Lorena's cousin, Becky writes:

I'm writing to you all.....my friends (mostly women).....to ask for your prayers today.

My cousin, Thuy (pronounced Twee) who is bearly 39 years old, is pregnant, due date is tomorrow, water broke this morning, and after arriving at the hospital at 7:30 am or so, the doctors have not been able to find a heart beat.

They say the baby is no longer living and that Thuy will have to deliver the baby boy she was hoping to take home. Besides the obvious utter heartbreak, she felt the baby moving just last night.

I have spent the last two hours since hearing about this just begging the Lord to breathe life into this little baby boy so that Thuy will be able to take her son home and have no other excuse but to recognize God's miraculous work in this situation.

Please pray for Thuy and her husband, Mike as they endure through today. I am not sure where they stand in their faith, so keep that in mind when you pray as well.

I thank you so much for taking any amount of time out to pray for this family.

I know all you mom's and dad's can feel the heartache of this type of situation.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness in praying for them.

Sincerely,
Becky

5:37 pm: Friday Nov. 9, 2007

Joan visited the doctor yesterday. She still has some of the infection, which will be treated with antibiotics. She is on pain killers and still in pain. There's some 'uncertainty' as to the next step. She revisits the doctor at 11:30 on Wednesday morning 11-14-07) Please keep praying.


2:07 pm: Tuesday Nov. 6, 2007

The surgery was completed and Joan is home. Her face is swollen and she is in a great deal of pain.



Keep her in prayer as she visits the doctor tomorrow to get the results.


Urgent Prayer Request!

Please keep Joan Vitale,our associate director in prayer.

She will be undergoing an operation this evening to help relieve as severe sinus infection

Dr. Raimundo L Obregon, an otolaryngologist will perform the surgery at Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth. Joan has had severe headaches for a couple of months and the doctors finally localized the problem.

Please pray for a speedy recovery. Feel free to email a note of encouragement to Joan at: joanV714@verizon.net

Previous post on October 1, 2007
'Please keep Joan Vitale (Gateway Associate Director) in prayer. She’s suffered from severe headaches for the past week. She was recently in the emergency room. Joan will be seeing a neurologist to determine if they are migraines.'

For those new to the ministry... a :30 second video

News from 'across the pond'

We're twinseparable!

Happy with his brother, the boy who refused to die

By LUCY LAING - They say twins share a strong bond - but the one between Gabriel and Ieuan Jones was unbreakable.

When doctors found that Gabriel was weaker than his brother, with an enlarged heart,and believed he was going to die in the womb, his mother Rebecca Jones had to make a heartbreaking decision.

Doctors told her his death could cause his twin brother to die too before they were born, and that it would be better to end Gabriel's suffering sooner rather than later.

Thriving: Gabriel, right, with his twin brother Ieuan, is now a healthy 12lb 6oz at seven months

Mrs Jones decided to let doctors operate to terminate Gabriel's life.

Firstly they tried to sever his umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply, but the cord was too strong.

They then cut Mrs Jones's placenta in half so that when Gabriel died, it would not affect his twin brother.

But after the operation which was meant to end his life, tiny

Gabriel had other ideas.

Although he weighed less than a pound, he put up such a fight for survival that doctors called him Rocky.

Astonishingly, he managed to carry on living in his mother's womb for another five weeks - until the babies were delivered by caesarean section.

Now he and Ieuan are back at home in Stoke - and are so close they are always holding each other's hand.

Mrs Jones, 35, a financial adviser whose husband Mark, 36, is a car salesman, said: "It really is a miracle. Doctors carried out an operation to let Gabriel die - yet he hung on.

"It was unbelievable."

"When I felt him kicking madly the morning after the operation, I suddenly knew that he was going to hang on.

"The doctors couldn't believe it when they could still hear his heartbeat the next morning."

Rebecca Jones: 'It's a miracle'

Mrs Jones learned she was expecting twins when she was ten weeks pregnant. She said: "When they told us we were over the moon."

