Every now and then, you meet a truly inspiring person. One of these in my life is Anjuli Nayak.
I met her in Russia, when I was translating for the medical missions team she was heading up. That was the start of a 20-year friendship.
Born in India, she battled tradition to get an education, and succeeded in finishing medical school. She immigrated to the US, married, and built a successful allergy practice. It seemed that she had everything life could offer.
Then she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
This dreadful form of cancer is typically a death sentence in adults. With help of high-tech medicine, prayer and intervention from God, Anjuli has survived nearly five years since her diagnosis. The local newspaper recently wrote up a story about her amazing journey of cancer survivorship. She’s had relapse after relapse, but never losing her faith that God will see her through all her trials.
Over the last two or three years, I’ve been working with her, ghostwriting her memoir. We published Plucked from a Mango Tree this spring, in between her relapses.
If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, or know someone who has, this memoir can offer inspiration and encouragement.