Although I have a disease that cannot be cured by medicine and surgery, I have experienced countless graces during this journey of illness, and I have seen hope in my illness. In 2018, I was tested for autoimmune diseases, and the index ANA was as high as 2560, which is the highest index, and the average person is less than 80.
At that time, the body part is extremely itchy, which will affect sleep. There is also moderate depression, which requires regular counseling. I have been unable to sleep well in winter. My illness has made me sensitive to temperature. When the cold enters my body, it can’t get out. Even if I wear a lot of clothes, I feel very cold. I can’t stand the air-conditioning of a long-distance flight by plane, and my knuckles are too cold to be comfortable.
Thank the Lord, I had developed regular exercise at that time, and the symptoms would not be more serious. The doctor said that when his patients index reached 600, they already had many severe symptoms. For my moderate depression, I changed my lifestyle and avoided taking medicine through regular exercise three times a week and regular counseling.
I’m a website engineer and my job is to build and maintain websites, give training to teams and customers to manage websites. At that time, some churches asked me to help them to see the problems on the website. The senior pastor made it a point to chat with me about my condition. He was very caring, and helped me find a reference book on the Internet about the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The title of the book is very special, called “The Horrible Autoimmune Disease Healing Bible” (Chinese Simplified/Traditional version). English version is “Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body”
I bought a book from Taobao. This book is about a doctor who got this terrible disease herself. She already has many serious diseases, needs to take a lot of medicine, and is extremely obese. In the book, she shared how she went from being seriously ill to living like an ordinary person, even no longer needing to take medicine. Autoimmune diseases are disorders in which the body’s immune system does not function properly, causing the body to attack its own tissues. To put it simply, the immune system is supposed to attack foreign enemies, but due to abnormalities, it attacks our own people, which may cause more than a hundred kinds of diseases in humans, and it cannot return to a normal state, unlike colds and fevers that can be completely cured. In severe cases, it can cause serious diseases such as organ failure.
I have learned from books that chronic stress is one of the main causes of disease. The disease can be reversed by adjusting diet, maintaining good quality sleep, maintaining a good mood and regular exercise. The food list is also listed in the book, and I learned that there are many foods that can stimulate the immune system, cause allergies and induce attacks.
I spent many months, repeatedly trying different foods, and found that the foods on my list that I usually eat caused allergies. Oils other than olive oil and coconut oil can cause allergies. All beans, nightshades, seeds, nuts, dairy products, eggs, etc. cannot be eaten. Season cooking with fish sauce, salt and olive oil only. The most common seasonings such as soy sauce, pepper powder, sesame oil, chili sauce, tomato sauce, cooking wine, oil consumption, monosodium glutamate, teriyaki sauce, curry, etc. are all inedible. Because of the ingredients of seeds, beans and nightshades.
I am very grateful to have a sister from Trinity Church in Kuching, she is willing to cook special meals for me six days a week, prepare food for me with only olive oil, fish sauce and salt, and deliver it to my home. Help me eat nutritious food while working from home full time. There are also several restaurants out there willing to use olive oil, fish sauce and salt for my seasoning. The chefs of Malaysia Airlines will also cook special food for me on a long flight.
My cousin’s wife is white Australian and she has the same disease as me. When she came to Kuching for the first time many years ago, she gave us a list of foods that she couldn’t eat, as many as I couldn’t eat. It was the first time I heard that someone could be allergic to so many foods and I was very curious. Whether it’s going to a restaurant, having a wedding, having a family dinner, or getting on a plane, she needs to eat her own special meal, and like me now, I can only eat one kind of oil just like her. Now I feel the same way. Seeing her working hard to take care of herself, living like an ordinary person, getting married and having children, her persistence gave me a lot of strength. If she can do it, I believe I can do it too.
