Please pray

While at seminary, we met some extraordinary people, among them Nathan and Lynette Hoppe. Nathan did not plan to be a priest, as most of the students there did, but to go out as a missionary. They knew where, too: Albania. We all just knew that Nathan and Lynette would be wonderful missionaries; they were kind and vibrant people.

About a year and a half ago Lynette was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. The doctors tried to treat it, she tried alternative treatements and changing her diet. Nothing has worked to slow the cancer.

They returned to Albania this summer and have had a productive time there. But on Monday I was distressed to learn that what had been just a tiny bit of cancer in her liver has turned into full-blown cancer. The doctors at that time told her she only had a few weeks left to live.

Today I received an email that said that Lynette, who has had pretty good energy and has seemed quite healthy up until now, has begun to have episodes of incoherency and to lose motor skills. She dropped her water glass several times today, Nathan said. The doctors say she will probably be like this for about a week, then drop into unconsciousness for another week and then pass on.

I grieve for her, but more for the loss to this world, and for Nathan and their two children. Please pray for a swift painless death for Lynette.