Rejoice!

"When you are in constant pain, it is hard to see the beauty of living so what you can only do is hang on the Lord and struggle to trust in Him on the basis of His Word. "

Pastor Doming Lucasi's SMS to Joanne Lucasi on December 2, 2006

God has answered our prayers and has delivered my Dad from that excruciating pain, which he has been constantly suffering from for so long. Truly our God works in ways we cannot as mortals comprehend. And yet we can always be assured that His ways are perfect.

It was Monday morning, January 22 at 8:40 am when God decided to take my Dad home to be with him. Prior to that my Dad had asked us to release him because he couldn't take the pain anymore. He said "If you love me, release me." And so with heavy hearts we did. His passing on to glory was very peaceful. We thank God for the time He gave us to be able to thank our Dad and tell him how much we love him before He took him.

Because of the hospital policy that says they cannot release my Dad's body unless a funeral parlor takes it, we contacted a funeral parlor in Quezon City. They agreed to just embalm the body and keep it until we were able to transport it to Bayombong the following day via SIL plane. We spent the night at their funeral chapel while my Dad's body stayed in the morgue. That night, a lot of people came. FEBIAS alumni, TAP, SIL, past co-workers, relatives, friends...everyone who cared for the family. The place was fully packed. I'm sure it was God who sent all these people to be our source of comfort and encouragement that day.



We arrived at Bagabag airport Tuesday afternoon and went straight to the funeral parlor in Bagabag where we chose Dad's casket. He was later brought home at the New Life Dormitory compound around 7 pm and so began a week long celebration of God's love and faithfulness.

During the week long wake, we held one service every afternoon and two services at night. Hymns were sang and people were given the chance to talk about how my dad had been a part of their lives. We saw pictures, video tributes and more singing. Part of the services had been sharing of the Gospel. Pray with us that the Word that was planted in the hearts of those who have not yet believed would grow and that God would touch their hearts and minds and let them recognize their need of a Savior.

More than a thousand people came, people whose lives were touched by God's ministry through my Dad. It was heartwarming to hear all their stories and memories of my dad. The evening services would go on until dawn (around 5 or 6 am).

We buried him last Sunday (January 28) late afternoon here in the compound. God has made a way that we would be able to do that. The burial service started around 3 in the afternoon and it gave the family a chance to say their last words before my Dad's body was committed to the ground. Like I said in my eulogy, it feels like a large part of me was ripped out and it hurts so much. But we focus our eyes on God our source of strength and comfort and ask Him to fill that part that has been taken away.



If there is one thing I have learned during this whole thing, it's that we have a good God. Like the song Trust His Heart goes "God is too wise to be mistaken, God is too good to be unkind, So when you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, When you can't trace His hand trust His heart."

We as a family are constantly learning to trust God's heart. He has been faithful yesterday, today and we believe even tomorrow and so we just put our hopes in Him. He has been our Jehovah Jireh and we shall never be in want.

Please continue to pray for us as we live a new chapter in our lives. One without our Dad's earthly presence. We have committed ourselves to continue on the ministry that our Dad has started until the day we see each other again.

We thank you all for your prayers, support and words of encouragement. We can never repay you but we pray that God would just pour His blessings upon you.

Let us be encouraged to continue to serve God in the areas of ministry He has put us in. May we be inspired by the life that my Dad has lived and just be totally surrendered to our Father's will. May we all be ready like He was until the day that God would welcome us and say "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Leo

New Year, New Challenges

The year 2007 hasn’t been quite gentle on the Lucasi family. Even before 2006 ended, we were headed towards tremendous challenges.

December 17, 2006, Sunday evening, my father Doming was rushed to the local hospital in Nueva Vizcaya because he was suffering from severe abdominal pain. It has been days since he was able to have bowel movement. The doctors said there might be an obstruction but they couldn’t identify what was causing the obstruction or where it was located. Nevertheless, he needed to undergo surgery to relieve him of that obstruction. Five days prior to that though, he had problems with bladder retention and could not urinate so a catheter was inserted in him.

It was later decided on that the procedure be done in Manila. So amidst bad weather on December 19, the plane from SIL Bagabag flew him over to Bulacan. Hours later, he was confined at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. The following day, he had a colostomy.

His colostomy helped him with his bowel problem but he still suffered from great pain. A whole abdomen CT scan showed that a big myeloma mass had grown on his tailbone and was pushing against the rectum causing the obstruction. It was painful for him to sit or lay down. The doctors from pain management put him on morphine and it gave him relief but the side effects were plenty. He was barely awake and he couldn’t speak out loud. His memory became foggy and he had some hallucinations. We prayed that God would deliver him from pain and God heard our prayers. For one week he was off morphine and he was pain free. He was able to move around and talk and tell stories. The doctors say it was impossible for the pain to just suddenly stop. But God is a God of the impossible. Everything was going okay until the pain began again. This time it wasn’t on his backside. It was on his lower abdomen, groin area and on the mass on his upper left rib.

Aside from the mass on his tailbone, he had other masses growing in other parts of his body. But the main concern right now is the mass causing the bowel obstruction. He is undergoing radiation therapy and needs to finish 28 sessions. If everything goes well, his last session will be on the 6th of February. Until then, he will be confined in the hospital. His left leg is swollen and so is his right eyelid. His protein level is low. The doctors say that even if the mass on his tailbone is shrunk, it would always grow in different parts of his body.

The process has been a roller coaster of emotions and trying physical condition. But my father’s prayer is that God would have mercy on him and extend his life. He longs to serve God longer. He feels there is yet to be done. And so as a family we stand by him in prayers asking God to allow us to experience His healing power. It is a daily fight as my father struggles with cancer. He tries to walk around, do things on his own, talks about Jesus with his visitors and fight the pain.

It has been exhausting and difficult. But God, being true to His word, never left us nor has He forsaken us. He has been our source of strength, of joy, of comfort. We do not know what His plans are or what the future holds for our family. But we are at peace knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. His ways are not our own. His thoughts are higher than ours.

We have been praying for a miracle…one of healing. And we see God’s hand moving. There has been healing of broken relationships. There has been forgiveness, mending of rifts and most importantly healing of broken relationships with God. We have learned a lot through this process of healing. We are experiencing the sweet joy of waiting on the Lord. Of being still and knowing He is God. Our faith is being stretched and tested.

Prayers are pouring from all parts of the world. Friends have been coming to encourage. Blessings are abounding and we cannot thank God enough for how he has been and will be sustaining us.

We look forward to what God has in store for our family this New Year. Please join us as we pray for God’s mighty healing power for my father. Rejoice with us as we celebrate life, friendship, laughter, tears and God’s enduring faithfulness and love.

Leo