From:
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 8:47 AM
To:
Subject: Prayer Update 11/11/05 To God be the Glory!
Friday, November
11th, 2005
Dear Family
and Friends,
Just one
week ago on Thursday night, I was awakened at 1:30 AM from a light sleep to a
two-way radio ring, and a moment later I heard David's voice, "Adam, can
you come over here?" Slipping on a pair of sandals and grabbing my coat, I
quietly crossed the hall to the other apartment.
Derrick was
talking on the phone, and David met me with tears in his eyes. His broken
voice almost whispered "Isaac didn't make the flight." I looked down
by the phone, and saw the words "Brain hemorrhage" written by David's
trembling hand just a few moments earlier.
Slowly the
realization came over me that my dear twin brother Isaac was with the Lord.
Waking Rachelle and Sarah, the five of us each had the opportunity to talk with
Mom and Dad, and then we gathered in a circle to pray.
Tears
flowed freely as each of us poured out our hearts to the Lord, thanking Him for
the twenty-five years that He had given Isaac to our family. My dear friends, I
want you to know that there at the throne of God we found grace to help in our
time of need.
Deciding to
wake the four younger children at 6:00 AM to share the news, we quietly went
back to our rooms to try to rest until morning.
Everything
had happened so quickly, and so unexpectedly. Just a few days before, we were
excited to see some improvement in Isaac's leg. He had been in bed for just
over a month with what appeared to be an infection in his left leg. After three
antibiotics, the blood tests showed no infection, but still the pain lingered
on.
Then it
seemed that things were improving. The swelling and redness was going down, but
other symptoms began to appear. Increasing pain in the kidneys, headaches and
strange bleeding indicated that something was seriously wrong. Responding to
our call at 5:00 AM, Dr. Choi came out to see Isaac,
and further blood tests were done in the morning.
By early
afternoon on Thursday, I had returned from an errand to hear that preliminary
results were coming back from Isaac's tests. His white blood cell count had
gone from a normal range of up to 10,000 to an unheard of 375,000! We were
advised to get Isaac on a flight to
Here we
began to see Lord's hand working as we raced to get Isaac on the evening flight
to
Mom and Dad
were both able to be with Isaac, and in his last hour, he was able to look out
the window and watch the setting sun. The next morning I wept as Samuel chose
the hymn "Beyond the Sunset" in our family time together.
1
Thessalonians 4:17 teaches that one day all Christians will be caught up
together to meet the Lord in the air, but I thought it was very special that
Isaac would get an early opportunity to meet the Lord in the air.
Throughout
this whole experience, we have seen God's great lovingkindness
in more and more ways. After further examination of Isaac's case in
Because the
symptoms are so strange, it is extremely difficult to diagnose early and even
in the world's best hospitals, there is very little that could have been done
to slow the rapid advance of this variation.
This
actually brought us much comfort as we realized that Isaac's body had been
fighting this disease for probably the past year. If we had known of it then,
there would have been little that we could do for him, and it is very likely
that we would not be in
Instead,
God raised up this chosen vessel to bear the testimony
of the Lord Jesus in the
If Isaac
had become sick and died in the States, we would have been grieving together,
and perhaps his life would have been a challenge to some. But here in
Isaac had
given his love and energy to the people of
Isaac had
laid down his life, and served his last days to bring the message of hope to
the people of
Some 250
people attended Isaac's funeral at First Church of Ulaanbaatar. Representatives
from several churches, missionaries, friends, neighbors and students from our
character classes comprised a wide variety of people from all walks of life.
Especially
touched were those who do not know Christ. One mother and daughter that have
attended our Character-English classes came to share their condolences. The
daughter just burst into tears and sobbed. Without Christ, Isaac's death would
have been just an untimely tragedy. Pujaa translated
for me as I shared the hope and confidence that I will see my brother again.
Another
unsaved student came to the viewing, funeral, burial and reception time.
Although she is a strong Buddhist, she seemed to be very deeply impacted by
what she saw. She had a long talk with the assistant pastor of one of the local
churches.
The
missionary community also seemed greatly touched by Isaac's testimony. Families that we have never really met rallied together to provide
meals and support for us. The home-school organization furnished the
reception, and their leader laid aside a busy schedule to assist us in
organizing the services.
Of the
funeral itself, it was like none that I have ever attended. There was an air of
hope and confidence that shone through the unexpected sorrow like sunbeams
through the clouds. No one could miss how special Isaac was to each one of us,
and no could miss the fact that he was prepared to meet the Lord.
Dad and the
older children each shared how their lives have been impacted by Isaac's
selfless example of giving to others. I shared on the verse from Psalm 112 that
"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the
darkness..." We have a hope and confidence that has been with us through
this time, and we are seeing the light of God's purpose shining brighter and
brighter each day.
Isaac's
life has been a consistent testimony of a young man that served God all the
days of his life. I have no regrets about our family coming to
"Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24
Right now
our family is making plans to travel back to
God is
working in some amazing ways as we work out our travel details. Yesterday the
airline office told us that our round trip tickets had been canceled and we
would have to buy new ones, but the the Lord has
worked these things out, and we are actually able to travel together on the
preferred Monday flight that will allow us to make a non-stop flight from
Beijing to Chicago.
Tomorrow
will likely be very full with our Character English classes in the morning, and
packing and preparation in the afternoon. We leave early on Monday morning, so
pray that we could have a productive day on Saturday, and a restful Sunday
before the trip begins.
Memorial
Services:
Location:
(See http://www.summitag.org/ for
directions)
Visitation:
5:00 - 8:00 PM
Memorial
Service:
10:00 AM
Praise
Points:
- We are so grateful for the prayers of people
all around the world that are praying for our family in
this important time. God has been pouring out His grace upon each of
us. We feel like we have just been carried through these days.
- Praise the Lord for the many Christians and loving
friends around us that have helped us work out so many logistical details
over the past week.
Prayer
Requests:
- Pray that the Lord would give us smooth and restful
travel back to the States, and that our family would be a testimony of the
grace God has given us through this experience.
- Pray that God would give great wisdom and
discernment as we work through many details in the days to come.
Pictures:
One of the
last pictures I have of Isaac, taken just 8 days before his death, as little as
we imagined it at the time. Above him you can see his last creative project, a
reading stand that enabled him to read several large biographies while laying in bed. Even while often in pain, his smile was a
real encouragement to each of us.
I am so
grateful for the confidence that we have as Christians. Although it is hard to
say goodbye, I know that I will see my dear brother again.
Even with
temperatures at 0 degrees (F), about 75-100 people came out for the burial.
A group of
men strain to lift the gravestone. We ordered it the day before, and the
workers had worked all night to inscribe Isaac's name and the verses, finishing
in time for the funeral on Wednesday.
There was
no professional pulley system used to lower the casket, but with Jim's
coaching, we were able to get the job done smoothly.
Working to
refill the hand dug grave. The physical work adds an element of reality to a
burial in
To the
right of a cross, Isaac's name was inscribed in English and Mongolian, followed
by his birth and homegoing dates: 1980.4.11 -
2005.11.4
On the
inset black marble, we had the words of John 15:13 inscribed in English and
Mongolian. "Greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay down his life for his friends."
Isaac's
grave stands in lasting tribute to his service to the Lord in
Thank
you so much for praying for our family in this important time!
In Christ,
- Adam
"And
let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not." - Galatians 6:9