Pray for Eric Yeong

Yesterday, two students came to my office and gave our family a plateful of brownies. Mmmm, they were delicious! The gesture was another way that the Lord showed us His love through the people around us. At school, signs have been put up to remind us to pray for Eric. Red string bracelets have been circulated for the same reason. As I walk around the halls, I don’t normally go very far without anyone offering a comforting hug or reassurance of prayers. One teacher told me that her students interrupt her class to remind her that they should pause to pray for Eric. Different families have brought us our dinner for the last few days. Notes, flowers, baked goodies, and money, have all made it to our house as expressions of love and concern. We are touched with good reason. Again, we are grateful that the Lord has allowed us to go through this time so we can be awed by His love. He shows us grace that we don’t deserve. What a God He is.

Eric received his first dose of chemo medication on March 19. He was also able to celebrate his 17th birthday with his friends the following day. Thank you for praying that his body respond just as it is doing. Apart from feeling tired, Eric has been happy, feeling well, and back to school since Monday, March 22.
He now needs to strengthen his body and build it back up to handle the second dose of his first chemo cycle on April 2nd. That will then be followed by other doses on the following dates:
April 16th & 30th - second chemo cycle
May 14th & 28th - third chemo cycle
June 11th & 25th - fourth chemo cycle
Please continue to pray for Eric even when he isn't receiving the chemo treatments. As the medicine works in his body, let’s pray for his strength to be maintained. One of the side affects of chemo is that the immune system is lowered with each treatment as it works to fight the cancer. Please pray that he resists all kinds of infection.
Lastly, let’s pray for his complete healing and for God's glory to be made known in the midst of our circumstances. Thank you and bless you!

News on Eric (written by Mel Reimer)

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Several weeks ago, 17 year old Eric was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma after a biopsy, CT, and PET scans confirmed the diagnosis. For those who are unfamiliar with the rating system used for cancer, doctors will usually refer to it in stages (Stages 1 - 4) depending on whether the cancer has spread to other places beyond the place of origin. We can be encouraged that from these possible stages, the results have shown that Eric’s cancer is in stage 2 (A) and is still localized to the lymph nodes in his neck. Stage (A) means that he has experienced little or no symptoms due to the cancer at this time.


TREATMENT:
The treatment for Eric’s cancer will include four rounds of chemotherapy, which will begin this Thursday, March 18th. This will also be followed by radiation treatments to target the specific areas of cancer. As we continue to pray for Eric and his family, please pray for the following


PRAYER:
1. We are praying that Eric’s physical body will be strengthened in order to handle the chemo treatments and that God would give him and the Yeong family wisdom as they take each day one at a time.

2. Pray that the Lord would be abundantly merciful to allow Eric’s chemo treatments to progress with minimal side effects and that the Lord would bring healing to his body.

3. Pray for Eric to have the spiritual, emotional, and mental confidence to deal with any of the side effects from his chemo treatment. Pray Eric remains strengthened in his spirit as he remembers his identity in the Lord despite how he feels physically after his chemo treatments.

4. Pray that the Lord would allow this situation to draw the Yeong family closer together as they depend more and more on the Lord during this time.

5. And finally, pray that the Lord would continue to be glorified in all things. The Yeong family has already had opportunities to mention their faith in the Lord with the oncologist. Pray for their oncologist to see the love of Christ through the Yeong’s testimony as she witnesses His presence in their lives.

Thank you for praying. Bless you!

Stepping Out

Dear Friends and Family,

Wishing you the Lord's blessings in the New Year. May it be the year we step out to new levels in God's work in our lives.

Much love,

Eng, Linda, Evan, Eric, Eli, and Ethan

September 27, 1979 to September 27, 2009

It doesn’t feel like 30 years, but that’s how long it’s been. I was 18 when we left the Philippines and was highly distressed and in anguish. I was leaving life as I knew it and friends that have been there for me for years, to face a future that was completely unknown. We left to start a new life in Canada.

