I was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer and am currently undergoing treatment. At times, my immune system is low, and it affects my mood and energy too. Many times I feel so down, miserable, and vulnerable. However, I’m learning to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, and meditating on Psalm 61:3, “For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”

By His grace, God showed Himself to me through the people around me. I thank Him for my sister, who is a cancer survivor and now going through Parkinson’s. She has been a huge encouragement to me, as she would video call me all the way from Australia and do a simple Bible reading while spending time with me. God’s Word is so powerful and gives me reassurance every time.

My sister used to tell me, “None of us can escape suffering because we live in a broken world. But we can make a choice either to be joyful or to be miserable.” And I thought, will being miserable help me to recover? No! So I chose to be joyful, because Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I’m also thankful for my loving, supportive wife, my family, and church members for always taking care of me, providing me food and transportation to places I have to go. Likewise, there are people around us who are sick and who need our comfort. Our God is relational, so we have to keep reaching out to others and encouraging them.

To me, it’s about not looking at myself and thinking, “poor miserable me.” If I adopt that mindset, I don’t think I can go through the days. It’s not that we’re running away from our pain, but when we start to care for others, our own problems will diminish.

Despite my diagnosis, I still continue my work with churches and at other Christian events and gatherings. I realise now that I’m an extrovert, drawing strength from others and feeling energised when they are around me. Many would ask me, “Are you really sick or not?”

Right now, I’ve also prepared to bring along Our Daily Bread Ministries’ evangelistic materials so that I can share them with patients around me in the hospital when my chemotherapy begins. We have to always be ready. Who knows, we can encourage someone that we don’t know.