Though it is highly unusual (this is a first) that I’m posting a second blog entry within a week, I wanted to bring you up to speed on our appeal to add purpose to my hike by raising funds for Jennie Danger Mutaka. If you missed our appeal letter, you can find it here. And if you haven’t read my previous blog account of the hike, you can find it here.
Hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro landed on my bucket list 15 years ago when two things converged: seeing the IMAX National Geographic movie chronicling the trek to the top by a group bookended by a 12-year-old boy and a 70-year-old woman, and subsequently visiting our future son-in-law in Mbale, Uganda, who at the time was the executive director of a pediatric hospital which had just hosted a trek up Mt. Kili to raise funds for the hospital. Lisa, Julie, and I all expressed interest in being part of such an event, one which combined both the adventure of hiking the world’s tallest free-standing peak with a clear philanthropic purpose.
As Lisa and I began solidifying plans for our Tanzanian adventure, I was concurrently praying for a “purpose” beyond the bucket list. As the date approached, and I had no clear direction, I accepted that we would hike without a purpose beyond the challenge.
But God . . .
Just days before we left for Tanzania, we received word that one of our lifetime family friends who was doing missionary work in Uganda had been diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer days after arriving in the USA seeking medical attention. Jennie had been sick for several months in Uganda but the cause had not been identified. The stage-4 diagnosis came as a tremendous shock to her and her family.
As Lisa and I were hiking a local waterfall in Machame on June 3, the day before our Kili trek would begin, I suddenly had clarity re: the purpose. It was as clear as day that the Holy Spirit was behind the inspiration that the purpose of our hike would be to raise funds for Jennie’s medical treatment. Though the Mutakas do carry “Samaritan Ministries Med Share" coverage, the collateral expenses not covered would be great and well beyond what the Mutaka family could meet.
I was also suddenly aware of why I had drawn a blank on the “purpose” up until this point. God’s timing.
Between Paul, Barbara Steele (our incredible publisher of all things written), Gabby and Rob Warren (our admin and financial directors), and me, we managed to get word out—to the HIM base via email as well as to my social media contacts—of our plan to make our trek a fundraising one on behalf of the Mutaka family.
If you read the previous blog post, you know that our 7-day trek was the most challenging physical event I've undertaken, and you also know that we fell short of the goal of summiting due to me developing altitude sickness at 17,500’.
I will say this, though: every singe step I took, I was thinking of and praying for Jennie. I was picturing her in a hospital bed, receiving her first chemo infusion on June 4, the day we started hiking, and praying that the Great Physician would touch her body with His healing power.
Our June 4 looked very different from Jennie’s.
I was praying for her as I scrambled up the side of Baranco Canyon wall, knowing that as difficult as the climb was, Jennie would probably give anything to be where I was rather than where she was.
Scrambling up Baranco Canyon wall was no cake walk, but it was done after a mile up. Jennie’s “canyon wall” has no end in sight.
I was praying for her as it became more and more difficult to breathe in the increasingly thin air as we attempted to summit, and I was thinking of how difficult it was for her to breathe lying in bed, knowing that cancer cells were attempting to reduce her breathing to nothing.
My face says it all. That is a breathless forced smile. With altitude sickness invading my lungs and body, all I wanted was to go to sleep.
My shortness of breath and the physical challenge of the climb, as difficult as they were at moments, were nothing in comparison to the battle she was waging for her life.
And I continued praying.
Since we were off the grid for seven full days, we didn’t know that back in Colorado Springs, Jennie was being met by God in ways which could only be classified as miraculous. After one chemo infusion on June 4, she (and her family) received the pathology reports on her type of cancer and the prognosis.
And it couldn’t have been better news.
From Jennie:
"We also have some good news on my journey!! I don’t know if we can yet call it a miracle, but it is a HUGE HUGE praise and a sign of God’s kindness and mercy!
With “normal” stage 4 lung cancer, my prognosis was 2–8 or more years, and would require me to go through the trauma of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. However, there was a 10–15% chance that I would have a particular mutation of cancer that would enable the doctors to target/attack the cancer with a drug much more specific and much more effective than chemo.
A few hours after I’d finished my first round of chemo and immunotherapy, the doctor called and said my molecular tests had come back, and I have the EGFR mutation!!! It seems that my first round of chemo was also my last!!! In 2 weeks, I will be beginning treatment with a daily pill called Targresso that I will take every day for maybe even the rest of my life. It will target my specific kind of cancer much more effectively, and she said she even hopes that after 3 months, there will be no activity in the cancer! Targresso is far more effective than chemo for this kind of cancer and the side effects are far less!
I will need to go through scans and tests every 3 months for at least 2 years, but the doctor kept saying this was such a good prognosis and that there is much, much more hope for many more years of life because of it!
Friends, will you thank God with me for His kindness and grace? He is hearing your prayers. There is still so much ahead of us that we don’t know, but we want to stop and THANK HIM for this good news as we also continue crying out to Him for healing and grace and for many, many, many more years to raise my children, grow old with my husband, and serve the Lord with you my dear family and friends! I love you all and can’t thank God enough for you!! “
All praise is His!!!
Gabby has kept us informed regarding the donations which have been sent in for the Mutakas, and it gave Paul great joy to inform Jennie that over $18K has come in through HIM! All donations are tax-deductible and will be forwarded to New Hope Ministries in Uganda to be distributed to the Mutakas to support her medical journey.
Jennie wrote this back to Paul:
"Thank you again more than I can say!! This is truly amazing and an incredible blessing. May the Lord bless you guys for rallying people to pray and give! The Body of Christ is truly beautiful!!"
My trek was only 7 days long. Jennie’s “trek” is possibly for the rest of her life.
I will forever consider it a great honor that the “purpose” of my short trek will have meaning that will last for months and years to come.
As we picked our way down Mt. Kili to base camp where I would receive oxygen, Lisa snapped this photo of me being flanked by Kombe and Isaac, each who had a secure grip on my elbows as they guided me safely down the rough mountain. It’s a great metaphor for how you have come alongside Jennie, both prayerfully and financially. We were never intended to go it alone. We need each other.
Thank you for responding to the need and for making a big difference in the life of Jennie and her family. Please continue to pray for her complete return to health and for the Lord to use all of this for His glory. Donations are still being accepted and all will be passed on. (Donate through this link.)
Kombe and Isaac are on each side of me, helping me to navigate the at times treacherous “path” down the mountain.
The sun rose as we made our way down. Such a beautiful reminder that we can depend on an ever-present, faithful God. He was truly my hope and strength every step of the way, and Jennie will affirm that He is her hope and strength for each step of her journey.
Truly, all praise is His!!!