But at her 20-week scan, doctors had some devastating news. One of the boys was half the size of his brother.

They didn't know what was causing it, but somehow he wasn't getting enough nutrients.

Then doctors said his heart was three times normal size and it was likely he would have a heart attack or a stroke in the womb.

Mrs Jones said: "They told us that if he died, it could be life threatening for his brother.

"We had to decide whether to end his life and let his brother live, or risk them both."

They said it would be impossible to keep him alive afterwards as he was so poorly.

It would be kinder to let him die in the womb with his brother by his side than to die alone after being born.

"That made my mind up for me. I wanted the best thing for him."

At Birmingham Women's Hospital, when Mrs Jones was 25 weeks pregnant, doctors tried to sever Gabriel's umbilical cord to cut off his blood supply and allow him to die.

But the cord was too thick, and they could not cut through it.

As a last resort they divided Mrs Jones's placenta so that when Gabriel died, it would allow Ieuan to survive. Mrs Jones said: "I put my hands on my stomach thinking of Gabriel. It was devastating. I had said my goodbyes."

But the next morning Mrs Jones felt Gabriel kicking. A scan showed his heart was still beating. She said: "No one could quite believe it."

Gabriel hung on, and his enlarged heart started to reduce in size. He also gained weight.

Mrs Jones said: "They thought it may be because the placenta had been divided. Inadvertently, it had evened out the distribution of nutrition between them, allowing Gabriel to survive.'

When Mrs Jones reached 31 weeks doctors carried out a caesarian to deliver the twins. Ieuan weighed 3lb 8oz and Gabriel 1lb 15oz. Both were kept in hospital, but since going home they have thrived. At seven months, Ieuan weighs 15lb and Gabriel 12lb 6oz.

Mrs Jones said: "The boys are so healthy, they have huge appetites too. Ieuan is the noisy one, while Gabriel is always laughing, it's like he's just so happy to be here.

"There is such a strong bond between them.

"They are always holding hands and if one cries, the other reaches out to comfort him."

"Doctors tried to break their bond in the womb, but they just proved it couldn't be broken."

(edit note)

“..if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would , soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments in ‘em as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in Scripture compared to the troubled sea, Is. 57:20.

For the present God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further”; but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all afore it.

Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable.

The corruption of the heart of man is a thing that is immoderate and boundless sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.”

Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the hands of an angry God (1741)

Prayer request for Gateway Volunteer Nancy Stabinski

June 1, 2008

AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM

Good Morning Family and Friends,

Nancy is now in her third week of residence at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC (where she will likely need to remain for an additional several weeks).

This particular week has been especially hard for her and for her primary hospital caretaker (me).

All of the 4 chemotherapy drugs that were administered to Nancy at lethal levels 2 weeks ago very worst side-effects have finally set-in:
a) profound nausea and vomiting

b) unceasing and horrific mucositus (consistingof her therapy-induced incineration of the cell lining of her entire G.I. tract)

(c) a complete and blood chemistry-related physical collapse (she cannot arise from her hospital bed without some strong physical assistance)

(d) the final extinguishment of her entire immune system; the loss of bowel and bladder control (we had 3 accidents last night)

(e) low respiration-related delirium

(f) severe bone pain; and, unsuprisingly, full-scale despondency in her intervening moments of mental lucidity.

I am typing out this e-mail to you now from her hospital room.

Nancy will continue to require a full-time personal caretaker for at least
the next several days.

Nancy's mailing address is:

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
1275 York Avenue (Room #824)
New York, New York

Nancy's MSKCC telephone # is:

1-212-639-4316

But please hold all calls and visits to her room for the next several days and until such time when at least some of these terrible side-effects
begin to go into retreat (I will attempt to keep everyone updated).

Presently, Nancy's most efficacious relief from her collective torments is best realized when she is able to drop-off into
a deep sleep. When she is awake, however, MSKCC's excellent medical
staff has nothing at it's pharmeceutical disposal to otherwise free
her from her suffering in a truly meaningful way.

