendar were filled!! We can't say this enough - but it truly means a lot to each of us personally in the family - we know that God is listening to all of our prayers, and He is already starting to answer them too!! We know that some of you may have expressed doubt or may question our faith - but we just hope that as you continue to witness the miracles that have already happened in our experience so far, that this would encourage you to replace those doubts with more faith. :)

Some of ya'll may have already read from our family blog about Jay West...There were a few miracles that happened in order for Jay in to even be able to come see us this past Sunday! So praise God for making it all happen... if you'd like to know the details, I can share them with you later. :) It was actually his only weekend off (out of his many weekends that were booked until the end of October), but he really felt God telling him that he needed to come see us, who he's never met. He is one of the most humble, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled brothers in Christ I have ever met. Yes, he definitely has a quirky sense of humor, but I think God has a sense of humor too - so - nothing wrong with that. :) What I really love about him is that he pointed us first and foremost to Christ - who is our ultimate Healer - who is THE healer. Jay is truly humble - and what I mean by humble, is that he doesn't consider himself having the gift of healing, but the gift of FAITH. He imparted many pieces of wisdom from Scripture (which can be read in detail from Faye's (gene's sister) post recently on our blog). He also reminded us that it is God who chooses to heal - Jay himself doesn't. And, he told us SO many crazy experiences and things that he has witnessed...I love to hear these testimonies - so I will share a few with you guys to encourage you as well.

One testimony he shared with us was when he first started praying for people in Christ's name. A family had asked him to come pray over their son, who had been in a coma...So he did. As he was praying, he kept getting distracted by the vitals monitor screen - and was discouraged by them, but he kept praying, even with the little faith that he had then. A few days later - the family had asked him to come pray for him again...they told him, their son had wanted to MEET him - HE had woken up and left the hospital the next day! The doctors had said never seen such a quick recovery from a coma - and there was no medical explanation for it.

Another testimony he shared was about a married couple who had been trying to have a baby for years, but couldn't. He prayed over them, and asked God to give them a baby before Christmas...God answered - the mother had given birth on December 23rd... Jay joked and said "Whew God, that was a close one..."

He shared other experiences of how God had miraculously healed people of all types of cancers, pains, terminal and incurable illnesses...one of his very own...He had an incurable disease called Irritable Bowel Syndrome - which is a very very debilitating, immobilizing disease...but God had graciously healed him from it for 17 years now.

He reminded us that healing is a process - it may not be an instant thing all the time (sometimes people are healed instantly, sometimes in a day, in a few days, in a few months, in a few years) - and only God knows of the perfect timing of complete healing...We don't know when God will choose to heal our mom completely, but we know that He will. And yes, even Jay admitted, that there are some cases when God chooses not to heal someone for a reason, and we can't understand...but in his many years of experience, God chooses more often than not to heal someone... God is not done with our mom's life yet on this earth - please join us in praying for vision and revelation from God to her - of where He would have her go in this world to share her own testimony of faith in Christ and His power in her life.

Most importantly, we really believe that God will do even greater things than just healing our mom through this time - things that will reach far beyond just our family...but to all of you...to our community. This has been affirmed to me personally - we are praying at this very moment - that God will do a great thing - stir a revival among our cities - whether it be Dallas or Houston or any of the other cities in Texas - and even beyond Texas. We know of friends and family who have never prayed as much as they have now in a long time....we know of friends and family who are beginning to reconsider the person of Jesus Christ... THIS is what we call a revival my friends! Let us keep on praying eagerly and WITH FAITH - that God will use our lives to make HIS Name known - to make Christ known. Our God is ALIVE...He IS working...And he is NOT done with any of us yet...

With much faith and hope,
Sharon

1st Round of Chemo Today...

[S] Today is my mother-in-law's first treatment of chemo. Even though we believe that she is healed, we won't be able to get a CT Scan until 2 months from now because of the high exposure to radiation through the CT Scan. Therefore, we are going to proceed with Chemo for 4 rounds (once every 2 weeks) as recommended by the medical team until we can get a CT Scan sometime in October.

Please continue to pray for us and believing that God has healed her already.

Please continue to sign up on the prayer chain.

Thank you guys! God is good!

-- Simon

Praying With Faith...

Of course, after hearing the bad news from the world reknown specialist - it wasn't a very good feeling at all...and it for the most part has been a very tough time...there isn't a day or hour that we go by without crying or without getting really emotional about everything that has happened....These past few days have been filled with many tears and many prayers...which leads me to the next section...

