Saying Goodbye to Aser

​After a year of battle against brain cancer, my dear 14 year old little bro Aser (my nephew) died on December 23. This has been incredible hard for us as a family, but we do not grieve as those without hope. We are comforted by the knowledge that Aser is with our Lord where there is no more pain and suffering.
When Aser was 2 years old his dad died and my parents took his mother Genet under their wing and raised Aser and his sister Loza as their own kids. They were like a blood brother and sisters to me. Loza is now in High School.
After Aser was diagnosed with cancer, he lived with me for about nine months during his seven cycles of chemotherapy and four cycles of radiation. He was a brave young man during the treatment. Unfortunately it did not cure him. Before he died he saw a vivid vision of where he was going and saw the glory waiting for him. He loved Jesus so much!
In his vision he saw himself go up in the sky and he saw a bright face which he says was like Jesus. He heard a voice saying “the time is finished”. While he was in the air he looked down and saw a very old house. He saw the old house being replaced with a new house. Then he woke up from his dream and told my brother about his dream. Though he was in extreme physical pain, he had the presence of the Lord with him that was very comforting and he is now a new house!
Around 700 people attended his funeral and it was clear that his short life on earth impacted many. His classmates all came with flowers and notes like this
“Aser your dreams were many but we lost you so quickly! RIP!’
Aser freely shared his future plans to study to be an astronomer. One time as I drove him to Black Lion Hospital, I saw a big truck with a name on it saying “Aser Construction” and I asked Aser if he would like to change his idea of studying astronomy for Engineering. He said No!
Once while visiting him in hospital, he asked me some questions related to my ministry. He turned to me and said “Miheret, what you are doing is great, please keep it up, I know it’s going to be big”
Based on our culture, for four days after his death, the gospel has been preached to all visitors who came to our house to comfort us. We had a tent in our compound and people get a chance to visit and comfort us. We are very thankful for all who came to visit us and prayed for us. Every night we had prayer and praise time with gospel presentation.
One of the preachers who came from the neighborhood was very special to me. I know him since I was a kid and he was a Muslim. And all his family are still not believers. But God saved him and he is now a strong believer and preacher! It was such an inspiration for me to listen to him as a vibrant young man preaching the gospel very well. My family told me because of his faith in Jesus he is persecuted. But believers are helping him to grow in his faith. Pray that the seed from the gospel will take root.
The Lord took two wonderful people home on December 23 – Mrs. Bright co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ at the age of 89 and Aser at the age of 14. I’m sure they met in heaven and could rejoice in being in the presence of our Lord! Mrs. Bright served the Lord faithfully until her last breath. You can read more about her remarkable life on www.vonettebright.com
I highly appreciate your prayer for Genet (his mom) and our whole family.
Thank you!
Miheret T.

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