"Give us this day...."

A million Bible verses and stories are rushing through my brain this evening. I've thought of Tabitha who died, and so many people showed Paul the things she had done in their lives and all she meant to them, that God used him to bring her back from the dead. I've thought of the cripple whose friends cut a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was teaching, and let the cripple down through the roof in front of Jesus, for Jesus to heal him, because they couldn't get to Jesus through the crowd. And when Jesus saw "their faith", not the faith of the cripple, but the faith of his friends who loved him so much, Jesus healed the cripple.

But the verse I'm finding peace in right now, that keeps repeating in my head as both a plea and a promise, is a truncated verse from the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day...." I have this day, and it's good.

Today, on our 30th anniversary, Karen and I sat with Roland at the oncologist's office and listened to him confirm to us that, as far as the doctors are concerned, I'm dying. I have 18-24 months to live.

We went to the oncologist this afternoon to hear his prognosis and treatment recommendations now that he has the results of the colon biopsy. Apparently, we do need a miracle. He said my cancer is not curable. Without treatment the average person with my cancer at this stage lives 8-9 months. With treatment, 24 months. The 5-year survival rate is in the single digits.

There are two kinds of chemo, oral and IV. There's a 30% chance that the cancer will respond to the oral chemo and a 50% chance that it will respond to the IV. The oral chemo costs $1,000 per month. The IV chemo costs $30,000 for a six-month treatment course. He and the colon surgeon and the originally diagnosing general practitioner are all going to argue to the insurance company that the cancer should not be considered pre-existing, but those battles with insurance companies are generally lost.

We talked a little to the oncologist about what we came to Australia to do. We told him that we gave up good insurance in the states to come here in the belief that we had something to offer that would make the lives of many Australians deeply better, and we want time to do that. We said we believe in miracles and we want to give God time to act. The oncologist started thinking about people who owe him favors and ways to get around the cost to get me the IV chemo.

My spiritual challenge is to be like the 3 Hebrews when they were faced with the choice of being thrown into a fiery furnace or denying that God was really God. They said (in the King James Version in which I have it memorized from childhood) "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, and He WILL deliver us. But if not, be it known unto thee oh king, that we will not bow down...."

So, I'm learning to be confident that I rest in the arms of my Abba Daddy who loves me, regardless of the outcome, while still praying and believing that he WILL give me a miracle of healing and added years.

Meanwhile, though, we're apparently going to need all the money we can find, regardless. So, as much as I hate it (we built a church that never preached on Sunday morning about money and never took an offering), I have to be willing now to be a recipient of grace, and accept whatever my friends want to offer.

So, our little core group here that is hoping to plant a church soon has set up a bank account here in Brisbane to receive donations for me. Here's what you do from the United States to transfer money into that account:

1. Call your bank and see if they do overseas transfers, they may do it through Bank of America or Chase Manhattan. If your bank is large enough they will have an overseas funds transfer dept and that is who you want to speak to.

2. Ask them to transfer the money to the following details

a. SWIFT code: QBANAU4B (The SWIFT code is the number that identifies banks for the purpose of overseas transfers it stands for “Society for World-wide Interbank Financial Telecommunications”.)

b. BSB# (or routing #) 124066

c. Account Name: NewStart River City Benevolent fund.

d. A/C# 20443878.

(My sister tried the above instructions and said her bank also wanted the name and address of the bank here, to which the money is being transfered. That information is:

Bank of Queensland
Arana Hills
Patricks Place
Cnr Patricks Road & Dawson Parade
Arana Hills QLD 4054
Australia)

I need and have to be willing to accept whatever financial donations people feel led to make, but goodness I seriously must have your prayers. At this point, it sounds like money can buy me 12-18 months. More than that has to be a miracle from God in response to the prayers of the people who love me.

Love,

Brad