Now that I am 30 years older, I can look back at that point in my life and truly know that it made me resilient. We lived for 10 months in Montreal and then moved again to Toronto. Unfortunately, I responded to what I lost and went through a lot of bitterness. I wish I hadn’t; I’m just grateful I did adjust to life in Toronto and made new friends. After that, studying and working went a lot better. If I was told then that I would someday marry a Chinese Malaysian, have four sons and be a missionary to Davao City (Philippines) and then Chiang Mai (Thailand), I would have shaken my head in disbelief. How was that possible?

I have led an impossible life. If you knew what I was like and what I did, you would have agreed with me. Now I am His daughter. I am also a wife, mother, friend, teacher, counselor, worshipper and intercessor. Nothing is impossible for our God who transforms, heals, and loves. I wish I could say that I loved Him right back when I knew Him, but I didn’t. Yet the Lord kept loving me anyway until I did love Him back. Praise you, Lord.

I look forward to the next 30 years. Maybe I’ll be an author then, a counseling teacher, a mom to an adopted child, a speaker. Who knows? I don’t, but what I know is that I’ll be blessed and with the Lord in me and His help, I’ll keep doing the impossible. Future, here I come.

Best Vacation Ever

We arrived here at The Pines in Prachuab Khiri Khan over a week ago, 3½ hours south of Bangkok. We are staying at a holiday home that hasn’t stopped surprising me since we got here. Our lodging is simple but comfortable, and a very adequate place to stay. It doesn’t have air conditioning but there is a ceiling fan right above our double bed. Our sons are in an adjoining bedroom with a bunk and a single bed. The best thing about our rooms is that they’re the closest to the beach so we can hear the soothing waves of the sea when we sleep at night. Hot drinks (coffee, tea, or Milo) are freely provided just outside our rooms. Laundry is done daily, and our clothing, pressed and clean, is available for pickup in the laundry room by the afternoon. Three bountiful, delicious meals are served every day with a special Sunday dinner of roasted chicken (or meat loaf), potatoes, stuffing, salad, fresh biscuits, and a sundae for desert. There is a freezer and a fridge which are filled with ice cream and cold drinks; a container with leftover deserts is kept in the fridge for those who may want a snack in between meals. Some of the available facilities include a trampoline, a ping pong table, a basketball hoop, a soccer field, a volleyball court, a swimming pool with a Jacuzzi, and a pathway for cyclists (or skateboarders). Bicycles for various ages are available for free use. Their library is small, but contains lots of books for everyone. A lounge area provides an excellent place for anyone to relax and read a book, crotchet or knit, work on a puzzle, chat, play games, or use the computer. Internet access is available at any time for the mere cost of 10 baht per day (a little more than a quarter). Jigsaw puzzles of varying difficulties and sizes are available as well as board games; they even have Settlers of Catan (with an expansion set!). Last, but not least, they have the Movie Room, the only air-conditioned room in the accessible areas. Stocked with numerous DVDs available for free viewing, there is a whiteboard used to reserve a time so that everyone gets a chance to watch. Aside from the comfortable chairs, lots of cushions and comforters are on hand for family viewing. Often this week, this room has provided a place for folks to cool down while watching, and it is often filled to the brim.

We’d gone fishing, viewed a nearby aquarium, shopped in town, gone swimming, kayaked, (the men played golf), walked on the beach, played ping pong, played sports and card games, eaten until our tummies bulged, watched movies (including "The Sound of Music" and all 3 "Lord of the Rings" films!), line danced, listened to musical talent (violin and singing), sang, had a bonfire, and simply visited with friends.

