A Jon Post
I’ve known Pedro for about 8 months now. He first arrived with his 15 year old son who had a cancerous lump on his neck/shoulder. I even wrote about him and his son, Antonio a few months ago when Antonio had surgery on his tumor.
Antonio received 6 months of chemotherapy, had 2 surgeries, and was pronounced cancer free. He went home.
Pedro and Jon last June (Pedro wearing a shirt Jon’s dad sent)
3 months into Antonio’s stay at the hospital, Pedro noticed his right leg swelling and a pain high on his right thigh. A few weeks before Antonio was discharged and sent home we found out why Pedro’s leg was bothering him.
Cancer. Lymphoma.
Antonio went home 3 months ago, Pedro stayed and began his own treatment.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Pedro. Talking about Christ, about his family, about his childhood, his farm…
In quiet moments of honesty, we’ve spoken about being fathers. He has confessed his frustration, his weariness and his silent grief that, though he is the leader and protector of his family, he is here… 600 miles away from the people who need him most.
3 weeks ago his daughter, <**edit** she was 24 years old and had two small children**>, grew very sick. Coughing, fevers, extreme exhaustion…
Pedro’s wife took her to the hospital where she was admitted with tuberculosis. Pedro and I wept and prayed together often as he agonized over his inability to care for his sick daughter. We prayed for her health, we prayed for her mother, we prayed for his family.
Pedro’s daughter died last night.
She stopped breathing in her sleep.
And Pedro didn’t get to say goodbye to his precious girl.
It is with Pedro’s permission that I write his story here. These next few days he will be struggling with an extremely private suffering and I was hesitant to make it so public.
But he asked for your prayers.
We scrambled today to get him home, even planning at one point for me to simply drive him the 600 miles to his house. For a few family reasons it worked out better for him to take a bus, so I accompanied him to the bus station to get his ticket. I’ll be driving him to the bus stop at 2 AM tomorrow so he can start his journey at 3 AM and probably get home by 9 or 10 PM.
It’s a long trip.
And he’s asking for anyone who reads this to pray with him.
Please… please pray specifically for the Pascheco family. Pray that they mourn well. Pray that they remember their daughter and sister fondly. Pray that their knowledge of the fellowship of Christ’s suffering increases their hunger for Him. Pray that they rest.