Endurance in Affliction

by Jo-Ann Kock.

Good day, brothers and sisters in Christ. My endurance in affliction was several times in my life. My first encounter with Jesus was when I got sick with leukemia. He taught me how to endure all the trials of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. My faith was big. I stayed in The Netherlands about 6 months for treatment. I prayed and worshipped God every day. He visited me once during my first chemotherapy, and He’s so loyal.

Since that day that I met God, I’ve stayed hooked till today. This year it will be 10 years that I’ve survived cancer — thanks to God for that.

After my treatment, I came back to Aruba. I got a debt from my business for the
amount of AWG 100,000. The accountant informed me to sell my house to pay the tax office. Through the accountant's eyes, that was the only solution. However, I didn’t want to sell my house — where am I going to live with my family, etc.? So, my husband decided to seek a job, let the company operate with workers, and I sought a job at an insurance company. There, I worked for 2 years, and thanks to God, we covered the debt over 3 years, and everything was paid — still with endurance in prayer and lots of faith. We finished paying the debt during the COVID period — can you imagine?

After that, I kept working at the insurance company. However, after all the cancer treatment, I stayed really tired, and still, the tiredness won’t leave me completely. So, I talked to my husband, saying that I’m tired all the time and don’t see my family as often when I work 8 hours daily. Because when I come home, I’m so tired that I can’t cook or talk to my children and husband. So, he said, for a better quality of life, quit from the insurance company. So, I quit.

God is so great that my husband got promoted in the restaurant that he’s currently working in as a bartender. So I didn’t lose my salary — it was compensated with his. That is another miracle. The same month that I quit, he received his promotion. He was working before as a dishwasher.

When that was settled, we encountered problems with the business. After COVID, the companies didn’t want to pay as before. In 2023, we closed the business because we were going into debt again. After 3 times trying — enough is enough — so we decided that we were going to pay all the employees and close the business.

I got panicked and went immediately seeking a job. However, the colleagues were really mean to me, the manager as well. Still, I kept working till one day I said to myself, "It’s enough." So, I quit. I came home all broken and defeated because I had a new car to pay and other debts. I stayed in prayer and hoped for the best.

I started selling paintings at the tables. Paying bills was not easy. Enduring in scarcity is not easy. But I kept hoping and praying, kept serving the Lord and persevering, smiling through the tough process.

During this process of my life, I lost family members and friends that were too toxic. It was me and my husband and God striving to survive. During that period, I cried to God and prayed. I kept a Bible verse in my head — Matthew 6:26: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them."

There wasn’t one day that God left me without eating or without paying my debts. I’ve conquered it all because I have God by my side.

Now I’m doing what my heart desired, which is my calling — and it’s a gift that God gave me: to help in ministries and do art, give healing art workshops, do projects for teens, and help cancer patients. I’m happy serving God and doing what He’s sending me to do. He decides what I’m going to do next. I put my trust completely in the Lord.

Today I can say that God hears you and His timing is perfect, because today I’m telling you my testimony — to show others that even though you get trials in your life, they are to help you be a better person, humbler, and to put all your trust and hope in the Lord. I can say, if God wasn’t there for me, I wouldn’t be here to tell you my testimony.

The Lord is good all the time.

Romans 5:3-4
And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.