My name is Allison and I’m 23 years old, well almost 24. I am going to share what I’m going thru with you. The reason is YouMatter has agreed to help me and they asked me to share.

I got married 14 months ago to my life long best friend Jake. We have known each other since we were 2 years old and we have dated since I was 14 years old. In March, a short time before our wedding, I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer. After the necessary surgeries and a few emergency surgeries to correct recurring issues my prognosis was good and my health was returning to normal. Everything was fine; I was working as a Bank Manager in a bank that my father had spent 15 years working at. I was excited about my job and had held my position for two years even thru my illness. We went ahead with our wedding plans and life seemed in order. Then I was included as one of about 85 employees who were terminated from the bank because of my personal involvement in a legal speculative investment. The bank came up with a reason and 85 people lost their jobs. I was upset and somewhat depressed that I had lost the job I liked so much. I was also not feeling well and after being written off as just a depressed woman, I visited the surgeon who had handled my prior cancer surgery and after listening to me and running some tests he discovered that my thyroid cancer had in fact returned only this time in the form of Medullary Cancer.

  Medullary Cancer has a much lower recovery rate than Papillary Cancer has and the survival rate is lower as well. As often happens, with Medullary Cancer, my cancer spread to the lymph system in my neck and thru further tests, distant site tumors in the cervix have been found.

In addition to this I have developed endometriosis and am facing a surgical procedure to correct that in the end of October of 2011. While doing that surgery, the surgeon plans on exploratory steps to see exactly what is going on with the cancer in my cervix and possibly in my ovaries. I have already had several tests and procedures and biopsies done and we know for sure those tested positive but a close “inside” look is needed to plan the treatment and determine a prognosis.

There is a lot we have found out, but there is more to discover and make plans for. As you might have guessed already, my medical bills and medication bills are stacking up. So far my cost for the medications alone runs in the range from $700.00 to $1500.00 every two weeks and with the upcoming surgeries and discoveries that cost is expected to rise drastically.

I’m unable to work and my wonderful husband and encourager is working and providing as best he can. We are not facing these developments as victims but together we are facing this as a challenge we will get thru. I feel truly blessed to have a husband/partner like Jake. I know without him my journey would be a lonely one but with the way he stays beside me, I feel his strength and support and I am determined to fight and to win my battle.

From the eyes and the hearts of two mothers of young children. Kristen and Kari experienced the love of GOD flowing through them to the orphan kids they encountered. Understanding how much they are blessed is second only to the compassion of God that they experienced on their trip. Realizing that God blessed them thru their encounter with these little children changed both of them for the rest of their lives. As you hear their experiences and feel their heartfelt sincerity, ask yourself if you would grow from experiencing this great compassion of God. Pray and ask God to show you how you can be a part of His plan. He will answer your prayer.

Ready for a mission trip didn’t mean that Betty was ready for what GOD was about to do in her life. On her first visit to Moldova Betty encountered the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of GOD as  she demonstrated His love to the orphans forgotten by their parents, and the world in general. Betty learned first hand what Christ meant when he said “Let the little children come to me….” Mathew 19:14 . As you listen to Betty’s story of her mission trip, pray and consider what God would have you do.

Each team member encountered all the children. Each team member reacted uniquely to the children and each team member has their own recollections and memories. All felt blessed and all of us were full of praise that 15 children accepted Christ as their personal savior in that summer camp. That alone is enough to change eternity.

One of the members of our team has realized that their encounter was directed by God and they feel led to try and bring two of those orphans to America to be part of their family. This post is intended to give you an intimate look at that decision so you can gain an idea of how God is leading in this situation. We will update this post every time there is new information and we will not make up any news or change any part of the story. We will leave names out so we maintain the personal privacy deserved by these individuals and so we don’t give the impression that we are trying to unfairly influence anyone’s emotions.

So here is the beginning, I hope you’ll begin to pray for this family and these two little boys.

“When we were at the orphanage in Moldova one little boy stood out.  I will call him Andy! We would play a game, Chubby Bunny, where the children had to put marshmallows in their mouths one at a time and between each marshmallow they would say chubby bunny until they could not fit any more marshmallows in their mouths. Any time Andy would walk up to me he would look up at me with his beautiful eyes and say “Chubby Bunny” in his Moldovan accent. It was so adorable. When I returned home from our trip I could not get him out of my head.  I have now begun to try to find out more about him and his brothers, in hopes to one day bring them into our family”!