Friday, June 14, 2013

Praise Report


This is to testify again that indeed, we can find peace and security in the mighty and powerful love of the Lord Jesus in us... I believe that God really answers our prayers (may it be yes, no, wait) because His heart is to give us the best for us, His heart is to bless us and His heart beats for us -- He loves us so much!

First praise report -- I had my post surgery check up last June 7, 2013 and my GYN doctor conducted a pap smear and requested for a breast ultrasound as I informed her that I encountered pain and felt a small lump on my right chest... Her overall assessment is that I am doing well from my previous surgery.

Second praise report -- My husband and I had our USCIS appointment last June 11, 2013 and we have a positive and good interaction with the USCIS officers (that we believe God appointed to us).  The officer that interviewed me granted my request to give me temporary evidence as I requested for my green card replacement due to data error.  My husband made a follow up for the release of his approved green card ID and the officer that interviewed him, told him that he just need to wait for his application process to complete before the release of his GC - ID... and we believe with all of our hearts and by faith in the name of Jesus, that the release of this ID will be soon, in God's perfect and anointed time.

Third praise report -- Yesterday, June 13, 2013 was my schedule for breast ultrasound and before going to the clinic, I asked the Lord for his message before my appointment. The Holy Spirit led me to Acts 12, the story of Peter's escape from prison.  Reading and studying this story made me visualize on how the Lord helped me and rescued me to escape and be freed from the prison of fears, worries, cancer, miscarriage and loss last September 12, 2012 (my birthday, the day I had my miscarriage with my baby Caleb)... and the specific Rhema Word from the Lord to me is from Acts 12:11 "Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen." -- According to the person who did my ultrasound, everything is fine with my chest and that I have nothing to worry about.  When I got home, I was able to access my pap smear result and it is negative for intraepithelial lesion (refers to abnormal growth of epithelial cells on the surface of the cervix) or malignancy... Indeed, the Lord God Almighty already broke the chains in my life, chains from any form of sickness and freedom from the lies of Satan because I know that I am a child of the one true King and His love covers me and that nothing and no one can be against me.

I praise God for giving me a family and relatives who’s been there to give their full support.  And I am grateful to God for giving me a spiritual family (my brethren in Victory, Bethel, FFAUMC, Gracehope.com Community, JCMB, our friends in the Philippines, Minnesota, California and Canada) who’s been with us, agreeing and believing with us in prayers and in trusting God. Just like the story of Peter, "When he was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him, the angel of the Lord appeared and rescued him" (Acts 12:5)... Also, in Matthew 18:19 says, "that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven"... Indeed, corporate prayers and having faith in Jesus can move mountains.


------- G L O R Y   T O   G O D -------



Monday, November 19, 2012

Testimony

I just want to testify to you that Jesus is alive and God is so faithful to “all” His promises, indeed He alone is Sovereign, He is the same God yesterday, today & forever, He is worthy of all our praise, nothing can be compared to our Lord Jesus, He is all that we need.

I consider myself as a “follower and worshiper of Jesus”.  I was raised in a Christian family and I can say that in my previous life, I was not walking in God’s path yet God’s love for me is so vast and He is the God of many chances and I re-surrendered my life to Jesus last July 2003. Because of my past failures in life (from being a product of a broken family and having early and failed relationships) even if I have re-committed my life to Jesus I still have so many fears that covers my heart because I am already afraid of any failures in life.  I’ve been struggling with these doubts and fears until a very tragic event happened in my life which was a matter of life and death.

It all started last May 2012, wherein I and my kids were applying for ourH4 visas to follow my husband in the US. During this time my mind was wracked with both doubts and fears regarding the procurement of these said visas,especially since my children are not the biological children of my husband and I have so many “what ifs” in my mind. Butstill God’s promise, word & timing are ultimate and that the Lord granted our visas without any problem from the US Consulate. After our visas were granted, my children and I cried to the Lord and thanked Him. Once again, these fears and doubts that were a constant nuisance in my life were rebuked thru the Lord’s blessing and with all my heart I told my children that from here on our objective in life is to obey God more and to please Him always more than anything else in this world.

