Surrounding our brothers

Our church, Mid City Church of the Nazarene - specifically the English speaking congregation, has recently been going through quite a rough patch of our friends and illnesses. Dave and Larry have both recently undergone surgery in the last few weeks and are under constant care. Larry is unable to leave his bed, and even though he seems to be a bit more spirited, his health is deteriorating. Dave seems to be doing better and has quite a bit more energy. Today we learned that our friend Mike Patterson was diagnosed with lung cancer. He entered the hospital over the weekend and the pathologist said it would be a rough road ahead. Unfortunately, today our Bible study went to be with Mike at UCSD and found that there is no treatment that can be done - the oncologist today has given him 3 to 6 months to live. It was an extremely moving time this evening as Mike vocalized just how appreciative he is of our community, our friendship, and our witness. Mike has spent 10 of the last 15 years in prison and is a recovering self claimed "dope fiend". We were discussing his IV drips tonight and he told me he never thought he would need his veins when he was younger. He said he never lost faith in Jesus, but lost all faith in Christians. He wanted God to teach him how he could learn to love God because he hated Christians so much - and it scared him when he used Christians like us to do it. He said our church and the community he's involved in are the only Christians he's ever truly known. His spirits are high, considering, and as Mike looks on the next few months with a lot of anticipation, he believes he will have something great and wonderful yet to learn. He's not sure what, but he's anxious to find out. Mike's faithfulness with the church through things like the cold weather shelter, and his consistent positive attitude, really are an inspiration.