Before leaving for Beirut I asked my friend Lucas if he knew of any crazy
Jesus stories that we should consider capturing and he told me about this girl
that had a really intense story but he wasn't sure whether she would talk to us
so great thanks so you have this crazy story
but you're not sure whether or not she's gonna talk to you and as it turns out
she was willing to talk to us and in all my traveling around the world and
capturing different Jesus stories this is one of my favorites for how
faith-building it was for me for how personal of a message Jesus gave me
through it and and just what a privilege and honor absolute honor to be able to
travel places like Beirut and meet people like Stephanie . Here in Lebanon we
use the word I don't know the literal translation for it but it's just like
that disease we don't say cancer we say that disease whenever someone would say
I have that disease it would be in cancer okay they're that much afraid of even
saying the word cancer okay and just hearing this was more like oh dear God
like I just said sat down on the bench and it just hit me and hit me so hard
like I'm now a 19 years old with cancer. To be 19 and she's the only daughter of
the eldest and only daughter in her family she has five younger brothers but
she is like her dad's prized possession in their family . Months later she's gone
through chemotherapy everything's working the way it's supposed to the
breast cancer seems to be taken care of her family members are beginning to
congratulate her for beating that disease and within a few a very short
time after seemingly having beaten cancer the whole thing goes from bad to
worse and she realizes that she's beginning to feel like a lump or like
pressure in the back on the back of her head and in symptom like weird feelings
weird sensations weird symptoms she goes back to the doctor the doctor ends up
diagnosing her with a brain tumor on her central nervous system. I was just having
a shower I was already bug because of
chemotherapy and I just felt a lump behind my ear
and I literally freaked out you know and I call my Oncologist and I'm like I
want and this today and I'm committing suicide and she's like no you cannot do
this you're strong and you've been through a lot and you just cannot give
up now and in like this cannot be possible.
I like I'm not even done with chemotherapy that now I'm just getting another type
of cancer and she's like maybe that's not the case maybe that's just sort of
glands or anything that came out of because of chemotherapy because of the
intoxications and everything and I'm like no I have a feeling just the way I
had a feeling that I have breast cancer are now having a feeling that this is a
tumor you know . At that time I had the most pessimistic oncologist on the face
of earth and he was like that's not possible I don't like what's wrong and
he's like literally that was what he said he's like if that's true you only
gonna live for seven months.May be like a month later I was like the
symptoms were starting to show my oncologist say just was like I say you just quit
University you quit work you go sit at home and take care of yourself and I'm
like and by taking care of myself you mean to die in few months that's not
what I want he's like but that's that's God's will.
I don't like if I were to quit University the way you're saying and just sit home
I'll be alarmed death and not God. At some point I'm like miracles do happen
and she was like you're dreaming too big and that was the moment I'm like no
you're thinking too small and on that day I called my oncologist and I'm
like I want another oncologist and she referred me to another one who's just
he's amazing you know he just made all the difference. So I first went to him
and I took my file and he was like this is a rare case a very rare one
there's only 72 cases in the world okay but I choose to say that we don't have
to lose hope anyway and miracles do happen
and I'm like that's what I want to listen like that's what I want to hear
you know... Stephanie's doctor gave her 0.02 eight
percent odds of making it out of the surgery without a problem or or
basically being being cured. So there's a ninety-nine point seven percent chance
that she is going to die on the surgical table. But still she felt like the risk
was worth taking. Like the last time the surgeon has has been done was in 2001
okay it's been 13 years that no one has ever done went through this surgery
because it's just not guarantee anyway. okay So at that point I just had two
options it's either I continue to live the four months of my life or I choose
to go through the surgery and it's either I die under surgery or I'd live
and I live is not four months you know. So that was really hard time and really
tough decision I need to make in my life and
it took me like two days and I just called him and I'm like I'm ready to
prepare the papers. One of Stephanie's best friends about a month before
Stephanie's scheduled to fly to Los Angeles for her surgery ends up in this
little tiny Christian bookstore in middle of nowhere Beirut she goes in
there and just starts crying and like loses it and the the people who are
working there at the bookstore surround her ask her what's going on she tells
them about her friend Stephanie's story and how she's so afraid of losing her
friend and they pray for Stephanie's friend right there and then they say hey
it'd be awesome if you would bring your friend back we'd love to pray over her.
