“Give us the dream and when the dream is done, we’ll be with you..”
Teresa Kropp was fighting when she met Daisy Maines. She was fighting for her health, fighting for her family, and fighting for her life.
Two months before their September 2018 introduction, Teresa received a diagnosis of cancer – uterine cancer. Within the next eight weeks, she would undergo a hysterectomy, followed by repeated trips to the emergency room to fight infections and bleeding. Yet, when Daisy Maines stepped into The Valley Church of Los Angeles’ North Region and asked to study the bible, something amazing happened.
“Jennifer Lopez asked Teresa to join in the studies with Daisy, and Teresa was very happy to do it,” said Bill Kropp, Teresa’s husband of 25 years. “Teresa is the kindest, most loving person I have ever known, she thinks about others all the time.”
The women bonded instantly. With each having two children and a desire to know and please God, they shared their lives. It was then that the conversations revealed another discovery. In 2014, Daisy received a diagnosis. It was Leiomyosarcoma –uterine cancer.
“As soon as Jennifer introduced us, we started talking about our condition and treatments and we soon realized that we had the exact diagnosis and conventional treatments,” said Daisy who with her husband was in search of a new church home.
“I believed in God, knew of him and followed the rituals that come with [my past] religion, however my husband and I felt there was ‘something missing’ from our lives especially after attending Sunday mass. Once, doctors said that, ‘only a miracle would cure’ my condition, I started to seek him, praying to him with more intensity. God ‘told’ me that I needed more of him, that I needed to pray just to him and that the present church I was attending was not the one. Then I felt an overwhelming urge to read the Holy Bible. This was around the time we found the Valley Church,” Daisy said.
Together, Teresa and Daisy went on a mission of healing – physically and spiritually. Teresa took notes for Daisy during her Bible studies. They studied at church after Sunday services and on weeknights once a week for eight weeks.
“It was so amazing to share stories and experience how other sisters came to know Jesus Christ,” said Daisy. “It is something I will cherish forever.”
Even Bill noticed the impact that the studies were having on Teresa.
“They were very close right from the start. There seemed to be an instant bond and they loved each other,” Bill said. “I saw Teresa just be filled with incredible joy as the studies went on. She talked about Daisy all the time. I think it did more to lift Teresa’s spirits than anything else.”
But Teresa’s condition would steadily decline. In November, doctors told the family that the cancer had returned with cells now in her lungs. She battled extreme pain, re-emerging on December 2, 2018 to participate in Daisy’s baptism.
“Teresa was very happy; it was what she lived for and she felt like she was having a great impact on Daisy,” said Bill who recalled Teresa re-entering the emergency room the day after Christmas and starting chemotherapy. She returned home 11 days later where Bill, their daughter Serena, 18, and son David, 12 lovingly cared for her. Having fought the good fight, Teresa died on February 5, 2019 at the age of 53.
As a testament to the power of God’s grace and the impact of that friendship, Daisy declared during her baptism that she one day would baptize her own mother. On Easter Sunday 2019, 86-year-old Maria Cordelia Ramirez made Jesus Christ her Lord and Savior.
“Teresa would be so happy about that,” said Bill. “Teresa was an amazing light for all who knew her; she lived to encourage others; she experienced more joy in giving to others than getting something herself… I miss her terribly.”
Having directly experienced Teresa’s love and devotion, Daisy summed up Teresa’s legacy.
“The message is the same; we have to seek him and make him our priority in our lives,” she said. “The message also is that while on this earth, it’s never too late to do so, until we die.”