subsequently confirmed ), and the condition of Marcus was so bad that an immediate surgery had to be undertaken that midnight to drain away the brain fluid which had accumulated as a result of the tumour . The major surgery to remove the primary tumour was to be done days later .
Looking back , my wife and I know that God did not desert us . He was not only with us throughout our ordeal but He was in fact carrying us through our most difficult stages . When Kristin finally came to grips with the situation , she surrendered our son totally to the Lord : “ Lord , we are in no position to handle this . You take over . Marcus is all Yours .” With that , she completely let go of Marcus like what Abraham did with Isaac in the Bible . She felt a sense of relief and great peace . She was prepared to accept whatever was to come for Marcus following the diagnosis .
Two days after the diagnosis , I decided to make a trip back to Malacca to attend to certain outstanding matters so as to prepare myself for a long stay in Subang Jaya for Marcus ’ major surgery . As soon as I had started on the two-hour road journey , I played an audio cassette tape . I had played that tape numerous times before but that morning the worship songs from the tape ministered to me like never before . I found myself crying all the way to Malacca . Not out of sadness , but from the assurance of the presence of God and His peace . There was one song which particularly ministered to me . I did not know the lyrics then .
Upon arrival in Malacca , I was led to do two things which I had not planned .
The first was to go straight to my mother and my mother-in-law , both of whom were ancestral and idol worshippers , to forbid them to seek their own form of spiritual help for Marcus . I told them that I wanted only the divine intervention of my Jesus , not any other spiritual help . I was not a man of great faith then but I was led to say it .
The second was to get rid of some pornographic materials which I had kept hidden from my young days . I felt the peace of God so much that upon my return to Subang Jaya later that evening , my sister-in-law commented that I looked very refreshed . Much later , out of curiosity , I checked the lyrics of the song which had ministered to me so much . The wordings came forth : -
This peace give I you , Not as the world give I , Open your heart to receive My peace , So to worship Me .
Jesus was assuring me of His peace ! A few days later as I was reading the Bible , I came to John 14:27 and the verse sprang forth : “ Peace I leave with you , My peace I give to you ; not as the world gives do I give to you . Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid ”.
WAS THAT A COINCIDENCE ? Throughout our ordeal the unseen Hand of God was very real to us . Things just fell into places without our planning for them . We simply had no time to plan anything . Even if we had tried , we knew that the outcome would not have been as good . We did not know anything about the Medical Centre we had brought Marcus to . As it turned out , it was at that time probably the only private hospital with laser technology for brain surgery . Neither did we know anything about the neurosurgeon . But he turned out to be among the most popular in the region with many overseas cases referred to him . And he was a Christian .
I remember him telling me just before the major surgery that he would do his best as a doctor but that as Christians we have to leave the outcome with the Lord . There were so many such ‘ coincidences ’ along the way before and after the major surgery that one of our relatives ( a non-Christian ) was led to comment that our God must have been with us to guide us through . He was right . Kristin and I were not ardent readers of the Bible then and it was amazing how the Lord somehow led us to many Scripture verses to assure us that He is
with us and that His glory would be revealed in our son ’ s situation .
My wife had never read the book of Isaiah before , yet the Lord led her to Isaiah 43:2-3 at the time when we were going through the ordeal , and then to Isaiah 43:10- 13 when we came out of it . I was led to Psalm 118:17 and John 9:3 in the same unusual way as I had John 14:27 . These were definitely not coincidences .
More bad news awaited us when Marcus was sent for an MRI scan on 16th . March , two days before the major surgery . The tumour was found to measure 3.5cm by 4.7cm by 3.7cm . Not only that , there were two tumour seedlings further in the brain , indicating that the tumour was spreading . This information was not made known to us at the time of the 9th . March diagnosis probably because the doctors then thought that we were in no position to take the news .
However , by 16th . March , we were ready for anything . We just took the news in our stride , trusting God for a way out .
I could still remember clearly the morning of 18th . March 1994 . Marcus was lying there outside the operating theatre . Kristin and some of our relatives and friends were there . We were waiting for him to be pushed in . There was nothing , absolutely nothing , anyone of us could do except to trust God for the best .
The surgery was supposed to take four hours but the neurosurgeon did not come out to meet us until some six hours later . He immediately called for my wife and me . We went to him not knowing what to expect .
He started by praising God and then went on to say that the surgery was a complete success .
He had removed at least 98 % of the primary tumour cells and under microscope , the base of the tumour was now completely clean . He had earlier told us that he had to do the surgery just right , not under-removing the tumour cells nor overdoing it to cause damage to the brain . And he did it just right . But he added that he would have been much happier had our son been diagnosed earlier and the surgery done earlier , as it stood , he had to leave the tumour seedlings alone .
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