When I reunited with my husband in the US, we decided then to have our own child which we have been waiting to conceive for 9 years now as we wanted to be stable enough to support our children before having our own. When I became pregnant last August, I still had so many negative thoughts and fears and what ifs.  I have this fear of “what if my husband will be laid off again from his job” as we experienced it from our2008-2009 stay in New Jersey (not knowingly that I am living in the past). Sadly,I suffered a miscarriage last September (exactly my birthday Sep.12) which left me and my husband emotionally drained from losing our long desired son, Caleb. During my miscarriage, I chose to praise God and I really uttered words of worship because I know that He alone gives and take away but my heart chooses to bless His name. 

After a week I bled again and this required me to go through a battery of tests including both D&C and Pap smear. After 3-4 days of my D&C I thought everything will now be fine, not realizing that someone from the hospital will call me and tell me that they had found pre-cancerous cells from my cervix and that I need to see my OB immediately. With this news, I immediately asked myself what I have done wrong in the sight of the Lord. I even condemned myself and telling to my children and husband that “Job was tested because he is righteous (that time my devotion is in the book of Job) and who am I not to encounter this sickness? I am just a sinner and that I deserved these consequences, in this time only seeing that God was punishing me from my previous sins. Because of my troubled mind and thoughts I am just forcing my spirit to do my daily devotion, not understanding that God is speaking to me thru this. This is when my daughter Jirah rebuked me and told me that “Ma, you should not think that way because the Bible says we were made righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross”,this really made me feel ashamed for what I was previously thinking and I wen tback and prayed to God and said “I know that this is not a punishment because my sins were all washed away and fully paid by the blood of Jesus on the cross two thousand years ago".

Last October 11, I visited my OB doctor and she was really surprised with what the doctors who performed my D&C saw in my cervix and which was reported to me. Because I previously gave her my pap smear results in the Philippines she was not expecting me to have said negative results from my post-D&C because I have cleared and normal results from the Philippines. She then performed the colposcopy and cervical biopsy to me and immediately after this she told me that contrary to my previous Pap smear results she was stunned that she saw that my cell abnormalities were worse than what she expected. Upon hearing of what my OB found out, I was so devastated and I felt that the enemy is pushing my mind towards negative thoughts and enveloping it with fears and doubts (it seems that the enemy is celebrating and my thoughts is filled with me having cancer already).

After the hospital visitation, I was dropped off at home and then my husband went straight to his work. When he arrived at home that night he told me that he needed to tell me something and I quickly had this feeling that something was wrong in his work. True enough the fear that I have entertained previously was now happening, he told me that he lost his job with the company that he was working for almost three years now which was the same company that filed for our Green Card.

On October 12, my husband went to his office to do his turn-over tasks and at around 2-3pm my OB doctor called me up and I did a teleconference with my husband. On that call she told us that it is now confirmed that the pre-cancerous cells are now defined as cancerous and that I now have cervical cancer. I cannot explain how I felt that time, I felt devastated and I felt that I am a total wreck and that my mind cannot fathom what is currently happening to us,trying to understand these multiple life-changing problems that we were now facing.I cried to God and through the power of the Holy Spirit the Lord reminded me of what I have desired before moving in the US and that is “pleasing Him always”.  Thru all of this, the Lord made me realize that He needed total obedience from me. Yes, I may be serving Him through making disciples, having my ministry and thru generous giving and yet there is one major thing that I cannot give to God and that is giving my genuine faith and trust to our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Lord once again reminded me of His Word in Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because one who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” His message is crystal clear that I need to give my full trust and faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.  That night, as with most recent nights, I was not able to concentrate on our family devotion and I just cried out loud to God, and the Holy Spirit made me realize that I am the Lord’s worshiper and that I should remain faithful to this in spite of me and my family’s situation.

