A R Peter shares…
Excerpts from an informal talk with students of the ICEU, Thrissur on 30th January 2010
I committed my life to Jesus Christ in late 1978 while I was a student of the Mar Athanasious College of Engineering, Kothamangalam. The Open Homes of the graduates there had a significant influence on me and I made a commitment to serve the Lord wherever He placed me. I had applied for a job at NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad but circumstances did not permit me to attend the interview. For some reason the rank list was cancelled and the interview had to be conducted all over again on a later date. I was selected without any political pressure or any unethical means. Thus I joined as a Lecturer in NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad.
The EGF at Palakad was a source of great encouragement to me. In those days in my Roman Catholic family none understood what I meant by claiming to be a born again believer. So when I insisted that I would marry a girl only with similar convictions, they could not understand it. God provided Shirley to be my wife. We got married in 1988 and together we started a home near the college campus.
Our home became a home away from home for many who studied at the NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad. Several camps and retreats were organized in our home. Boys would sometimes continue to stay till midnight asking questions and clarifying doubts. Open Home is a concept that cannot be taught theoretically, it can only be learned from practical observation. There was a believer girl from Buddhist background. She was shell shocked when she found Shirley using cane to discipline our children. Thus she realised that even believers' children had to be disciplined.
Four years ago I developed a nasal blockage and I was treated by an ENT surgeon for two years. The nasal drops to ease my congested nose helped me to have good sleep at night. But, one day I noticed a red shade of blood. The scan reports and biopsy revealed a major tumour had extended from the nose all its way into the outer membrane of brain. It was malignant third stage cancer. It was July 2008. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee’ was a verse that kept coming back to my mind and I experienced perfect peace amidst all these problems. I didn’t know the reference of this verse. I had probably seen this verse frequently on some calendar. Later on I found it was in Isaiah 26:3(KJV). I realised the value of memorising verses.
Chemotherapy gave me a vomiting tendency all day and night. I became physically very weak and internally very insecure due to nausea. Instead of shrinking, 5% growth took place in the tumour after chemotherapy. The only option now was to undergo a very risky surgery.
The doctors made it very explicit to me that it was a complicated case. But because I had the assurance of salvation, I knew that if I die I would be in the presence of God – and that was in fact a better place to live. Shirley was a committed home maker and I was the only earning member of the family. But I had no anxiety about their future because, it was God who had sustained my family this far. The same God was capable of sustaining my family even in my absence. God had not changed. It was the unchangeable attributes of God that strengthened me during those difficult days. God CAN NOT do any evil. That is different from saying that God WILL NOT do evil. The truth is that God is UNABLE to do evil. If God has permitted this in my life, it is because He has foreseen some GOOD to accrue from it. (Romans 8:28). A child safe in the mothers’ arms doesn’t have to be anxious when crossing a busy road. Likewise I rested in the knowledge that my God was able and in full control. I was never led to ask, ‘Why me?’
I experienced the communion of the universal church: believers whom I still do not know and whom I had never seen were praying for me all over the world. I know you will not believe it, but neither my beloved wife nor my three young children broke down at any point of time during all this. I believe they were being kept by the special grace of God. With a smile on his face, my elder son, bid farewell to me as I was rolled on trolley into the operation theatre.
The chain prayers supported 10½ hour surgery involving two teams of doctors working simultaneously: one team working through my nose and the other team through my skull. The skin of head was slided to the front; the skull sawed open, all extensions of the tumour carefully removed - all this had to be done ensuring that my brain remained in its natural environs surrounded by pressurised fluid. The orbit bone above my left eye had to be reconstructed; a titanium plate placed instead of the disintegrated part of skull, and a skin graft from my thigh was used to patch up the hole made in the membrane surrounding the brain. During all these procedures if one nerve was mistakenly damaged, the consequences would have been life long – paralysis or disfigurement of my face. It is now with so much meaning I am able to join the Psalmist to say to the ‘Lord: I praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvellous and my soul knows it very well.’ (Psalms 139:14). I even marvelled at the medical fraternity’s ability to undertake such complex procedures. But ultimately it was God who controlled the entire procedure.