Praying with Faith: :-) May our tears of sadness be turned into tears of joy. Our God is BIGGER than this disease...and is bigger than anything in this world. We are staying positive and have Faith that God will blow our expectations - and we ask you guys to join us in this approach and attitude. Instead of assuming the worst, we want to have faith in what God can do. The morning that we went to MD Anderson (this past Thursday), Simon - our brother-in-law - who is a man of incredible faith and one of the most Christ-like men in our lives - felt that God spoke to him - and told him that it wasn't our mom's time to die yet. That God has greater plans for her - not only healing but so much more - but to make His Name known through this. Through connections of our community, we were able to get a hold of a very influential and well-known man named Jay West - who has the gift of healing and faith. He has seen and witnesssed over 4000 people healed through Christ's power, including people with Stage 4 cancer, including a woman with pancreatic cancer.... It is amazing and perfect timing - because he is WILLING and desiring to fly into Houston (From Nebraska) and come see our mom THIS COMING Sunday and pray with her - for COMPLETE healing.... Our God has already begun to heal our mom - the past 2 days she hasn't been feeling any of the discomfort at night and early morning that she had started experiencing. And we know that part of this is because of all of your prayers. God is ALREADY working, and His presence IS in our midst. We know you guys want told us you would like to help us in anyway you can - the best way you can help us is to join us in PRAYING WITH FAITH...for the impossible...for a miracle - and not only for a miracle, but that this would cause others to realize that our God IS REAL and ACTIVE in our lives....IT is our prayer that the next CT Scan in a few months will show none of the tumors at all, and that our mom will be cancer-free by God's hand...We ask you guys to spend time and commit to praying and/or fasting for our mom some time during this weekend and especially Monday...Information about the prayer calendar that we have set up as a family is listed below.

We want to let all of you know that your texts, emails, phones calls, and most importantly - prayers have meant the world to gene's mom and the rest of our family.... It is SO incredibly humbling and encouraging to her personally and she is so touched to know that people across this state, nation, and globe are praying for her. THANK YOU.... Please please please continue to keep all of us in your prayers - and we know that this is just the START of something very big that God is about to do...

Simon (our brother-in-law) asked the reknowned specialist and her team if they have ever seen any miracles in cases like these. They said "no."
What was his reply? "Well, this WILL be your first - and you WILL document it!"
The doctor agreed. :)

What INCREDIBLE faith....we hope and pray that ALL of us can have this kind of faith... even the faith the size of a mustard seed - God can move mountains with it. :)

Here is a pic of gene's mom and his dad's 60th birthday last month in July. :)

Update from Simon...

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for the overwhelming support for our family! We have literally hundreds of people praying all over the world. God is so faithful!

I want to personally apologize that I have not responded to your emails. I want to let you know that I am reading everyone of them with great encouragement and joy. The support has been tremendous and please keep those coming!

Our family spent 3 hours yesterday at MD Anderson seeing the prognosis from a pancreatic cancer specialist for my mother-in-law's cancer. Here are some details that were conveyed to us:

• Stage 4 (last stage) pancreatic cancer which has spread to her liver
• The cancer cannot be removed because of the spread
• 3-6 months to live without Chemo and 1 year to 1.5 years with Chemo
• Currently there is not cure for Pancreatic cancer that has spread and percentage of survival is 0%
• My mother-in-law (Peggy Liaw) will start Chemo immediately this coming Tuesday at MD Anderson
• I told the specialist that our God is the God of miracles. He parted the sea, He raised the dead, He healed the lame, He gave sight to the blind, and He will heal my mom. There is nothing our God can’t do. He can and He will. I told her to make sure that she publish this miracle in the Medical Journal once she survives so the world will know that Jesus Christ is alive! She agrees :-)

This is devastating news for our family, but God has brought our family great encouragement through His scripture, prayer and also Him speaking to us. I spent really good time with our Lord yesterday and here are some things that the Lord reminded of:

• Our God does not care about statistics. He is a God of miracles.
• Our faith rests not on the doctor or the treatment but in Him and Him alone.
• This trial is not just our family but we want all people to put their trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and for all believers to realize their time on earth and follow hard after Him.
• We are honored that God has chosen our family to go through this trial. God gives us trial not because hates us but because He loves us and wants character to be refined (Book of James)
• God made an impression on my heart that my mother in law are to use her life on earth has a testimony of God’s faithfulness to many by going on a short term mission trip. Praise God that the specialist said she can travel even with the Chemo treatment. We will see how this work itself out.
• Praise God that a friend has connected me with a guy named Jay West who has the gift of faith and have see people healed from stage 4 cancer. I will connect with him soon.

How can you help and what can you do:

• Continue to pray for our family. Please note that we have set up a prayer calendar online. Please see link to the right. For those who have signed up to pray, please sign up again on line so it is more convenient and it will give you reminder. (http://carecalendar.org, Calendar ID: 6439; Code: fightcancr)
• Forward this information to as many people as possible so more people can pray. Forward it to your unchurched friends as well.
• Please fast for our family at your convenience.
• Draw close to Christ and make a decision to follow hard after Him if you have not done so already. He is worth living for and He is worth dying for. Our desire is that many will come to know Christ for the first time.

