What a trip! Day 2

We all woke up early, ready to roll. Met up with some of the gang for breakfast. Dave sent this message the night before, so we were able to connect with him. Look at the language he used. Absolutely amazing. To see these words coming from someone that doesn't know church lingo was such confirmation of the work God was already doing in his heart.

 

During breakfast, another gal asked if she could join our table. I thought maybe she was a stem cell patient we hadn't met, but it turns out she was there for another clinic. This sweet young woman has cancer. She's been trying some not-as-mainstream treatment with fantastic results. It was really cool to hear her story and get to chat with her. She has a Felix, too! I thought it was pretty awesome that she gravitated towards our table. We had church right there in the Sheraton breakfast room.

After that, it was off to the stem cell treatment center. The nurses there drew several vials of blood, then it was time for the scary part. I mean, it was scary to me, but Downtown didn't seem to mind. They stuck that whale of needle into her hip to retrieve the bone marrow. I was able to go back with her for that part and I caught myself cringing, several times. I had to put on my mom face when I realized my cringing probably wouldn't be all that helpful for the patient to see. She was a trooper. Didn't even flinch. 

Sue and I really getting to know each other while we waited. I love our team. I love that God put such a ragtag bunch of people together that have not a whole lot in common, but Him.

After the giant needle, the blood and stem cells had to be processed. An hour and a half later, they came back in and pumped her stem cells back into her through an IV and a few injections. It was a fascinating process to watch. Thanks to modern medicine, Downtown wasn't feeling all that bad. We headed back to the hotel to rest a bit. I figured we'd be there the rest of the day, but I figured wrong...

Weeks before the trip, a friend from our old church reached out to Downtown. He mentioned his mother is in a nursing home in Chicago. He asked if we'd go visit and share the Gospel with her. Given the weight of the situation, we really wanted to be prepared. It seemed kind of surreal that we would be meeting this woman that none of us knew, hundreds of miles from home, on the trip for a completely different reason, but...isn't that usually how God stories begin?

The son had a lot of pointers for us. Conversation starters. Conversations to avoid. Warnings about security guards and staff. A timeline of when to visit and when she wouldn't be able to meet with us. The likelihood that we wouldn't be able to contact her ahead of time. He had a lot of the details planned out. We were supposed to go Wednesday. Wednesday was to be our free day after the treatment. Wednesday was the plan. It was on the woman's calendar. It was all set. 

However. 

Kristy seemed to be doing fairly well after the treatment. She had had a chance to rest, but not for terribly long. I remembered her saying that visiting hours at the nursing home were from 6-8. At that point it was 4:30. I wondered aloud if maybe we should go, not knowing how she'd be feeling the next day. It was approaching rush hour, but Kristy decided to call the nursing home and see if she could talk to her. The staff patched her right through. The woman answered immediately. She was headed to dinner, but said we could come. As it turns out, she had a dentist appointment scheduled the following day for the exact time we were supposed to visit. Seemed meant to be. Off we went. We got another awesome Uber driver. He was a believer and we had a blast with him on the drive, chatting and praying. 

I caught this picture as we were nearing the nursing home. It sure felt like a sign. 

We were asked not to take pictures with this sweet woman and we honored that request. Some things don't need a picture anyway. We spent a few hours with Irene. We shared testimonies and talked about her children and explained the stem cell therapy. We toured the beautiful facility and went outside where she showed us a koi pond and what will soon be a small field of wildflowers. We visited the chapel and a few of the visiting areas. We finally ended up back where we began. We said our goodbyes in a small library, on the second floor of a random nursing home in the suburbs of Chicago. Having been sent as a friend of a friend with one goal. It made me smile at the thought of just how far God will go to rescue one of his sheep. None of the circumstances were ours to decide. We were just there, walking in obedience, having felt the love of a son for his mother and knowing the love of a Father for His daughter. As we wrapped up the conversation, Kristy asked her if she knew where she'd spend eternity and then gently led this sweet soul to the Lord. I told her, "Now you don't have to hope you're saved or think you're saved, you KNOW you're saved." When I wheeled her back to her room, I asked her for a slip of paper. I wrote 1 John 5:13 on a slip of paper with our names. I told her, "If you feel yourself getting scared or doubting, find this verse in your Bible and read it over and over." 

And just like that, our time with Irene was over and we headed back to the hotel. Kristy tried to call Irene's son, but he didn't answer. "I'll wait on him to call me," she said. And he did the next day...