Otilia's Story: Facing Obstacles

Recorded January 25, 2002

Listen With 15 minutes, 10 seconds. (Audio is in Mandarin Chinese.)

How are you? I think I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? I do not know who you are, but at least I should let you know about me.

I am a seventy-year-old woman. Though my age is old, my heart isn't. So, [laughs] you can hear that I am very happy, right? And if you think life is free of obstacles, it is not. In life you will need to face birth, aging, illness and death. These are things that everybody must face. How you face it is up to you.

When you are facing these obstacles, if you let yourself be trapped in the middle of them, then you will be inside the difficulty. But if you are in the difficulty and say: "I will not be trapped in the middle of this, and I will get out of this trap", it is possible.

Why do I say this? Because I would like to tell you about things that I have been through. I am an old woman of seventy years of age. And what is my name? My real name is Yen-Ping Liu Chiao. Chiao is my husband's surname. Yen-Ping Liu is my maiden name, but I have another name, it is "Little Gold Nugget." It was given to me by my colleagues when I was working for the radio station.

Actually my life is quite complex because I was adopted. My biological father's name is Liu, my adopted family's name is Gin, [meaning] "gold," so they gave me that. When I worked in broadcasting, they gave me the name "Little Gold Nugget" because I was very small.

Strength from God's Love

Do you agree that there is a creator of the universe? And that He is love? The most important thing is, I have known Him--my life has been changed. He is the strength that keeps me going in my life. No matter how difficult the situation may be, He stays with me and walks with me. I am not trying to preach. Absolutely not. I only want to introduce you to the source of strength in my life.

Knowing there is a creator of the universe, He is love. After being fulfilled in this love, my life began to change. My life had seemed bitter and had no future. Now I can feel the difference. The creator of the universe loves me very, very much, not because I am good and obedient, and even though I did not know Him and denied Him. He still loves me. After being fulfilled by His love, I began to learn how to love myself and to learn how to love the people around me. Then I began to reestablish relationships with people who I did not love in the past and love them, too. When you love everybody, there will be joy in your life because there will be no bitterness, nor dissatisfaction.

After the change in my life, God gave me a husband, a very lovable husband. Many people around my age might have heard of him. His name is Chiao Hung. He was a popular actor. He had some fame in this world. We were somewhat content in our lives and we were emotionally fulfilled. However, this did not mean anything--other things were yet to come.

Let's talk about illness. I was at the age many people may consider already old, when I found out I was sick. I did not feel old at all. [laughs] I was forty-nine at the time. For the young people, I know that the fourteen [or] fifteen year olds will consider being eighteen far too old, but when we turn sixty and look back, forty-something still is in the prime.

Under the Creator's care, during my life I had not had any serious illness, a cold, flu or a fever--never anything too serious--and then they would pass. But when I reached forty-five years old, I began to notice my period seemed irregular and it lingered and then it became very, very heavy. Afterward it did not come for a long time. I went along with friends who were around my age. We all said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, they are only the symptoms before menopause." But is it really true? NO!

Don't Wait for a Checkup

If you discover your body appears to have unusual symptoms, you must go for a checkup. You have to go. Do not wait until the condition becomes serious, or you will regret it. It is like if there is a little hole in new clothes, it will be very simple to repair it. But if you say, "It is only a little hole, it won't matter," when you look back later, sometimes it becomes a big hole, how terrible. It's the same with the human body. The God who created all creatures in the universe, the God who loves us, He has already prepared many things in order to help us, many medicines. Are they not extracted from all natural ingredients? Also, there are many people who study medicine; they will use these things to help us. Since we can get help, we then should take care of our body. Isn't it right? This is what I have said: "We need to be thankful."

From the beginning, when I was told that it did not matter, I really thought it was all right, but God sent me an angel. She was a member of our church. One time during our women's group meeting, she said to me,"It won't do! In your condition, you must go for a checkup." I said, "Okay, okay." She looked at me and realized that I did not really mean it and said, "No. I will call you tomorrow morning at home. If you still haven't gone for the checkup, I will come to your house and accompany you to see the doctor." I was moved by her concern and love. Miraculously, I found the business card of the doctor who had examined me ten years ago. I made the call. Again, miraculously, someone had just canceled so I could take over her appointment. I went for my check up right away and it was discovered.

The doctor gave me the exam happily and then told me quite unhappily, "Why haven't you come for your check up for ten years?" I was not paying any attention and he said, "Go home right away!" I said that I did not feel any discomfort. He said, "You must go home, you might very well feel faint, might even pass out on the street, or bleed uncontrollably." So that was it, I started my battle against cancer.