Thank you so much guys! Your friendship means so much to us! God is being glorified and He will continue to get all the glory in and through us! He is good all the time.

Sincerely,
Simon Lee

the news...

so, the doctors have finally confirmed what we have been preparing for the past couple of weeks.   my mother has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  the cancer has metastasized to the liver, and there is no cure.  although we have been preparing for this  for the past couple weeks, it's different to actually hear it from the doctor's mouth.  it felt like a punch in the stomach...

even in spite of this news, we are holding onto hope.  we have faith that God has the power to heal her if He wants to.  simon led us in an amazing time of prayer this morning before we met with the doctors, and we all have faith that He's going carry her through this.  in fact, while all 7 of us were in the patient room (my mom, my dad, simon, faye, matthew, sharon and me), we were in rather good spirits and sharing laughs and joking around.  i think the fellow thought we were all crazy when he walked in on us.  not to say that there weren't tears shed after talking with the doctors, but we definitely had a peace and confidence that i know God provided each and every one of us, especially my mom.

our physician is dr. varadhachary, who has made a really good impression on me so far.  very patient, gentle, articulate, and pretty darn cool.  we are definitely blessed that my mom is able to be at a great hospital such as md anderson, and with such amazing doctors.

dr. varadhachary has given an estimate of 3 more months left for my mother, if we don't do any treatment.  they have suggested we use a chemo regimen of gemcitabine and cisplatin.  we hope this will shrink and control the cancer, and if it does, the doctors say we can perhaps add 2-4 months to her life.  again, there is no cure for this cancer, and this chemo is just attempting to extend life expectancy.  however, we are believing God can work a miracle!

here we are eating at arco seafood after our trip to md anderson (my mom's in the middle):

special thanks to swei for his patience, and getting us into md anderson.  also to brychao for giving a plane ticket to my brother allowing him to come home.  and to nick&nat for the thoughtful care package....and to each and every one of you who has sent emails to us, called us, and prayed for us - words can't really express how much your prayers mean to us, and the encouragement y'all have been.

-gene

Please pray for our mom...

Hi dear friends and family,

As many of you already know... our mother was diagnosed with MALT lymphoma 2 years ago in which she went into remission successfully with XRT. However, about 2 weeks ago they had found a large pancreatic mass on her CT scan (going to her liver and kidneys) on her routine check up. We were hoping and praying that this would be pancreatic lymphoma (which is very rare, but nevertheless the lesser of the two evils compared to pancreatic cancer).

Update:
Yesterday afternoon, we found out from the biopsy results that she just got diagnosed with end stage pancreatic cancer over at MD Anderson in Houston…her cancer has already spread into her liver... Unfortunately, the physician there told his family there's not much more they can do for her since the cancer has already spread – no surgery, no chemo, no radiation…

She'll be seeing another specialist on Thursday morning... As you can imagine, we're feeling completely overwhelmed with all of this news, as we had really hoped and thought the result would be better than this... If we could ask for anything from you guys...we ask for PRAYER.... hardcore prayer. We also invite those of you who feel called to fast a meal during these next several days on your own - as we know that the power of prayer is MUCH more effective when we fast alongside of it...

Here are a few things we ask you to pray (and fast if you personally choose to) for:

1. Please pray for God's miraculous healing upon our mom and that we would have FAITH when we pray for this.... that He would do what the doctors cannot do... if God does choose to heal her completely from this, what an AMAZING testimony this would be...even far greater than we could ever imagine.

2. Please pray for our mom - we can't imagine what she must be going through right now... she wants to fight this as hard as she can - pray her to be continually surrounded by good friends/family, loving support, and encouragement...

3. Please pray for our mom and all of us family - that we would have the strength and courage to be positive support for her as best we can to keep her encouraged and spirits up.

4. Please pray for our father - that he would continue to remain strong and encouraged during this time... we can't even imagine what he must be going through as well...

5. Please pray for Faye and Simon - as they are about to have a baby girl in the next few weeks and yet have to go through this tough time...

6. Please pray for Matthew - He'll be coming back home for a bit at the end of August - that God would give him the strength and endurance to be able concentrate on grad school in the meantime at Stanford while struggling with all of this...

7. Please pray for Gene & Sharon's future plans this coming fall - Gene's considering taking classes in Houston for this coming semester - and they're trying to work out details in how often they can be down in Houston with his family as much as they can...

8. Please pray as we struggle to understand why this is happening to our mom, of all people, who has been an amazing, loving, and godly mother and blessing to us... what God is trying to show us as all this is happening...

Thanks for your support and prayers!