Dear Vinny,

That was so beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing that with us. I am 
keeping it.

Love and Blessings,

Pat Ferguson




At 05:59 PM 2/18/2010, you wrote:
>I don't know if this is a true story, but it is beautiful.
>Vinny
>----- Original Message ----- From: "VIP Christianity Forum" 
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>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:50 PM
>Subject: Zardoz - Doug's Last Wish
>
>
>>
>>2 Cor 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made 
>>perfect in weakness.
>>     Doug's Last Wish
>>
>>      Doug and Margaret Nichols have faced their share of 
>> obstacles. After surgery for colon cancer in April 1993, Doug sat 
>> across from his doctor and listened in disbelief. "I'm sorry, 
>> Doug," said the doctor nervously, "but you do have a 30 percent 
>> chance of recovery."
>>
>>      "You mean I have a 70 percent chance of dying?" Asked Doug, 
>> with a grin.
>>
>>      "I wouldn't put it that way," said a surprised doctor. "But 
>> my best estimate is that you have about three months to live."
>>
>>      "Well, let me tell you something, Doc," said Nichols. 
>> "Whatever happens, I have a 100 percent chance of going to heaven."
>>
>>      One year later radiation and chemo treatments had left Doug's 
>> body wracked with pain. Though he kept his humor well-oiled, both 
>> Doug and Margaret knew the end might be near. But their world was 
>> not the only one collapsing. Nightly news reports from Rwanda 
>> indicated that civil war had spiraled out of control and more than 
>> a million people had been slaughtered, many by their own neighbors 
>> and trusted friends. The carnage was beyond belief. Terrified 
>> Rwandans by the thousands had fled across the border into Zaire 
>> and crowded into filthy, ill-equipped refugee camps, where 
>> diseases such as cholera found a ready home. People were dying 
>> everywhere-50,000 in three days alone in the little town of Goma. 
>> As Margaret and Doug read the terrible accounts and saw the images 
>> on TV, their hearts were broken. But what could one couple do?
>>
>>      "I knew I was going to die," Doug told me, "but I wanted to 
>> do something before leaving this earth. I just wanted to hold some 
>> of those children in my arms and try to offer hope."
>>
>>      Soon Doug found himself traveling with a team of doctors and 
>> nurses through the heart of Rwanda, with no idea of the adventure 
>> that lay ahead.
>>
>>      A Rwandan Christian leader whom Doug had worked with before 
>> had hired 300 refugees as stretcher bearers to bury the daily 
>> masses of dead and transport the sick so doctors could do their 
>> best. One day the leader approached Doug with an expression of 
>> deep concern. "Mr. Nichols," he said, "we have a problem."
>>
>>      "What is it?" Doug asked.
>>
>>      "I was given only so much money to hire these people, and now 
>> they want to go on strike."
>>
>>      "What? In the middle of all this death arid destruction these 
>> men want to go on strike?"
>>
>>      "They want more money."
>>
>>      "But we have no more money," Doug informed him "We've spent 
>> everything. If they don't work, thousands will die."
>>
>>      His friend shrugged his shoulders. "They're not going to 
>> work. They want more money."
>>
>>      "Well, can I talk to them?"
>>
>>      "It won't do any good. They're angry. Who knows what they'll do?"
>>
>>      Finally Doug's friend agreed. Walking over to an old 
>> burned-out school building, Doug climbed the steps wondering what 
>> on earth he could say. Three hundred angry men surrounded the 
>> Rwandan who would act as interpreter. "Mr. Nichols wants to say 
>> something," he called above the clamor as Doug desperately 
>> searched for words that would get through to them.
>>
>>      "I can't possibly understand the pain you've experienced," 
>> Doug began, "and now, seeing your wives and children dying from 
>> cholera, I can never understand how that feels. Maybe you want 
>> more money for food and water and medical supplies for your 
>> families. I've never been in that position either. Nothing tragic 
>> has ever happened in my life that compares to what you've 
>> suffered. The only thing that's ever happened to me is that I've got cancer."
>>
>>      He was about to go on when the interpreter stopped. "Excuse 
>> me," he said, "did you say cancer?"
>>
>>      "Yes."
>>
>>      "And you came over here? Did your doctor say you could come?"
>>
>>      "He told me that if I came to Africa I'd probably be dead in 
>> three days."
>>
>>      "Your doctor told you that and you still came? What did you 
>> come for? And what if you die?"
>>
>>      "I'm here because God led us to come and do something for 
>> these people in His name," Doug told him. "I'm no hero. If I die, 
>> just bury me out in that field where you bury everybody else."
>>
>>      To Doug's utter amazement the man began to weep. Then, with 
>> tears flowing down his face, he turned back to the workers and 
>> began to preach. "This man has cancer," he told the crowd, which 
>> suddenly grew very quiet. In Rwanda, cancer is an automatic death 
>> sentence. "He came over here willing to die for our people," the 
>> interpreter continued, "and we're going on strike just to get a 
>> little bit more money? We should be ashamed!"
>>
>>      Suddenly men on all sides began falling to their knees in 
>> tears. Doug had no idea what was going on because no one had 
>> bothered to translate. To his great embarrassment, one fellow 
>> crawled over and threw his arms around Doug's legs. Dumbfounded, 
>> Doug watched as people stood to their feet, walked over to their 
>> stretchers, and went quietly back to work.
>>
>>      Later, as the interpreter recounted the whole story, Doug 
>> thought to himself, What did I do? Nothing. It wasn't my ability 
>> to care for the sick. It wasn't my ability to organize. All I did 
>> was get cancer. But God used that very weakness to move the hearts 
>> of people. Because they went back to work, thousands of lives were 
>> saved, and many heard the good news of Jesus Christ.
>>
>>      "So many are discouraged by weakness," Doug told me later. 
>> "We feel that God could never use us; we have nothing to offer. 
>> But you can get sick, can't you? You can simply obey God and do 
>> what He calls you to do-whether you feel you have the ability to 
>> do the job or not. Sickness and weakness-those things we think God 
>> cannot use-are many times the exact things God uses to glorify His 
>> name. But so often much is left undone in the world because we are 
>> so concerned about what people will think about us. We are 
>> underqualified; we've never done that before. And so we sit back 
>> as spectators."
>>
>>      Callaway, Phil. Who Put My Life on Fast-Forward? Eugene: 
>> Harvest House Publishers, 2002, p. 228-232. Www.philcallaway.com
>>
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