Inspiring Lives: There Is Light At The End Of The Tunnel

"LOOKING BACK NOW, only gladness fills my heart, and the memories of yesterday will always serve as my great source of inspiration. I am thankful to God that He allowed me to experience all those things that made me the strong person that I am right now," Sister Sucel Marie Mandawela said.

Sucel, as everyone fondly calls her, was born on March 20, 1985 in Bonn, Germany where her parents took up residence in 1981. Her father is Dharmapala Mandawela, a Sri Lankan from a family that practices Buddhism. Her mother is Sister Arceli, a Filipina who is a former Catholic , and her younger sister is named Monali Marie.

In 2004, Sister Sucel finished her thirteenth grade and received her.

• Abitur ( a shortening of Abiturientemexamen 'leavers' exam' ... in German secondary schools, a set of examinations taken in the final year, success in which is necessary for university entrance [ Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. copyright 1993-2004).
• During her younger years, she was introduced to Catholic beliefs and, at the same time, she was taught Buddhist values. When Sister Arceli was converted to the Church of Christ, she started to raise Sucel and Monali in the true Christian teachings.

Holding On To Her Duties

Although a Buddhist, Sister Sucel's father believed that spending a lot of time on religious activities is only a waste of time and effort. Hence, he did not make things easy for them. He didn't want any member of his family, especially Sister Sucel, to hold an office in the Church of Christ, because he thought that it would only ruin her studies.

Although she tried her best to explain to him that having a good education is one of the teachings upheld by the Church and that she would never neglect her studies, he was still relentless. "I knew that he only wanted what he thought at that time was best for us. If only he was able to look into the teachings of the Church from a different perspective, then he probably would have supported us and even joined us in our services to God, " Sister Sucel said.

Her father once called their resident minister to tell him that from that day on, Sister Sucel would stop attending the worship services. But even with all these persecutions, she never disrespected her father and she remained steadfast in her faith and did not stop performing her duties in the Church.

The more she was persecuted by her father, the more she was drawn closer to God. Firm in her conviction, she said, " I continued attending the worship services, I never contemplated on giving up my Church duties, and I vowed to carry on until the end."

Sister Sucel, together with her mother and sister, never failed to seek God's help through their devotional prayers. During those trying times, they took refuge in God and held on to His promise that He will never forsake His faithful servants. They knewe that there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that God would put an end to their sufferings in His own good time.

A New Beginning

On November 11, 2003, Sister Sucel's father passed away. It was the day that every member of her family was not prepared for. She was in deep sorrow because she lost a father.

After her father's death they became more active in participating in Church activities and it also opened a whole new world of possibilities. Sister Sucel, her mother, and sister remain as active members of the Bonn, Germany Congregation, in the Ecclesiastical District of Northern Europe.

Sister Sucel is currently a choir member, secretary for the children's worship service, and president of the

KADIWA organization. Her mother is a deaconess and a local secretary, while her sister is a choir member in the children's worship service.Turning point in her life

More than a year earlier on February 26,2002, when Sister Sucel was only sixteen, her life took a turn. She could still remember her fearful experience clearly as though it were only yesterday. After the choir practice, she was already feeling very differently.

That night, she didn't get any sleep at all. "I was shivering and my head was hurting as if it were being hit with a baseball bat. I couldn't move my neck and even a very small movement w0uld cause a terrible pain in my head.

The pain was so horrid that I thought my head would explode. I got up to get a glass of water but I ended up on the floor because I just had no strength at all!" Sister Sucel vividly recalled. She thought that it was the end of her life. The next thing she knew was that she was surrounded by strangers wearing masks and dressed in white overalls carrying her to the ambulance. Then she lost consciousness again.

The Diagnosis

When Sister Sucel woke up, she was already lying in a bed at the intensive care unit of the Rheinische Kliniken in Bonn. Her illness was diagnosed as a life-threatening disease called Meningococcal Meningitis.

The doctors said that it is highly contagious disease characterized by the infection of the membranes and fluid covering the brain and spinal cord. They said that what she had was the bacterial type, which can result in brain damage, hearing loss, blindness, learning disability, or death.

"I had fifty-fifty chance of surviving that disease." she recalled. Her family had to coordinate with the local health authorities about her situation because the health officials had to trace where she got the disease and do the necessary measures to prevent an epidemic. She had to be isolated for a few days. Only her parents were allowed to visit her and they had to wear protective masks. Her sister was not allowed to visit because she was too young to be exposed.

Complete Trust In God

This was a very hard situation for her family. The day that Sister Sucel's illness was diagnosed, her family, including her father, who was not a Church of Christ member, immediately went to the house of worship to pray for her condition.

For four days, from the time she was confined to the intensive care unit to the time she was moved to a regular room, she had no recollections of what had happened. Her mother started daily devotional prayers to ask for God's help and guidance. From work, her mother would go straight to the house of worship for her devotional prayers and then proceed to the hospital to comfort Sister Sucel and attend to her needs.

During those times, Sister Sucel prayed to God fervently to ask of Him to give her the strength that she needed to go through this trial and to help her and her family to hold on to their faith no matter what might happen in their lives. She knew that if they put their complete trust in God, everything would be alright and that He would never abandon them.

When she was already allowed to accept visitors, Brother Teodorico Samson Jr., their resident minister at that time, together with his wife and the brethren, regularly visited her to cheer her up and to pray for her early recovery.

She was so glad to know that the brethren cared for her welfare. It gave her a good feeling that the brethren were there, especially in times of hardships and difficulties such as what she was experiencing. She yearned for the day when she could perform her duty as choir member once again and attend the worship services, which made her strong to face the challenges in her life.

"Each day that passed, I felt that God was helping me to regain my strength and that was when I knew that I was going to make it," she said carefully. When her doctors did their daily rounds, they would tell her how lucky she was and that it was a miracle that she had completely recovered from the disease. On March 13,2002, she was finally released from the hospital.

A Day Of Thanksgiving

Sister Sucel resumed performing her duties in the Church right away because she wanted to show God how grateful she was for giving her another chance.

Sister Sucel said, "I thank our Father in heaven so much, for He helped me overcome all the obstacles that came my way. He allowed me to pass my

Abitur despite all the odds and, most especially, He blessed me with a second chance at life."

In a final note, she calls upon the youth in the Church: "I would liket to call the attention of the youth in the Church of Christ to never lose their trust and faith in God, for it is only He who knows what is best for us."