"I am sorry you have terminal cancer in your stomach and liver. You probably have a month to six weeks. If you have chemotherapy you may have six months"...

These devastating words were spoken to my sister, Velma, around August 1997. I have two sisters, Velma who is the eldest and Jan who is nine years younger than me.
Jan is married with two daughters aged 16 and 13. Velma is unmarried but fills the role of "Aunty" very well. Both my sisters live in Auckland, New Zealand, and we all have inherited a wacky sense of humor from our father.

Upon hearing this news, I prepared to go home to spend time with her. I flew into Auckland with a pain in my heart as I thought I would be saying goodbye to her. She met me at the airport and I didn't recognize her. She had lost a lot of weight and looked terrible, to say I was taken aback is to say the least. I was shocked.! She has started chemotherapy treatment but was still early days to see how it was going to go.

I had been with her for a couple of weeks when Velma had the opportunity for a weekend away at a little holiday cottage by the sea. She asked a friend of hers to go with her but unfortunately her friend's dad died two days before hand and so was unable to go with her. She asked me if I would like to, but I declined as I really felt like having "time out" by myself. As a mother of two boys I needed this time for me. So my sister took herself off to have a quiet weekend by herself.

Velma had been given a cassette tape of Don Moen (an American worship leader) "Worship with Don Moen" . On this cassette tape thereis a song entitled "I am the God who health thee" (track 8). This beautiful song spoke to my sister in a most wonderful way and she claimed this promise of God to herself and laid her sickness at the feet of our Heavenly Father.

Velma continued with the chemotherapy treatment and continued trusting God. As you know there are many side effects with chemotherapy, the only effects my sister suffered with, was the loss of her hair, she was so thankful she didn't have nausea.

I remember the day the first clump of hair fell out. She was taking a shower and she called out to me and inher hand was this tangled mass of hair.(in the photograph Velma had lost all her hair and she is wearing a lovely fashionable wig. When she wore the wig she always looked as if she had just come out of the hairdressers

Seeing her with this clump of hair in her hand, the full reality of cancer suddenly struck me and I became sad, but Velma remained positive.

During my stay with her she was in and out of hospital as her blood count would be low or she would get a cold etc and thehospital would tell her to go in so they could keep an eye on her. But her body was responding to the treatment despite thesehospital stay set backs.

My stay with Velma was into it's sixth week when a call from my family (in Perth) to say they were missing me especially my youngest (he was four years old at the time). I knew that my visit would have to finish sooner or later and so I prepared for my departure for home. Velma was doing really well and I knew that it was time for me to go.

Of course when I came home to my family, I was in close contact with Velma and before we knew it a year had gone by since that dreadful day when she received the news of her cancer, and within that year her cancer had G O N E . There was no sign of it in her stomach or in her liver, absolutely nothing.

Velma had claimed Gods promise and He had healed her. God performed a miracle even the Doctors and the Specialists said it was a miracle, no other word for it.

It is now four years since Velma was diagnosed and praise God she is still alive today. She is a living testimony to the wonders of our God. She is living in the?ward track, praising God and thanking Him for His healing. She shares her testimony and gives all the glory and praise to God because He is most worthy of it.

Thru this experience with my sister, my life too was changed. I saw first hand that God is a God who does care, that He loves us unconditionally and that there is nothing that is impossible for Him.

All praise and glory to our wonderful Saviour. Thank you God.



Noelene
November 2001.

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