The Story of Brother Jo
by: Jerry Liao
With what had happen to my life, some of my friends were saying that perhaps I was destined to become a pastor. I beg to disagree. I would like to believe that the Lord wants me to stay this way. For me to continue with what I do best but do it with the Lord in my heart.
As I’ve said before, I lived most of my life without the Lord in my life. HE made me successful because of his love, but when HE saw that I was at the brink of losing HIM – The Lord took away my angel on Earth, that broke me into pieces but now HE is rebuilding me slowly.
I just want to share with you how God has used my experience to bring other people close to HIM. Let me tell you the story of Brother Jo.
I met Brother Jo during Eva’s treatment at the ambulatory of St. Luke. Brother Jo was 60 when I met him. He came from Hawaii and was working for an airline preparing food for it’s passenger. Brother Jo had a number of illness then because he was a smoker – a heavy one. If my memory serves me right, he had problem with his lungs due to smoking, and some heart implications. Later on, he had liver cancer I think. The doctors in Hawaii gave Brother Jo six months to live that is why he decided to come home to the Philippines and continue his treatment here.
It was a Tuesday, Brother Jo was sitted in one of the recliners at the ambulatory where his chemo drug was being administered. He was so quiet and most of the time sleeping. Eva was two sit away from him. Since the treatment last around 6 to 8 hours, most of the patients at the ambulatory will end up knowing each other. They will share experiences with each other, perhaps to encourage one another.
Eva was the shy and quiet type, so in a way I was her spokesperson. And with a new found love from our Lord Jesus Christ, I was so excited to tell all of them how God transformed me. And that’s exactly what happen between me and Brother Jo. That same Tuesday, I sat between Eva and Brother Jo and start chatting with him. I get to learn about his sickness, his work in Hawaii and why he came back. He also related to me his vices, and his spiritual life. He do go to church but that was about it. His favorite pass time was to drink, smoke and play “Tong-Its” and “Pusoy-Dos” (card games).
Every Tuesday, I will meet Brother Jo and he will tell me a lot of his stories and I will share with him Eva’s experience and from time to time inject how the Lord changed my life. He will just smile and continue with his stories. As time passes, I observed that Brother Jo is slowly losing wait. He is getting thinner and thinner and becoming weaker.
When Eva was last hospitalized, I went to the ambulatory and look for Brother Jo – it was a Tuesday then. Brother JO was not in the ambulatory at that time so I thought he must be so weak to be in the hospital. I was on my way back to Evas room when I saw Brother Jo in the hallway lying in a hospital bed. I asked his wife what happen and his wife said Brother Jo is getting weaker and they were adviced by their physician that he be admitted to the hospital.
Brother Jo wants to defy his doctor’s order. He hates hospitals. I was surprised when Brother Jo held my arms and asked me my opinion if he should stay in the hospital or not. Of course I said yes at that time because it was his doctors advice. I told Brother Jo that Eva was also admitted. He readily agreed and told his wife that he wanted to admitted already. Eva was in room 406 then, Brother Jo stayed in room 404.
During his conversation with his wife, I overheard that he misses cornsoup. Since Brother Jo stays in the province, they are not so familiar with the places in the city. So one morning, I bought Brother Jo his favorite soup and I gave it to him before I visited Eva. He was so touched and thankful. I said that is too small a favor for the friendship we had. I always tell him to pray and ask for God’s forgiveness.
Every morning I will visit Brother JO and before I go home at night, I will again drop by his room just to check on him. On one of those nights when I visited him, I asked Brother Jo what he wants for breakfast. Brother Jo held my hand and said: “Thank you Brother Jerry, if there’s anything I want now, it’s for you to pray for me.” His request sends jitters to my whole body because that was the first time somebody ask me to pray for him. Brother Jo and I prayed that night and I can feel he accepted the Lord as his Savior right there and then. Brother Jo thanked me for the prayer and I told him to be strong and to have faith on the Lord.
Brother Jo left ahead of us, Eva stayed for two weeks in the hospital. That was the last time I talk to Brother Jo. We did talk on the phone one more time and he asked me if we’re going to see each other again. I said yes. But it never happen. Brother Jo pass away a few days after. I called his family on the phone and his wife told me that before he pass away, Brother Jo asked for their parish priest to visit him and say prayer with him. A proof that indeed the Lord is in Brother’s Jo heart and he is now paradise.
Next, I will tell you about my experience with a mother who’s daughter was suffering from brain cancer. God Bless us all!
