Sunday, May 20, 2007

Encouraged by your outpourings

This past week was a week of ups and downs, of anticipation and disappointment. The last great hope for further treatment was the proton therapy at MD Anderson. But as you have read, that didn’t pan out. The involvement of the blood vessels and duodenum precludes the use of this powerful treatment.

In addition, I have had several pretty severe episodes of nausea, vomiting, and increased pain. My assumption is that as the cancer grows, the pain level is increasing. That, along with the heavy dosages of pain killers, lead to the nausea. But, in addition to these increasing episodes, I have had some pretty good days, for which I give thanks.

We currently are attempting to check with all our doctors about any further treatment. MD Anderson suggested I try conventional radiation therapy, but we are still not convinced that the results will merit the down-side. Pray with us for wisdom.


One happy occurrence this week was the visit of Dr. Stephen Tam, the Dean of the Asian Baptist Graduate Theological Seminary (ABGTS).

This is a consortium of nine Baptist Seminaries throughout Asia that offers doctoral programs. Stephen’s office is in Hong Kong and he played an important role in introducing us (and CBF) to Baptists in Asia. My last two years in Asia, I served as consultant for doctoral students for ABGTS and Anita and I arranged for two CBF Affiliates (David and Rita Mashburn) to set up and administer the Dean’s office.

Stephen said that without CBF’s involvement, they would never have gotten the office off the ground. Stephen had been instructed by the ABGTS board, at a recent meeting, to bring to us a resolution they passed, thanking Anita and me (and CBF) for our partnership in training the future Baptist theological leaders in Asia. As you can imagine, we were heartened both by Stephen’s visit and by the generous words of the ABGTS board.

I continue to be buoyed by your comments on the blog and your email and cards. I’m not able to respond to these many outpourings of love, but I am greatly encouraged by them. Continue your prayers. God is not finished with us yet!


Go to today's Along the Journey entitled "Kindness."