they they didn't set her up on a drip and and I I I asked them how is she going to eat why aren't we setting up a drip for her why and it was then that they tried to break it as gently to me as they could and they said to him there's nothing more we can do it's just a matter of waiting [Music] Timothy from Malaysia served at a children's ministry in New York when he first met Sarah from Northern Ireland you know I just thought she was cute but as we got to know
each other I mean I saw this this amazing heart for God and for kids she was a very bubbly person had a twinkle in her eye she had this lovely enchanting Northern Irish llt beautiful blue eyes and she had this 10,000 megawatt smile that would just you know brighten up the room as their friendship grew closer they both felt that this was from God they were meant to journey together so one day I blindfolded her I took off her shoes and I took off her socks and when she opened her eyes I had this bowl
of water and just with like rose petals in it and I started washing her feet and I proposed to her and I asked her if if she would marry me and I promised that I would lay down my life for her the same way Jesus laid down his life for his church and thankfully she said yes so we got engaged I guess you could say on the 1st of January 2012 following their engagement they decided to get married in Sarah's native country Northern Ireland the plan was to part ways for a year and save money
for their wedding in November 2012 so they bid their goodbyes and Tim flew to Malaysia while Sarah returned to Northern Ireland to work as a primary school teacher then one evening Timothy received an unexpected phone call from Sarah's brother-in-law and I was surprised to get his phone call but when I picked up the call he just told me that that Sarah had been admitted to the hospital but that she was fine and that she was stable um but that she was she had been sedated her family had found her in bed that morning uh with
a seizure hearing the news Timothy immediately rushed to the UK although Sarah was feeling better the doctors told them something that they had no idea of well they weren't sure when I first arrived what it was they suspected that it was swelling on the brain and so they told us it was nothing that they were worried about unfortunately when the scans came back then they told us that contrary to what they had said it was actually a growth a lump on her brain and not just swelling however it didn't seem malignant to the doctors so
they said Timothy and Sarah could go ahead with the wedding plans and that following the wedding they could operate on her to remove the growth so we got married and we prayed about it and we thought let's let's just get it out let's move on with our lives uh so we got married in November 2012 then we told the doctors that we wanted to proceed with the surgery she was put on the waiting list and in February 2013 she went for surgery and they removed um as much of the the lump as they could but
as they sent it for biopsy they made a discovery that they weren't expecting unfortunately it turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing um it was a mixed great tumor which meant that it was malignant and which meant that Sarah had to go for further treatment for her brain cancer and when we were in the doctor's office that day and when he told us all these things our heart sank and our world just just came crashing down around us really but the first thing that Sarah said was she looked at me and she asked
me Tim how are we going to go back to Malaysia to do ministry now Timothy knew it would not be an easy Journey moving forward but during that time he remembered the vows he had made to Sarah I mean that's that's the purpose of marriage isn't it till death to his part that that was what I would I had promised her when when I first proposed to her and washed her feet and said that I would lay down my life for her as Sarah started her cancer treatment her health continued to deteriorate according to their
doctor she didn't have much time he bluntly told us that look we're just trying to buy you as much time as we can um he gave her a prognosis of 5 years at most we refused to believe it we said we would pray to God and we would plead with God to to heal her as Sarah's seizures became more frequent Timothy became her full-time carer whilst he worked for a bank from home when I worked from home on some days and she would see me behind the computer and she said Tim you're wasted in the
bank and I knew she was right but like I said needs must it was a means to an end and so I just did it and God really provided that job I mean because as Sarah's condition got worse and as she needed more attention and more care um my managers were really really um really supportive and they gave me very minimal work to do and I could just do everything from home and which meant I could care for her whilst they were going through this turmoil they found out that Sarah was pregnant around the same
time a generous friend offered them a holiday in Europe just to spend quality time together cuz we never had a a proper honeymoon we went on this trip to Europe it was only after we came back from Europe so September 2015 that we discovered that she actually lost the baby she had a miscarriage this was when she started to get weaker then one day during a regular medical visit the nurse told Timothy and Sarah something they were not ready to hear she she just said Tim I think I think you both need to consider taking
Sarah to a hospice just so that you can you can have some some some form of rest fite so you can just focus on being her husband and so Sarah's mom could just focus on being her mom as painful as it was to hear those words Tim remembered a promise he had made to Sarah and this was when when things were going quite well she just turned to me one day and she said Tim if if God doesn't heal me I want you to promise me that that you won't let me die in a hospice
or a hospital I I want to die at home remembering her words Timothy knew that they would never opt for that but he also remember remembered that they had told each other that no matter what they would never walk away from the Lord so Timothy asked his wife how her heart was she looked at me and she said my heart's good and I was really really relieved but then I wasn't prepared for what Sarah asked me next which was obviously the same question Tim was your heart and I I didn't want to lie to her
I I I couldn't say it was good because it wasn't and then I remembered well I just thought of a Cheesy line and I just said Sarah my heart still beating and my heart still beating for you she smiled a half smile at me and she said okay but what about Jesus is your heart still beating for Jesus I had to really search and and ask myself that question before I could finally answer saying Sarah my heart is still beating for you and it's still beating for Jesus at which point she smiled and she said
that's good and that was it we never talked about the hospice I finished getting her ready for bed brought her to bed told each other we loved each other and we said good night and two days later um she became unconscious after seven days of being unconscious the doctors knew they couldn't do anything to save s As Time passed Timothy's prayers started to change said God if you're not going to heal her please please just take her home I don't want to see her suffer anymore and her family who were at her bedside at the
time they came looking for me in the kitchen and they told me that I think you you need to come in the time is close so I went in and I sat with Sarah and I held her hand told her that if she needed to go that we we released her but that we loved her and I loved her and I would never forget her and we gave her our blessing to go home to the Lord and I felt her squeeze my hand and it was the first time during the entire time she was unconscious
that I got some physical response from her I took it as a sign that she heard what we had to say and I took it as a sign of her saying her goodbyes then minutes later moments later she breathed her last and she went home to be with the Lord as she passed away God impressed a few things on Timothy's heart as my heart was breaking for my bride Lord impress upon me Tim I know your heart is breaking for your bride but just know this that my heart also breaks for my bride Timothy immediately
knew the meaning of suffering bride and he also remembered how Sarah always wanted him to serve in his kingdom so he left his bank job and went to Argentina to serve with a Christian Ministry for a year after returning to the UK he came across a job advert at Barnabas a and I applied for it not really not knowing much about the organization other than what I could read about it uh from their website and I know it had to do with a persecuted church as I went for my interview and I sat there with
with the directors um and one of the things that that the director said to me in that room in that interview Barnabas exists to support the persecuted bride or the suffering bride of Jesus Christ and it was at that moment that everything came back full circle and now I I recognize the significance as well of what God was imp pressing upon my heart when he told me that his heart was also breaking for his bride Timothy took the job and now serves the suffering church around the world through Barnabas Aid he still lived in Northern
Ireland and in 20120 he married Angela today he is delighted that he gets to do what he is passionate about and I now consider it a privilege and an honor to to do we do here at Barnabas to support the bride of Christ