We have discussed what’s been happening to us with my mother and brother and I praise God as they have opened their doors for us to live with them in Arizona, this was also an answered prayer to them as their desire was to take care of me while I am recuperating and undergoing with all my medical procedures and treatments. I went back to my OB after 2 days to tell her that me and my husband are so thankful because we know that God made her the instrument for this things to be revealed to us but prior to this, she told me that the pregnancy and the miscarriage that I had were the opening for them to know that I already have the cervical cancer.  Because of this statement, I once again recognized the Word of God in my life… “that all things work together for good for those who love Him” (Rom. 8:28) and “His ways our not my ways nor His thoughts are not my thoughts…” (Isa. 55:8)

With no job for any of us and with future medical expenses that will surely come from my treatment we immediately decided to leave our previous lives behind, selling and moving everything out from our home and then pondering our next steps. Before leaving Minnesota, there were 2 major things that we still needed to consider and those were: our apartment and our Green Card process sponsored by the previous company of my husband.

First, our apartment, we initially tried proposing of subletting it through my husband’s officemate but it fell through as his wife was not agreeable on the proposal. My husband tried to negotiate with the apartment’s management for reconsideration on our rental contract as we have no way of meeting our monthly dues because all of us are currently unemployed and that we can pay them piecemeal for the arrears only when my husband got his new job. We still have 3 days before leaving our apartment in Minnesota before moving out to Arizona and if no one will sublet it, we are forced to pay the monthly rental for the next 6 months even if we are not staying there anymore. In this situation, we were really so overwhelmed with God’s provision for us, this was because the apartment administrator called my husband and she said that there is a lady that was looking for a fully furnished apartment and that they needed the space by November. This gave us the opportunity to both transfer our rental contract to her and also to sell to her our household items thus satisfying both her need to have furnishings in the apartment and for us not needing to dispose of our things at a loss and receiving much needed income from it. The most important thing during their apartment visit is when she saw my Bible on our dining area (as I was doing my devotion that morning) and she said “so you’re also a Believer… that’s good”… I gave her a very warm smile and I told her that I know in my heart that everything will be alright and I shared my rhema word from the Bible (for my devotion that day) to her and she hug me and told me that,“you know what, I don’t know you but I already love you… I will give you books that will help your faith strengthen (Joyce Meyer books) and I will take all the things you are going to sell.” I am totally amazed on how God moved that morning.  When that lady (Elaine) lef tour apartment, my children, my husband and I were soaked in the presence of God, we were all amazed on how He does things in His way and we rejoiced in the Lord.

Second, the employer of my husband agreed to let our GC process go thru even though since he was laid off from his job all immigration-related process should be terminated. By letting the GC process to continue until completion, we will be just awaiting our GC by faith by the end of the year.

After traveling about 1,700++ miles over 38 hours straight from Minnesota to Arizona, thru God’s grace and security, we arrived safely in Phoenix on October 21. During my first visit in Mayo Clinic, Phoenix Arizona, I have felt  the peace from the Lord and I know that it is true because God has heard my prayers and there were all these people who became my prayer warriors and who were all interceding for me. Most of all, I knew in my heart that Jesus is already moving in my life.  At this point in time, the Lord taught me on how to really trust him wholeheartedly and from there on, I prayed and held on to my petition to Jesus that He alone can heal me. When the doctor told me that he didn’t see any multiplication from my reproductive system yet they still need to do a Radical Hysterectomy just to be sure that the cancer will not spread to my ovaries or uterus and that my medical condition was both curable and treatable, I now know that the Lord will truly preserve my life as He had promised to me.

While we were waiting for my scheduled surgery, my husband was continuously doing his job hunting and in our family devotions and every prayer, I have not given up my prayer request for my husband’s promotion.  I don’t know how, but all I know is that the Lord’s promise for His people is to be the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy28:13 “The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day  and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.”). We even quoted and claimed God’s Word and promise in Malachi 3:10 in our prayers and indeed He is a “Father” who wants His children to know and be reminded of his “unlimited provisions”. And right before my surgery, my husband received a call from his dream company and he got a good job offer. Indeed, Malachi 3:10 is living!