Post Operative Radiation was in fact worse than the Chemotherapy and the Surgery. I understood the depth of verses like ‘My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws’ (Psalms 22:15) with fresh meaning. My mouth was full of blisters. I was on morphine for one full month – asleep day in and day out. I would throw up any liquids I tried to take in. As days become months, Shirley had to prepare 12 meals a day for me – each time boiling fresh vegetables, grinding them, filtering the soup and feeding me at 1½ hour intervals. For six months I was on liquid food alone. It was a big strain for her, but not once did I see any expression of complaint or hear a word of murmur from her.
Today my salivary glands are not fully functional. I have to keep wetting my mouth with water frequently when I speak. I always carry a bottle of water in my pocket. I have completely lost my sense of smell. Most of us do not realise how much the sense of smell and taste are interrelated. Because I have no smell, I have only very little taste.
A few months before I became sick I had attended a funeral where the preacher spoke from Acts 13:26 ‘For after he had served his own generation by the will of God, David fell asleep and was buried with his fathers.’ I am able to relate the lessons I learnt from all that I went through with that verse. I learned that we can serve God only in our generation. We ought to serve the Lord in accordance to Gods will and not doing our will. The time we have to serve God is not unlimited. A time will come when each one of us will have to die and cease from our labour. When I became sick and bed-ridden I was not affected by depression or regret. The memories of being active in the Lord's work while I was healthy, kept me from being regretful.
God granted me the opportunity to share the gospel to several non-believers who came to see me while I was recuperating. My colleagues in College have divided my course work amongst them and they do not permit me to strain. I marvel at how much God has provided for me.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, from all that I have had to go through, I have come out with a far deeper understanding of who God is and this is what I have to say to you: (1) Give thanks for the health that you now have. You will realise its value only when some organ of your body becomes dysfunctional. (2) Serve the Lord when you are able. A time will come when you will not be able. Every minute is precious; every minute counts (3) God is GOOD. He is UNABLE to do evil.
(You can send your feedback. That could be an encouragement: A. R. Peter 9446127500 or arpeter1059@gmail.com)
Excerpts from an informal talk with students of the ICEU, Thrissur on 30th January 2010
I committed my life to Jesus Christ in late 1978 while I was a student of the Mar Athanasious College of Engineering, Kothamangalam. The Open Homes of the graduates there had a significant influence on me and I made a commitment to serve the Lord wherever He placed me. I had applied for a job at NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad but circumstances did not permit me to attend the interview. For some reason the rank list was cancelled and the interview had to be conducted all over again on a later date. I was selected without any political pressure or any unethical means. Thus I joined as a Lecturer in NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad.
The EGF at Palakad was a source of great encouragement to me. In those days in my Roman Catholic family none understood what I meant by claiming to be a born again believer. So when I insisted that I would marry a girl only with similar convictions, they could not understand it. God provided Shirley to be my wife. We got married in 1988 and together we started a home near the college campus.
Our home became a home away from home for many who studied at the NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad. Several camps and retreats were organized in our home. Boys would sometimes continue to stay till midnight asking questions and clarifying doubts. Open Home is a concept that cannot be taught theoretically, it can only be learned from practical observation. There was a believer girl from Buddhist background. She was shell shocked when she found Shirley using cane to discipline our children. Thus she realised that even believers' children had to be disciplined.
Four years ago I developed a nasal blockage and I was treated by an ENT surgeon for two years. The nasal drops to ease my congested nose helped me to have good sleep at night. But, one day I noticed a red shade of blood. The scan reports and biopsy revealed a major tumour had extended from the nose all its way into the outer membrane of brain. It was malignant third stage cancer. It was July 2008. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee’ was a verse that kept coming back to my mind and I experienced perfect peace amidst all these problems. I didn’t know the reference of this verse. I had probably seen this verse frequently on some calendar. Later on I found it was in Isaiah 26:3(KJV). I realised the value of memorising verses.
Chemotherapy gave me a vomiting tendency all day and night. I became physically very weak and internally very insecure due to nausea. Instead of shrinking, 5% growth took place in the tumour after chemotherapy. The only option now was to undergo a very risky surgery.
