1) Things that went on
a) Collaboration with the Noël Church. They came several times to our Sunday Services.
b) Collecting and forwarding donations for poor and sometimes persecuted Christians in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
c) Working on our website https://hennig-lumsum-online.de and translating the website into English, Dutch and Swedish.
d) Writing newsletters, translating them into English, Dutch, Swedish, and Italian and sending them out by mail and email
2) Travel to Bangladesh 10 – 31 January 2024
We had supported Christians in a village in Western Bangladesh. Now we wanted to meet them in person and to see their situation. We were warmly received there. We had a number of talks with Christian leaders and Christians in villages around. We had several talks with the leaders of a Christian Mission hospital. We were asked to give our testimonies to a class of about 20 nursing students at this hospital. I was invited to preach at a Sunday Service and in a prayer service the same evenng, A teaching session was organized for us to teach Christian leaders of different denominations.
3) We left our Organization Christ to Thailand Mission (CTTM)
The director of CTTM tried to motivate the staff of CTTM with the “Vision 50”, a vision, that within the next two years in addition to the 31 existing CTTM churches 19 new churches should be planted. When we asked whether there was a clear leading of the Holy Spirit for it, we learned there was none. The Holy Spirit gave a clear warning against this way. We passed this warning on to the director and uttered it at a meeting of the missionaries. As this warning was not heeded, we saw a clear leading from God to leave CTTM. The director of CTTM accepted that and gave us his blessings. We continue, however, to be missionaries, because God sent us out to Thailand and especially to the village, where we live, and didn’t change His mind about it, and because we were sent out also by the “Missionsverein Lasst uns gehen! e. V”, a German Christian association supporting missionary work and missionaries. To prepare and go this way took about 1 month.
4) Christine got a tumor, that turned out to be not removable by an operation.
Because of persistent health problems we decided to let Christine have a thorough health check up at a good private hospital at our provincial capital at begin of May. They found out, that Christine had a malignant tumor. We both know, that leaving this earth to be together with Jesus is much better than anything here on Earth, and we both have looked forward to this day. We believe, that God is stronger than anybody or anything. He is able to heal Christine by a supernatural miracle at any moment. God knows everything very precisely. He knows what is best for Christine, for her husband and for all those that would be affected by her demise. And God is infinite and loves us therefore infinitely. Therefore we left the decision to Him, whether He would heal Christine by a miracle or by medical treatment or whether he would let Christine live longer for a short or longer time span. This decision gave us a great peace.
5) We decided for palliative treatment for Christine
We decided for a surgical removal of the tumor and a CT scan was done before this operation. We got the result of it at May, 21: The tumor had grown so much, that he could be removed by surgery only, if Christine underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment. As we both had decided years ago, we refused radiation and chemotherapy and decided palliative treatment. That meant, that Christine would probably die within 6 months, and the treatment would only try to make these remaining months as agreeable as possible for Christine. In order to circumvent an intestinal obstruction caused by her rectal tumor, Christine got a stoma, an artificial exit of her intestine, by an operation. She was very happy about the doctor responsible for her palliative treatment.
By the growth of the tumor inside her Christine grew more and more weak and dependent on others. She had to give up one after another of all the activities she had done. She became so weak, that she needed stay the whole day over in her bed except the occasions, when she has to use a toilet chair besides her bed. She had to sleep now a lot also during daytime. In spite of the medical predictions she was yet alive at the end of the year.
6) A week at the sea shore
Before her death Christine wanted to see the sea a last time. Therefore in August we had a wonderful week at a resort directly at the sea coast. We had there a little house for ourselves. Christine could use her wheelchair inside and outside this house. With the wheelchair she could drive near the shore, but could no longer walk the 108 steps through the sand to the water itself. Not long after this time Christine was no longer able to sit in a car for longer distances. Some weeks afterwared she even could no longer sit on any chair but had to lie in bed.
7) Christine had to end her fundraising
Because of her declining strength, that no longer allowed her to sit longer times at her computer, Christine decided to end her fundraising at August, 31. She could pass on most of her fundraising for poor Christians in Pakistan and Bangladesh to a friend. Now a much smaller number of donations has come and Reiner is now responsible for transferring them.
8) Help from Germany
Christine had been an excellent cook. In August came the day, when she prepared the last time a meal in our kitchen, as she had become too weak for it. Here one of our friends stepped in, a woman from Germany, who stayed with us from end of August until begin of October. She cared for Christine and cooked meals.
9) Preparations for Christine’s death
As we were not afraid of death, but welcomed it as a time when Christine would go to heaven to be in a loving relationship with Jesus forever. That made it easy for us to face this situation and to plan and prepare for her funeral. We bought the coffin and put it into our chapel, planned the farewell celebration in our chapel and the burial near the Noël Church, together with the Bible texts and the songs, and wrote the obituary.
10) Reiner
I saw it as my main task to be there for my wife and to care for her in this special situation. This took a considerable part of my time and my strength. Some years ago we had decided to rebuild the small house (house nr. 3) on our ground as a guest house with 2 bedrooms. Then we had the impression from the Holy Spirit, we should this build in a way, that it is appropriate for guests needing a wheelchair. When Christine needed a wheelchair, we had decided to use that house for her. One room became her office, the other her sleeping room. For the guest who came to live with us, I offered my sleeping room in the main building as room for her and slept on a mattress in Christine’s office and later, at her request, in her sleeping room besides her bed. As she had become too weak to use her office, I moved my computer to that office and did my office work there. This way I was very close when she needed me. When I needed to leave her for buying things in our provincial capital or to go to Bangkok, we had to see, that in my absence someone else was here for her. I saw it as a central part of our Christian testimony in our village, where everyone knows us and observes us very keenly, that we care for each other and are faithful to each other until the end. These months approaching death were a time, when we loved each other more than before.
12) What should we preach?
Many Christians we know prayed for Christine’s healing, but it seemed, that only few had a living hope, that to die in Christ is much better than to live here on earth. There seem to be big deficits in the Christian Churches both in Germany and in Thailand. Do Christians really believe, that God knows everything down to the smallest detail, that God is stronger than everyone and everything, and that He is Love, always and everywhere? Do we really live in Christ and according to the Holy Spirit? That leads to the questions: What is taught at the training of Pastors in universities and Bible Schools? Which aspects of the Gospel are especially important for Christians in Thailand? I, Reiner, think about these things and intend to write about them.
(<= What happened in 2023?) ———————— (What happened in 2024? =>)