Christian apologist Nabeel Qureshi, who is battling stage IV stomach cancer, has asked for prayer as his hospital stay enters a third week.
On August 8, Qureshi, a Pakistani-American Muslim convert to Christianity who is an author and has also served with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, shared a brief Facebook update on his health.
"Sorry for not updating, I'm still in the hospital. Day 19! Please continue to pray," he wrote.
A few days prior, the evangelist asked for prayer as he prepared to receive a jejunostomy feeding tube, or J-tube, which enables people to receive supplemental nutrition formulas and water directly into the small intestine.
"Going for laparoscopic surgery now (J-tube placement). Please pray!" he wrote on July 31.
Since announcing his diagnosis one year ago, Qureshi has regularly shared video updates regarding his health. In many of them, he reflects on God's faithfulness in even the darkest of circumstances.
In his last video, he revealed he was hospitalized after a stent placed in his stomach was dislodged and traveled up to his esophagus, causing extreme pain.
"If you can imagine a 14 centimeter mesh tube stuck in your throat, that's what was going on," he shared in an earlier vlog post. "I was just vomiting blood as we were trying to make our way to the ER. While I was in the ER, I was in excruciating pain. I'd never felt or imagined pain like this before. It was internal, as if something inside me was trying to explode out."
The tube was lodged in Qureshi's throat for 60 hours before doctors were able to remove it.
"I was feeling such tremendous pain that I almost went to this new phase of being, basically, where I'm not feeling the pain - I'm watching myself feel the pain," he said. "I just can't even relate to you how much pain I was in - just off the charts."
As he was experiencing the "worst of the pain", Qureshi said he heard unmistakable "voices of reassurance."
"I don't know if it was just my head as I was going through tremendous pain, or if the Lord was speaking to me, or if angels were whispering assurances," he said. "But, I just felt a presence that - even though it wasn't physically there, I just knew there was a presence there."
The evangelist shared: "I had friends come to pray for me, as they were praying for me I was thinking, 'Did they lay their hands on my head? Did they lay their hands on my stomach?' And I'd look to see what they were doing, and they'd be standing next to me and they weren't laying hands. But, I could feel hands on my head and on my stomach. I'd think, 'is the Lord sending me angels?'
Based on his experience, Qureshi's said he "knows for certain that when you're going through the absolute worst of it, God will be there."
"God will be there, and He will send His comfort, be it through ministering angels or through His own voice," he said. "He was there for me, and I don't think I'm anyone special, so I think He'd be there for you, if you're going through something like that as well."
Qureshi said that soon, he will hopefully get a J-tube surgically inserted so he will stop losing weight, regain nourishment, and begin his recovery.
"I will be in the hospital at least for another few days, so I'd appreciate your continued prayers," he concluded.