The doctors made it very explicit to me that it was a complicated case. But because I had the assurance of salvation, I knew that if I die I would be in the presence of God – and that was in fact a better place to live. Shirley was a committed home maker and I was the only earning member of the family. But I had no anxiety about their future because, it was God who had sustained my family this far. The same God was capable of sustaining my family even in my absence. God had not changed. It was the unchangeable attributes of God that strengthened me during those difficult days. God CAN NOT do any evil. That is different from saying that God WILL NOT do evil. The truth is that God is UNABLE to do evil. If God has permitted this in my life, it is because He has foreseen some GOOD to accrue from it. (Romans 8:28). A child safe in the mothers’ arms doesn’t have to be anxious when crossing a busy road. Likewise I rested in the knowledge that my God was able and in full control. I was never led to ask, ‘Why me?’
I experienced the communion of the universal church: believers whom I still do not know and whom I had never seen were praying for me all over the world. I know you will not believe it, but neither my beloved wife nor my three young children broke down at any point of time during all this. I believe they were being kept by the special grace of God. With a smile on his face, my elder son, bid farewell to me as I was rolled on trolley into the operation theatre.
The chain prayers supported 10½ hour surgery involving two teams of doctors working simultaneously: one team working through my nose and the other team through my skull. The skin of head was slided to the front; the skull sawed open, all extensions of the tumour carefully removed - all this had to be done ensuring that my brain remained in its natural environs surrounded by pressurised fluid. The orbit bone above my left eye had to be reconstructed; a titanium plate placed instead of the disintegrated part of skull, and a skin graft from my thigh was used to patch up the hole made in the membrane surrounding the brain. During all these procedures if one nerve was mistakenly damaged, the consequences would have been life long – paralysis or disfigurement of my face. It is now with so much meaning I am able to join the Psalmist to say to the ‘Lord: I praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvellous and my soul knows it very well.’ (Psalms 139:14). I even marvelled at the medical fraternity’s ability to undertake such complex procedures. But ultimately it was God who controlled the entire procedure.
Post Operative Radiation was in fact worse than the Chemotherapy and the Surgery. I understood the depth of verses like ‘My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws’ (Psalms 22:15) with fresh meaning. My mouth was full of blisters. I was on morphine for one full month – asleep day in and day out. I would throw up any liquids I tried to take in. As days become months, Shirley had to prepare 12 meals a day for me – each time boiling fresh vegetables, grinding them, filtering the soup and feeding me at 1½ hour intervals. For six months I was on liquid food alone. It was a big strain for her, but not once did I see any expression of complaint or hear a word of murmur from her.
Today my salivary glands are not fully functional. I have to keep wetting my mouth with water frequently when I speak. I always carry a bottle of water in my pocket. I have completely lost my sense of smell. Most of us do not realise how much the sense of smell and taste are interrelated. Because I have no smell, I have only very little taste.
A few months before I became sick I had attended a funeral where the preacher spoke from Acts 13:26 ‘For after he had served his own generation by the will of God, David fell asleep and was buried with his fathers.’ I am able to relate the lessons I learnt from all that I went through with that verse. I learned that we can serve God only in our generation. We ought to serve the Lord in accordance to Gods will and not doing our will. The time we have to serve God is not unlimited. A time will come when each one of us will have to die and cease from our labour. When I became sick and bed-ridden I was not affected by depression or regret. The memories of being active in the Lord's work while I was healthy, kept me from being regretful.
God granted me the opportunity to share the gospel to several non-believers who came to see me while I was recuperating. My colleagues in College have divided my course work amongst them and they do not permit me to strain. I marvel at how much God has provided for me.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, from all that I have had to go through, I have come out with a far deeper understanding of who God is and this is what I have to say to you: (1) Give thanks for the health that you now have. You will realise its value only when some organ of your body becomes dysfunctional. (2) Serve the Lord when you are able. A time will come when you will not be able. Every minute is precious; every minute counts (3) God is GOOD. He is UNABLE to do evil.
(You can send your feedback. That could be an encouragement: A. R. Peter 9446127500 or arpeter1059@gmail.com)