I had my surgery last November 13 early morning and I thank God because He has given me such peace that I have experienced for the first time.  I never felt a single fear as I told God that “I know Lord, just like David, You are going to preserve my life according to your love and promises, according to the unending love of Jesus for me”. I also told Him, Lord, please hold me in Your right hand” and I feel so fine that time. When I was already conscious, my husband, mother and brother told me that according to my doctor, the cancer was only local to the affected region and that from the initial tests it has not spread thru other regions in my body, and they were all happy for that good news.  My doctors visited me and they told me that the surgery went great and they told me that base on the first test and re-test of my lymph nodes there is no any cancer multiplication and that I am now  cancer-free.     

Through all of these the Lord has truly shown His majesty, power, mercy, provisions and blessings. The Lord taught me a lot o fthings:

  • To claim His promises – every revealed Word from God from my devotion the Lord taught me to use this as weapon in facing daily trials.
  • Remembering the cross – the great love of Jesus and His blood is greater than any trials in this world.
  • That God preserved my life according to His great love and promise to me.
  • Asking prayers for my spiritual family, and believing that when we put our hope and trust in God He will never put us in toshame and that prayers can move mountains.
  • Believing that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
  • Most of all, I’ve learned that there’s nothing tofear in life because Jesus is TRUSTWORTHY and He is Emmanuel, He is with us.

He truly worked on my major weakness namely having unwavering faith with my Lord. He let me exercise my faith that no matter the challenges and trials, no matter how large the mountain to surmount, how vast the problems to overcome He will be always there for us. That He will never leave nor for sake us and that His promises to us are true and that He will take care all of our needs. That we will never lack for anything and He will not let us be defeated.That we just need to obey, trust and let our Lord be the center of our lives.And when we let Him be the Driver and the Center of our lives then we will never go astray, we will always be successful and we will never be afraid. Thru all of these, the glory, honor and praises belongs only to God.  Indeed, my Jesus is Emmanuel, He is with us and He is God in every season.

My desire is through my personal encounter with God, I maybe a living testimony and may my story be an instrument to all my friends, relatives and love ones for them to put their hope, trust and faith to Jesus as He alone is TRUSTWORTHY!  There is nothing too hard for God (Jeremiah 32:17).

Also, I would like to thank all my friends who’ve been praying for me and my family and for all your words of encouragement:

  1. My Victory Ortigas Family, Pastor Nuel Nanez, Pastor Noel Landicho, Pastor Owie Tolentino
  2. My Music Ministry Team (Victory Ortigas) – Julie,Joan, Ate Gie, Mav, Sugar, Don, Glen and others.
  3. My Victory Group – Mich, Jane, Weng
  4. My own Victory Group (anak-anakan) – Janice, Monic,Jeng, Nadine and Angel
  5. My JCMB Family – Pastor Pete, Pastora Arlene and JCMB prayer warriors
  6. My Online friends – Zena, Hilda, Diwani, Tim, Nelia,Chie, Sofie, Gail, MM
  7. My River Heights family – Pastor Jon, Teddie, Leila and their small groups
  8. FFAUMC Family – Pastor Ben, Manang Linda, Kuya Art,Ate Lina
  9. My husband’s friends and family – Arwin, Emil,Eugene, Eileen, Altaira, Cheryl, Richelle, Maryam, Lyle, Lhen, Emma, Sally,Joan, Darleen, Judith, Aileen, Amparo, Kuya Frally, Ate Chilet, Ate Ayen, TitaDiday, Tita Erling, Mommy Pasay, Bong, Roel, Albee and Bianca
  10. Imago Dei –Pastor Ryan
  11. QC friends –Amor, Egay, Peach, Hermie & their church, ninang Cel
  12. My Greystone friends – Cathy and Elaine
  13. My Bethel (EN church) family – Pastor Mike & Julie Gowans, Pastor Israel and the rest of the congregation
  14. Allina Medical and United Hospital – Doctor Greta Larsen
  15. Mayo Clinic –Doctor Magrina, Doctor Shelly, Doctor Cheng, the nurses and staff
  16. My family – mysuper understanding mom, my children Jirah, Josef, Monic, Meka & Marguex,my very loving brother & his family (Iyang, Bryce, Elhi & Hannah), Ate Con, tiyo Ado and his family and of course my husband Mark Frederick.


--- TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY! ---