I have told you from the beginning I am not lonely. My family supports me. The Creator in my life, the God who created me, loves me and supports me. Even though, when fighting the battle, people will have their moments of weakness--God is my strength. Today, if you were a patient or a family member or a friend of the patient, you need to know that this relationship is very important, a support, an encouragement, even if He is in silence--these are all needed. Because loneliness is something people are afraid of, when God created us He gave us family and friends. They will support us in our despair. And most importantly, God, Himself, will support me. He never gives up.

During the process, the doctor started with saying that he wasn't sure if there was a cure. My husband was quite unhappy at first. "You are the doctor. How can you say that you are not sure?" he said. Afterward we found out that the doctor is a Christian. He understands that life is not in people's hands, it is in God's hands. So he is actually telling the truth.

During that time, prayers gave me tremendous strength. So did the support from my family. And their kind of support was not sighing or crying with me, but to know that we have hope. In the few decades of people's short lives, one must face birth, aging, illness and death. But in our lifetime, knowing God is not related to these--only after we complete our tasks in this world, will we leave here and return home.

If you understand this end is not an eternal perish but a return home, would you be afraid? God had told us: "The joyful heart is good medicine, but the sorrowful soul will dry the bones." So when I knew that I was sick, I was not afraid. Instead it was a reminder to me. Forty-nine years, possibly the ending point of my life. Am I scared? No.

At first, my husband cried. Often times I had noticed that I was the one who cried whenever my husband got sick and he was the one who cried whenever I got sick because we love each other more than we love ourselves. While my husband cried and told me about the results from the doctor--he did not tell me, but his tears, and his difficulty in speaking already told me, I had cancer. It was cancer.

I Was Not Afraid

But I was not afraid. My profession is in broadcasting. I was doing my broadcasting program, during the time when the result of the exam came out and the doctor told me that things did not look good--I did a program about cancer, a girl who has cancer. She said, "I am God's child and God will cure me." So she was not afraid, but then when she found out that she had not been cured, she was weakened, and had given up. But at the end of the story she said, "I understand now, I already have eternity. Also, if God wants to cure me, I will be cured, and if not, then I will return to my heavenly home." Therefore, in the middle of her life, she walked out from the lowest valley.

When my husband told me about the story, this girl's words became the comforting strength to him and I said the same thing to him: "It doesn't matter. Having Jesus in our life, our sins will be forgiven and there is a place prepared for us in heaven. We are going home. I will get there first and all of you will come, too. If God wants to heal me, I will be healed."

Therefore, my family prayed for me but did not pray for God to cure me. The direction of our prayers was: "God, you have your own plan for us. We pray that your plan for us will be fulfilled, because you have always provided the very best for us." So that was it, very simple. If you ask had I gotten any treatment, the answer is, yes. There are times when some people spread my testimony and said,"Mrs. Chiao was cured without any kind of treatment." That message was incorrect. Following the steps, I had done the treatment process that my doctor had planned for me. I was cooperating with the doctor step by step and took one step at a time. Actually I was cooperating with God and then I was cured.

During the treatment process, suffering pain was inevitable but the pain also reminded us that this was something we will experience in life, and not be trapped by it. It happened more than twenty years ago. I did not ask for one extra minute of my life; this is God's blessing because I know where I came from and where I will be going.

The Blessings of Cancer

During my treatment, I experienced the support of my family and our relationships became even closer. Realizing that life was limited and brief, it reminded me to live well. So to me I feel this illness is a gain. If you are a patient today, first of all, do not feel that it is time to give up hope. So what if it is cancer especially in the present time. When I got sick, at that time when cancer was confirmed, usually the chance of surviving was slim. Now, I believe that you might have heard of many friends or relatives who have had cancer and been cured and of course, many who haven't been cured.

In this moment, first of all, I hope that you won't be scared off by the disease. And in this moment, enjoy your remaining health. How do you put it? Life, family and friendships, enjoy them while you still can. Do not trap yourself in sorrow. Joy, you need to rely on it to fight, to fight against the disease. It is not necessary that you will lose--it is not necessary.

And everyone, I hope that you would think it over. Where do lives come from? And to where do lives go? If you want to know about this God who created the universe, He is always waiting outside of your heart. If you get to know him, He will be your best friend and your best strength. And then afterward, no matter what the future will bring, He will walk with you and be with you all the time. If the disease did not hold you back, and you survived, be thankful and praise the Lord. If not, at least you have lived gloriously during this battle.

Ah, there are too many things I want to say and won't be able to finish in this brief moment. I only wish that at the time when you are facing this matter and cannot escape, we will not escape. We will stand strong and have a real fight. We are not alone; we have family, friends and the God who created us. May God bless you and lead you in peace.

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