I was originally a person who loves eggs, but because of allergies, I can only eat egg yolks, so I gave up eggs for a long time. I am grateful that I can now eat an egg every day. Eggs are very nutritious. Thank you Lord for making my body acceptable. I am also very grateful to a good friend who introduced me and my parents to eat a plant before I knew I was sick. He said that it is good for all aspects of the body. At that time, I had worked hard to avoid many foods for a while, but I still had itching all over my body at night, and I couldn’t sleep well. I accidentally saw an advertisement for that plant, called Moringa Juice. Because of a friend’s introduction, I was relieved to try it. Otherwise, taking allergy medicine can’t solve it. I didn’t expect it to be really effective, and I could sleep until dawn every day. It turned out that the Lord had already prepared. There is also a group of very caring brothers and sisters who will pray for me and ask them to pray for me if my illness worsens. Helped me through one difficulty after another.
My doctor said my ANA would go up and down depending on how healthy my lifestyle habits were and my mood swings. Before the epidemic, I went to different Zumba instructor classes to exercise, and I exercised for an hour at least three times a week, and after returning to my hometown from Australia, my index dropped from 2560 to 600. I am very grateful that God helped me make the courageous decision to return to my hometown, leaving the country with winter, and prepared a place for me to recuperate from my illness. Every morning and evening is very quiet, the air is good, the climate is comfortable, and shopping is also convenient.
As a result, I became a Zumba instructor. Teaching and practicing before the epidemic helped me to exercise almost every day, and my condition improved rapidly. My dream is to help more people regain their health and protect their health. I was also sick from years of not exercising, being chronically suffocated and unable to decompress properly. So I hope you don’t follow in my footsteps. It is a pity to work hard, take care of the family, but forget to take care of yourself, and may need the care of your family when you are sick. We should have a healthy body and mind and enjoy the fruits of our efforts with our families.
God helped me to see that in order not to be a burden to my family and to help them when they need me, I decided to live a new life by the grace of the Lord. In sports, diet, sleep and emotional management, study and practice seriously. I had the opportunity to do my Peer Counseling Certificate, Emotional & Relationship management courses, ITEC UK Level 3 Certificate in Diet & Nutrition for Complementary Therapists, Zumba Fitness All Ages Licenses before and during the pandemic. Heavenly Father gave me the strength to learn to take care of myself. Maybe in the future, I can help my family and students have better physical and mental health, and reduce the number of long-term illnesses in each family.
At the end of 2021, I found that I would lose sleep all night once a week, and I ask brothers and sisters to pray for me. As a result, the blood test report showed that vitamin D was seriously deficient, because my disease made me need to avoid the sun, and it was not easy to get it through food. In addition to supplementing vitamin D every day, the Lord taught me through this incident that we should pray, read the Bible and sing hymns regularly every morning. This is the source of strength and confidence from heaven. I have to pray every night and tell Him all my troubles. Every time I pray until I fall asleep, I can sleep until dawn. Because my disease is also allergic to stress, I will be more prone to insomnia and anxiety.
When I am very anxious and nothing can help, I can completely eliminate anxiety through an hour of Zumba exercise. I later learned that exercise releases dopamine and other hormones that suppress depression and anxiety, similar to some of the medications psychiatrists prescribe. I also learned to chat with psychological counselors and talk about my worries to relieve stress and relax. From the last time in January 2022 to the present, I have never lost sleep all night. When the work pressure is particularly high, I may not get enough hours of sleep, and feel more tired and anxious.
God also helped me reduce stress by learning musical instruments and singing. Before and after the epidemic, I had the opportunity to take time to learn music to relieve stress. Sometimes the work pressure is very high. My indigenous student prayed for me in Malay on the way to send her home after my Zumba class. I was very touched when I listened to her prayer, and my work was successfully completed when I returned home. The Lord has prepared for me a position as a website engineer who can work full-time at home, and it is also the grace of brothers and sisters to pray for me. The level of work is even more difficult. Every time I encounter great difficulties, I can only ask the Lord for wisdom, and I can always solve them in the end. I also learned a lot of new knowledge at the same time, and I am full of gratitude.