So the day before this is May 19th 2014 the day before that Stephanie's supposed
to fly to Los Angeles for this crazy procedure her friend is like Stephanie's
at home with her family and they're all hanging out having a great time the
literally what is what is likely to be the final day of her life . When I had the
surgery to remove the second lump one of my friends that I know she she came to
me and she's like I want you to come with me to a special place. I don't like
I only have this few hours you know those few hours I want to spend time
with family with my mom with like you know and it was two days before it was
my mom's birthday you know so I just felt like I I want to be close to them
maybe in those few last hours maybe you know. And she's like I promise it
won't take much time it's just like maybe half an hour and just then we just
take. And then we're just walking and we stood here and she's like here's the
place . I just stared like this and like here's the place and like yeah I like
what about it like it's all like crosses and Bibles and Jesus and like what am i
what am I doing here no so she's like when when you did your
surgery a month ago I came here and to get you a souvenir and I told them your
story and they they wanted to meet with you. So if you know you don't mind I'd
like to introduce you to them.... And we're just debating this over the
door and this Bell there's that Bell that was ringing okay and so here i am
that lady she just came to the door and was like May I help you ladies and my
friend was like this isn't that that is the girl I told you about I don't know
what so we came in and he had started one more like preaching maybe I didn't
know it like she started talking about Jesus okay
I just like You would have to let him come into your heart and accept him and
then he will do whatever is best for you. And I was like yes I am and she's like
she just stirred me like maybe she didn't get this you know and then she
explained it and I'm like yes yes I agree with this and just like that was
fast I just thought about it at that moment like I only have maybe a few
hours you know I need anything just for me like maybe this can save me in a way
you know and then they start praying for me and then we said goodbye and they
wanted to hear from me and they wanted they took my phone number and and then I
went home . And that night I felt something it
wasn't really weird as much as it was I don't know I couldn't explain it in a
way you know but I was num and I just sat down and I started thinking and
recalling every single thing every single person every single thing that
has happened to my life and I everyone that I've met my life was just passing in
front of me you know and there was that dark point
which was the first time ever I feel that feeling which was like. God you're
not someone to be for us to be afraid of you're someone for us to love and then I
just started crying and crying and I have no idea why was I crying but one
thing I surely know I wasn't really afraid on that night..Stephanie begins
thinking that maybe God's not someone to be afraid of but someone to love like
maybe he's actually someone that cares for her so she's having these like weird
thoughts and then simultaneously she's feeling some weird sensations that that
she hadn't felt with chemo she felt all kinds of crazy pain and and he's all
kinds of heavy physical issues throughout the the brain tumor but now
she was beginning to feel some other sensations and one of which he just felt
tired and felt like she needed to go lay down
and so her family's like hey what's wrong like your this our last night
together like you haven't slept in days like what do you mean you now you're
tired but she they let her go to her room she goes to a room and like two
hours later they're banging on the door like trying we're trying to wake her up
cuz they're all nervous concerned like what happened she hasn't slept like this
in in days so what's going on so they go in they wake her up and immediately she
wakes up and doesn't feel a single symptom doesn't feel any of the feelings
she wants it felt and the first thought that comes to her is was this a miracle
but then like almost as quickly as that thought goes in the practical side of
her brain comes on and she's like now that's crazy and dismisses it so she
ends up hanging out with her family for a little bit and then like shockingly to
her ends up being able to sleep the whole night
wakes up rested the day before she's supposed to fly to Los Angeles goes into
the doctor's office where her doctor was going to perform a final test because
this was such a crazy rare weird cancer Stephanie had given them an opportunity
to study her cancer both as she was alive and then also after she presumably
would die so they end up doing this test and the doctor comes back and says
Stephanie something's wrong with a computer or with the machine or
something because before all your levels were erratic and all over the place now
all the levels in your body that that previously showed what this cancer was
doing are all reading zeros. And I was just looking and all those lumps that
I've got used to them on the screen are just not there like there's nothing you
know like my head is clean and I start I didn't know what like it's
like I want to laugh and cry and I don't know what to say you know like how like
is it true that I now can live I can now do what anyone in life can do and that's
that's not even possible in a way and thing is it cannot be that the first
initial results were wrong because my first initial results because my Dad was
that much in denial he chose to do those same results in three different
hospitals and the same exact results were in the three hospitals you know so
for us now to do the results the same exact checkups and and and tests and to
just have 0% that was just like unbelievable and so now I feel like
everyone perceives my story the way they perceive things and the way they
perceive maybe the relation with God you know this is a miracle that is related
to Islam which is not the case you know which which it cannot be like it does it
doesn't belong to Islam in any way and for you for me as a Muslim to come to my
Muslim friend for example and tell them hey Jesus cured me
that's not an option in a way you know like I cannot go and say that but then
there's that point in life where your life that it's my life and I want to
live it the way I want and Jesus has cured me with God he just
he knows the heart you know and he understands when someone truly means
that I want you to come into my heart because when I said it although
I didn't really understand the meanings of it maybe and until like get the one
thing but it just felt like yes just I want this you know . I talked to Stephanie
for two hours like sitting there just trying to hold it together telling
myself like hold it together hold together don't cry don't cry like just
like look if she can do this and she's doing it so well then the least you can
do is keep yourself together so by the end I just I could I just like I I was
undone I just felt like I just came apart and every part of me that wanted
to try to keep this thing together was gone and I just wept uncontrollably and
the only thought that came to me was holy holy holy holy is the Lord God
Almighty I've got a decrease so he increases and that's it there's really
nothing else to say like what else do I add what other words can I come up with
to tell you the way in which this story touched me there it's like this is that
awkward time when you're looking at a camera and you know you should stop
because there's nothing else to say and you're awkward me and you just keep
rambling so Chad shut up
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