14 December 2008
Houston, Texas

A message from our son
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our son Everett is dying of bone cancer. He has lost his appetite, he speaks only in short, labored sentences, and he sleeps most of the time; so it is unlikely he will survive until Christmas. For the past three weeks, he has been in the hospital for control of severe pain, and tomorrow he will begin hospice care at our apartment near the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. At home, his sister, Laura, his brother, Stewart, and Cindy and I will stay with him.

One crisp sunny day last week when Everett was still able to get into a wheelchair, I sat alone with him for about an hour at the window of his hospital room. We were quiet mostly, but towards the end he told me he wanted to send a message to you—all the people who have surrounded him with their prayers and personal support during his illness over the past fifteen months.

Before you hear Everett’s message, you should know about the critical challenges he faced during his lifetime. At age four he went with his missionary family to live in a remote area of Bangladesh and was home-schooled through eighth grade. Sensitive and shy, Everett had a hard time moving back and forth between Bangladesh and the United States for periodic family furloughs. In ninth grade he entered boarding school in India and there developed a drug addiction that burdened him for four years and precipitated his expulsion from two high schools and his subsequent failure in college. He then entered a drug rehabilitation program, succeeded in overcoming his addiction, and in the fall of 2007, at age 22, reentered college and was eager to embrace the life ahead of him. At that very point he received his diagnosis of bone cancer. Treatment included numerous hospital visits for blood tests, scans, and doctor’s appointments; and he underwent 13 rounds of chemotherapy. Not once did he complain about the rigors of cancer treatment, and he has shown remarkable emotional maturity and strength through it all.

As we sat together at his hospital window, Everett told me he wanted to thank all of you who have sent him cards and supported him in various ways during his illness. He said that your love and concern “opened his eyes” to God’s presence. He also wanted to tell you, “I have learned that there is nothing you cannot overcome with God on your side.”

I was the first to hold Everett at his birth, and I am preparing now to hand him back to God. During these 23 years, Everett, my beloved son, has shown me the meaning of profound and authentic faith. I know in my heart that God is waiting for him with outstretched arms, ready to embrace him and to tell him, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” and to invite him into the joy of his kingdom.

Yours,

Les

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 89

Editor's note: While the Morgans are on leave of absence, their newsletters will continue to be posted on the Mission Connections Web site.