Due to the disease of the immune system, I have not been able to eat out for more than two years due to the epidemic, nor have I been able to participate in various physical gatherings or dinners. But Heavenly Father helped me to better prepare nutritious food for myself, and I felt more at ease eating at home. I was able to attend the young group meeting on Tuesday, the Australian fellowship meeting on Wednesday, the prayer meeting on Thursday and the worship service on Sunday through Zoom online. Every gathering is a time for me to put aside all my work and troubles, listen to the Lord’s sermon quietly, enjoy the fellowship with brothers and sisters, and renew myself. At the Australian fellowship meeting on Wednesday, everyone will take turns to share their testimonies of the past week. When I share my testimonies, let me review God’s leading in my life every week. Maybe my family, friends and outsiders don’t understand why I dare not take off my mask and eat outside because I want to protect myself. If I am diagnosed, I may become seriously ill or lose my life. So I have to protect myself more carefully than the average person, including temporarily avoiding flying and attending large gatherings. Only when teaching on stage, when there is a safe distance from students, I do not wear a mask during the class, and put it on immediately after the end.
I saw my dear Heavenly Father lead me step by step, through mountains and valleys. Sometimes I feel unwell in the middle of the night and cannot fall asleep. I earnestly ask the Lord to save me, and I can sleep until dawn again. Every time I am disappointed by the situation of world disasters, the sins of human beings, and the discomfort of sickness, Heavenly Father reminds me that He has prepared an eternal and beautiful home for me, where there will be no sickness, tears, pain, and sorrow, and we will always be in the presence of the Lord. Rest in your arms, rest from all the labors of the world. No more marriage, no hurt and helplessness in feelings. All those who believe in Him, reconcile with Him, and restore the relationship between father and son will have a new glorified body and will never get sick or die again. We, our family members and our loved ones are all in the kingdom of heaven, and we will no longer suffer. What a wonderful hope this is!
Although there are still weaknesses and bondages in my life, seeing God’s unchanging love, guidance and protection in the past 40 years, I believe that one day I will get out of the predicament and gain real freedom.
If you haven’t gotten to know the Lord who created the universe, the Lord Jesus who died on the cross to replace your sins, come and get to know Him and be reconciled to Him. He has risen and changed the destiny of countless people and countless families. Let him protect you, love you, and accompany you through the difficult journey of life, until he takes you back to the eternal and beautiful home, and you also let him take your loved ones back to the home of heaven, never to be separated again, This is our greatest hope! Sending you a poem, may it be a light in your darkness:
Faith is never seen, still looking up to the cross
Faith is complete entrustment, knowing that the Lord is in control
I can do all
things through him who strengthens me
Whether it’s a storm or a trough, the Lord’s peace is in my heart
I can do all things through him who strengthens me
To do the will of the Lord I can do all things
Scan QR Code to listen to this song (Mandarin)：
https://youtu.be/KLdSuKezMgs
Sandra Sii
2022.10.30
Christmas Zumba 2022
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This Christmas, I decided to give away my self-created Christian Zumba by Sandra Sii for free forever. A combination of 15 Stream of Praise songs and Zumba steps. I hope it can help you and the people around you to eliminate anxiety, depression and unhappiness through Christian Zumba within an hour. This is a permanent and indefinite Christmas gift 🎁 Hope it can turn sad people into joy. If you think it is helpful to you, if you like it, please share it with the people around you, so that other more unhappy people can regain their joy in an hour.
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How to attend class?
1. Prepare a bottle of water and a small towel to wipe off sweat. Wearing sportswear and shoes will be the most comfortable outfit for workout.
2. Regardless of left and right, follow me and dance like looking in a mirror. Pause the video between each song, drink water and wipe off your sweat.
3. Two hours after eating will be the most comfortable time for exercise.