What a surprising place! It has been talked about as a great place to go to, and I’ve often wondered why people would rave about it. A friend envies us because we would never get bumped off our reservation if we indicated we wanted to stay here. Since they don’t belong to our organization, they have lost their reservation in the past when people in our group signed up to come and stay here. It is a very popular vacation spot and now I understand why. This place has a tranquility about it that promotes rest and relaxation. The friends you come with or meet start to become like relatives over the course of your stay. You walk in the lounge and feel like you belong there. Lying down on the comforters in the floor of the Movie Room along with the rest of the crowd becomes the most natural thing to do. Yes, The Pines is a great place to go to because of the beach and everything it has to offer, but most of all it’s because of the love and camaraderie that is in the air. The Lord is here and He is not just giving us rest and solitude, but comfort and enjoyment with His own. It is good to live in harmony with brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re living out our best vacation ever (except that we’re missing our oldest son Evan who is not with us). I’m so grateful for the 12 days we’ve been here. We are blessed.

A New Man in the House

Ever since my family left to go back to Chiang Mai and I remained in North America to begin my post-secondary education, a large gap appeared in the so-called "Yeong Family Hierarchy." As the eldest brother I had been in charge of a great deal, but being thousands of miles away didn't exactly bode well when it came to me taking care of my responsibilities, and as a result Eric was forced to take over.

These were big shoes that he had to step into (size eleven, to be exact), yet from everything I've heard he's done a really great job. From walking the dog before the rest of the family is even awake on weekdays to writing up his own contract determining the work he did around the house, Eric has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

When he is not washing the car, doing a load of laundry, or working on the yard, Eric has found time to compete in a badminton tournament, run in Track Meets, help as stage crew for a musical, and even celebrate his 16th birthday party. Academically, he's chosen to take two AP (Advanced Placement) courses next year while in Grade 11, and two more in Grade 12- a heavy workload for any student.

Between his duties as honorary eldest brother and responsible student/fun-loving teenager, Eric has a very full life. He's definitely managed to take up the torch, and to own his new role. Well done, Eric!

The Dead Will Rise

As our supper guests arrived, I expected the evening to turn out like any other night with friends over; I couldn't have been more wrong! The first thing our guest said was that a man had drowned in the pond just a block from where we lived. He and his friend had been drinking beer and had decided to take a dip in the murky water. Unfortunately, he didn't resurface. His friend frantically tried to find him and immediately sought help but to no avail. Almost an hour later, the body remained submerged in the dark water. As people gathered around the pond, our friend had passed by, which is how she found out what had happened. She told us that she wanted to pray for the drowned man to be raised to life, so I went with her. We waited anxiously while scuba divers went into the man-made pond to pull the dead man out. It was then that I thought to myself that seeing a drowned dead man wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. It was unsettling for me to watch them pull him out. It was too surreal. I went home, but later realized that my friend had left her cell phone and I had no way of making her know it was time to eat. I had to go back and get her.



When I got there I saw the dead body covered by a white sheet. At that point most of the people had already left. Our friend was joined by two other Christian friends and they were all praying. I knelt down and joined them stating that nothing was impossible with God. We asked the Lord to make him live again. I commanded him to rise in Jesus' Name. We were interrupted when they drew the sheet back to take pictures. I had no choice but to look at him close-up. I’m still recovering from the shock of not just laying a hand on a dead person, but also being so close to someone who had just died. It’s just so unreal. His pale, ashen, white body had regained its brown color. I wondered later if we should have kept praying. Instead, I told my friend that Eng wanted us home to eat. We left soon after that.



At first I was disappointed with the Lord for not bringing him back to life. Now I know that although I mentally believed we would do even greater things than what Jesus did (the lame walked, the blind saw, the dead came back to life) because He is praying for us, in my spirit I had unbelief. May the Lord increase my faith. Yes, I did pray, but had that man sat up, I would have been the first one surprised by it! I’m grateful that the Lord isn’t upset with me. I learned more about my faith. I cannot conjure it up. The Lord gives us faith to raise the dead. This is my prayer. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me. I have prayed this reality in me. That drowned 29 year old Thai man remained dead, but soon, for so long as I get the chance to pray for dead people, one day, the dead will rise in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ.



By the way, Jesus has Risen! Happy Easter.