Jenny Ann Abarquez was 31 years old when the Lord took her home as she passed away on Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 after a valiant fight against stage four lung cancer. Jenny’s form of lung cancer is extremely rare and occurs in only one percent of the population. Although Jenny was a non-smoker, young, healthy, and with no family history of this disease she was mysteriously diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in August 2017. Jenny had been baptized in the Lord in February of 2015 after being invited to the Rocky Mountain Church of Christ in Calgary by a fellow co-worker who was and is a disciple in the church. Born in the Philippines, young Jenny was a vibrant, ambitious, confident and enthusiastic disciple who joined the young singles in the church and then shortly moved in with one of the sisters. However, about two years later, Jenny was pulled away from her faith by her work and a tight knit group of work colleagues where she also met her future boyfriend. Eventually these work relationships took over her Christian life and she fell away from the Lord. Jenny then eventually relocated to the Vancouver area of British Columbia for her work where shortly upon her arrival, she experienced a constant cough which led her to seek medical attention. It was in Vancouver where she was first diagnosed with lung cancer. Jenny moved back to Calgary to seek treatment. While medication was very helpful for the first six months, eventually the cancer overwhelmed her body and in the last two months, her health steadily deteriorated. However, God never abandons his people and is always reaching out to his lost sheep. A disciple in the Calgary church was working at her part-time position at a video/VR and entertainment center, hating her job, and wondering why the Lord brought her to this establishment. Then in November 2017, this disciple recognized Jenny at her place of work. Jenny then re-established contact with several disciples from the Calgary church as we found out about health. God used this disciple to reach out to Jenny as her battle with lung cancer was starting to become dire. In June disciples started to visit Jenny during her hospital visits, spending time in prayer and encouraging her relationship with God. Finally, in late July Jenny humbly confessed and accepted responsibility for walking away from her faith and reaffirmed her devotion and commitment to the Lord. In August, as her breathing became more difficult, and sores appeared on her body, and with a blood clot causing her right arm and feet to become swollen she was back in the hospital. Despite her fatigue and being on constant pain medication, when she was awake, she was clear minded and enjoyed singing her favorite hymns with disciples and praying. She was surrounded by her mother who flew in from the Philippines, her sister from Taiwan, many colleagues and her church family. In her last two weeks, her church family visited her around the clock, served food to her family and friends and gave financially to her family. Jenny was very encouraged by so many visits from disciples and knew that she was restored and left this world peacefully to enter the eternal embrace of our Almighty God.
