Blam: cancer strikes another missionary family

On Monday I heard that a missionary family in Japan has discovered their two year old son has leukaemia. I don't know them well, but I have interacted with the father as he's written for Japan Harvest. His wife used to work at the OMF office here in Tokyo before they were married. They are in the same mission as my magazine boss.

It's shocking. All the symptoms he had (as far as I know) was a fever that wouldn't abate. Then, they're given this shocking diagnosis. And no, missionaries aren't immune to the bad things that happen in life. Sometimes, it seems, we (as a collective noun) end up encountering more "bad stuff" than others. In our short 12 years on the field, we've had two OMF colleagues (out of a field of just over 100 people) die from cancer and several others treated for it. But all of them were adults.

Anyway, you probably know people with cancer. You might even know some critically ill kids. But would you spare a thought and a prayer for this missionary family? If you want to follow their story, they've started a CarringBridge blog here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/heroclark The dad writes well, however it is painful to read.

It helps put my life in perspective: what's a little cold compared to watching your 2 y.o. undergo chemotherapy for the next 14 weeks?