And, lastly, likewise hold all well-intended fruit baskets and
flowers, as Nancy will not be permitted to receive them into her room
pursuant to Sloan's infection control policies.

God Bless and thank-you for your prayers.

In His Holy Name,
Mark Stabinski

Monday, November 14, 2008

DEAR FRIENDS, JUST WRITING TO YOU TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE UPDATE OF WHAT'S GOING ON. I HAD MY 4TH CHEMO TREATMENT ON THURSDAY BUT THE DOCTOR FELT EITHER A NON-RESPONDING NODE OR SCAR TISSUE IN MY NECK. I WILL GO FOR A PET SCAN NEXT MONDAY BEFORE MY TREATMENT ON THURSDAY AND DEPENDING ON THE OUTCOME OF THE SCAN, I MAY HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER BIOPSY. IF ITS NOT SCAR TISSUE, I KNOW THIS MEANS MORE CHEMO OR RADIATION. ITS DIFFICULT ENOUGH TO THINK ABOUT 2 MORE TREATMENTS WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT A WHOLE NEW PROTOCOL OF CHEMO.

AS I WRITE THIS, I SUDDENTLY HEAR MANY BIRDS CHIRPING OUTSIDE. YOU KNOW HOW YOU MAKE UP THESE STUPID LITTLE "SCRIPTS" IN YOUR HEAD, LIKE WHEN I'M PRAYING OUTSIDE AND I HEAR A BIRD I KNOW GOD IS LISTENING. I KNOW HE IS WALKING WITH ME THROUGH THIS. I KNOW HE HAS NOT LEFT ME OR FORSAKEN ME. I LOOK TO HIM FOR MY STRENGTH. I ASK FOR PRAYER FOR THIS HARD SPOT TO BE SCAR TISSUE, FOR THIS ITCHY RASH TO DISAPPEAR, FOR THE NAUSEA AND QUEEZINESS TO BE GONE, FOR STRENGTH AND THE NEUROPATHY THAT IS BEGINNING IN MY FINGERS TO DISAPPEAR.

NINA TOLD ME I AM STILL A STRONG CHICK. I AM BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE AN OLD WEAK HEN. I MISS YOU ALL.

LOVE IN CHRIST,

NANCY S.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Nancy informs us that she had a Cat and Pet scan. The doctors discovered non-Hodgekins Lymphoma. She will go to Sloan-Kettering to recive chemo and radiation. Please keep her in your prayers.

Wednesday - October 31, 2007

DEAR FRIENDS, THE BIOPSY IS OVER. THE SURGEON TOOK A FEW AFFECTED LYMPH NODES OUT WHERE WE THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY ONE. THE OPERATION WENT WELL, NO COMPLICATIONS THANK YOU LORD JESUS. I FELT THE LORD'S PEACE UPON THE OR AND FELT CONFIDENT WITH THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST. I WENT HOME WITH PAIN PILLS WHICH WORK WELL BUT I AM A LITTLE GROGGY FROM THEM AND SLEEP ALOT. THE SURGEON WAS NOT AS CONFIDENT IT WAS A LYMPHOMA NOW AND SAID WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MONDAY'S PATHOLOGY REPORT TO COME IN. MY APPOINTMENT IS AT 3 PM, WILL SEND OUT AN EMAIL WHEN I FIND OUT. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS AND PHONE CALLS. LOVE, NANCY S.

(Original Post) Friday (October 26, 2007)

Dear Friends

As many of you already know, I recently felt a lump in my neck. After going to the doctor last week, I visited a surgeon today. He scheduled a biopsy/removal of lymph node for Tuesday, October 30 at 10:00 am. He believes there is a good chance it is lymphoma.

He explained that its probably not related to my breast cancer which is a good thing, but a new primary cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is more difficult to treat than a new lymphoma.

He also wants me to have general anesthesia because of the location being near my jugular and carotid vessels. It may be somewhat attached and doesn't want to take the chance of any type of movement on my part during the surgery.

After developing chemical pneumonia with my last biopsy in January, this is another unsettling matter. It will done at Clara Maas Same Day Surgery.

I ask for prayer to our Almighty God that this doctor is wrong and it is only a fibrous (hard) node, non-cancerous and that the procedure goes quickly and without any complications.

I also ask for prayer that if this is a scheme from the enemy, I will be protected from him and any further attacks.

I would be a liar to say I am not afraid of Tuesday's procedure and outcome but I know where my peace comes from.

I will go put on some loud praise and worship music and give it to my Jesus who died on the cross just for this reason.

Praising Him In All Situations,

Nancy S.

OCTOBER IS CLERGY APPRECIATION MONTH!

What is Clergy Appreciation Month?

Clergy Appreciation Month is a special time that congregations set aside each year to honor their pastors and pastoral families for the hard work, sacrificial dedication and multiple blessings provided by these special people. It is typically scheduled in October, but can be held at any time that is convenient for the church and the community. It is also important to remember that appreciation, affirmation and prayer support of our spiritual leaders is appropriate throughout the entire year.

Why is CAM necessary?

The nature of the service provided by pastors and their families is unique. God has entrusted to them one of the most precious of assignments — the spiritual well-being of His flock. When a pastor becomes ineffective, the very souls of his or her parishioners are endangered. When eternity is in the balance, we should all be concerned.

Pastors and their families live under incredible pressures. Their lives are played out in a fishbowl, with the entire congregation and community watching their every move. They are expected to have ideal families, to be perfect people, to always be available, to never be down and to have all the answers we need to keep our own lives stable and moving forward. Those are unrealistic expectations to place on anyone, yet most of us are disappointed when a pastor becomes overwhelmed, seems depressed, lets us down or completely burns out.

That's why God has instructed us to recognize His servants.

"The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching" (1 Timothy 5:17).

The good news is that we can make a difference! Clergy Appreciation Month is one way we can counter the negative erosion in the lives of our spiritual leaders with the positive affirmation they need.

What can we do?

There are two ways to help your pastors and their families feel appreciated:

• Figure out what you can do personally to recognize and honor these leaders. A simple card, an invitation to lunch, a promise to pray for them or an offer to babysit, wash a car or mow a lawn make wonderful statements.



• Share the concept of CAM with others in your congregation and challenge them to join you in some kind of formal planning. You might consider a special service of affirmation, a potluck event or planting a tree in their honor. The sky is the limit!

To help you in this process, Focus on the Family has developed the following resources:

• Our Clergy Appreciation Month Planning Guide is available online with complete step by step instructions and pages of exciting celebration suggestions. It also includes long-term ideas for the

Reprinted from: http://www.parsonage.org/cam/index.cfm

Also see:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/clergy

http://pressroom.hallmark.com/clergy_appreciation_day.html

http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/clergy/features/honor.html

Gateway Pregnancy Centers
22nd. Annual Stewardship Banquet
Friday, November 16, 2007
7:00 - 9:00 PM

Galloping Hill Inn,
325 Chestnut Street, Union, NJ

Rev. Kevin Brennan, Pastor of Evangel Church
Scotch Plains will be our honored speaker

You will hear testimonies by men and women impacted by the ministry

You will be blessed with music ** to stir your soul and challenge your spirit

** the band EXI, featuring Jim, Rebecca and Hannah Fox, Penny MacIver, Tammy Rothspan and Jeremy Gavaris.

Our dinner will be catered and a vegetarian meal will be available upon request
Please pray as to how you will participate in the freewill offering to be taken that evening. An opportunity will be available for monthly pledge giving.

Please return your reservation form with your check for $25 per person to:

Gateway Pregnancy Center
960 Springfield Avenue
Irvington, NJ 07111

Call us at (973) 399-8378

Check out our website at: www.gateway.org