Asking for Support

I've post-dated this entry so it stays at the top of the blog for awhile, the new stuff starts below it.

A lot of bloggers ask for support. Usually it is for money and it turns the blogosphere into a strange PBSish pledge drive, only without all the reruns straight from the BBC.

In my case I'm not raising money, I'm asking for prayers.

A member of my bible study (and good friend) has just learned that his father has pancreatic cancer. I'm not going to mention his name and God knows it anyway. The cancer may be terminal. Doctor's opinions are currently divided between "easily operable" and "six weeks to live." His father is 78 and he's been moved a hospital that specializes in both pancreatic cancer and geriatrics so there is hope.

My friend has taken off work for the next week and is driving back to his old homestead. He and his family could use a lot of prayer. Not only is his father very ill, but there is also a question of whether he is a Christian. He believes in God, but he also has lived through a lot including the Japanese conquest of the Philippines in WWII.

So I am asking for prayers for health for his father and family, both physical and spiritual. I pray that God would soften the heart of his father and spiritually equip the rest of the family such that his father may come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

UPDATE: They have replaced his father's pacemaker and given him drugs to help his depression and insomnia. The cancer situation is still unclear, but they believe it has spread from his pancreas to his internal organs. Using chemotherapy, current estimates are 4 to 6 months. That is a lot longer than the six weeks estimate they were given. Keep on praying folks.