Turning to God, prayer following diagnosis

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/03/2022 (1575 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When their daughter Candace was murdered in 1984, Cliff and Wilma Derksen became widely known for the very public way they lived out their Christian faith and deep trust in God.

They are doing it again now that Cliff, 77, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just eight to 10 months to live.

“We aren’t called to live as Christians in secret, but to be helping others, to be an encouragement, be an example,” said Cliff of how the couple wants to once again share what God means to them during this new and unexpected challenge.

The diagnosis came as a shock. Cliff, an artist who recently retired from working as an associate pastor at Maplecrest Church, hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks. He went to a walk-in clinic on February 26.

After examining him, the doctor told him to go immediately to Victoria Hospital for more tests and scans. He was transferred the same day to St. Boniface Hospital’s cancer ward.

After arrival, he was told to expect surgery the following day. But when the doctor came in to see him the next morning, she said surgery wasn’t an option.

“It was too far gone,” he said. The cancer, which had started in his gallbladder, had spread to his liver and intestines.

His first question was how much time he had left; eight to 10 months with treatment, four to six without, he was told.

He called Wilma right away with the news. While waiting for her to come to the hospital, he started reading his Bible.

The first verse that jumped out for him was a favourite, Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord.”

“That was an encouraging word from God for me right then,” said Derksen of those verses, originally shared with Jews living in exile in Babylon thousands of years ago.

In other verses in that same chapter, God told the exiles to live their normal lives — get married, build houses, plant gardens.

“God was telling me to just be myself and live my life,” Derksen said.

One thing he plans to do with his remaining time is finish his life story, something he’s been poking away at for awhile. “Now I have a deadline!” he said with a laugh.

In fact, that’s one thing he wants to do as much as possible: laugh.

“I’ve gained a new appreciation for jokes,” he said, adding he wants people to send him as m any as possible. “Brilliant or groaners, it doesn’t matter.”

He also wants people to send him their own stories of forgiveness as part of a new project he and Wilma are creating called The Forgiveness Centre. “It’s a place where people can learn about and walk through the process of forgiveness,” he said, adding ”forgiveness played a role in every aspect of my life.”

When she heard the diagnosis, Wilma — a therapist and also a pastor at Maplecrest Church — worried about how he would react.

“He has responded with amazing grace,” she said, adding “if Cliff is at peace, I am at peace.”

That doesn’t mean it’s been easy. “It’s scary, and I need a lot of faith to face it,” she said. “I’ve cried a lot over this. The first week I couldn’t talk about it without crying. I was very emotional.”

But she believes beauty can come out of something as devastating as cancer — just as it did from Candace’s death.

“My theology has always been not to expect life to be perfect,” she said. “The challenge is to make something beautiful out of the difficult things that come our way, to make beauty out of ashes. I believe suffering can be turned into good. I can see God working through it.”

Cliff feels the same way.

“I’m just going to believe that God knows what He is doing,” he said. “When Candace was murdered, we learned to trust God then, too. Maybe others will hear my story now and be inspired to trust God.”

Meantime, he doesn’t plan to “ask why this happened to me, whose fault it is, what caused it, what I did wrong. There are no good answers to those questions,” he said.

“God created the whole world. He has his plans for each of us. They will come to pass. All we need to do is trust Him.”

People who want to follow along with Cliff’s cancer journey can visit his blog at www.cliffderksen.com

faith@freepress.mb.ca

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.

Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt. BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER