Joel and Heidi met and fell in love at PBC. After getting their associate’s degrees, they married and moved to Mexico as missionaries, serving with Joel’s church-planter parents, Phil and Judy Jaquith. While there, Joel recognized the financial needs of the ministry. A prophetic word, along with a lot of prayer, led Joel and Heidi to move back to Camas, Washington, to get involved in business to meet the needs on the mission field.
The first years were difficult financially, but Joel and Heidi felt a God-given joy in what they were doing and were able even to begin quietly giving towards some needs. “It wasn’t much,” Heidi recalls, “but it was to us!” Eventually, Joel got a job at a financial firm. His hard work and ability in finances paid off, resulting in numerous promotions.
In 2019, now a family of five, they accepted a job offer within the company that meant a move to Houston. Both Joel and Heidi worked hard, Joel at work and Heidi volunteering in the local school and their new church. Life was going well and God was blessing all they were doing.
Then Joel began feeling sick. Eventually, tests confirmed their worst fears: Joel was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia called AML leukemia. Joel was given only a 20% chance of survival.
The following years were brutal. As Heidi puts it with characteristic honesty: “The cancer journey was long, stupid, and terrible. When trauma comes, you WILL fall, but you get to choose if you fall forward towards the Lord or fall away from him. Our foundation from our families, PBC, and our relationship with God helped us choose to fall forward.”
Even in the pain, they could see God’s hand at work. They found out that the best leukemia center in the world just happened to be located only 40 minutes from their home. And when Joel needed a bone marrow transplant, one of his siblings turned out to be a 100% match.
Their journey of pain has radically changed their outlook on life and given them the ability to understand others’ hurt. “We understand dark seasons, depression, and anxiety. Many Christians can feel uncomfortable in a dark place, but in that valley, we felt the Lord’s presence. He was in the storm with us. As a result of all we’ve gone through, we know that when someone is hurting, sometimes they don’t need someone to offer a quick fix. They need someone to hold their hand and just grieve with them.”
Joel is now three years in remission. He is back at work and quickly making up for the time lost to cancer. Both Joel and Heidi are actively involved in their church in a variety of ways, including working with anti-trafficking nonprofits in Houston. Heidi is less than a year away from finishing her bachelor’s degree through PBC online.
Through it all, Joel and Heidi hold fast to a simple yet profound truth: “God is good. God is good to me. God is good at being God.” Their story reminds us that faith doesn’t eliminate hardship but carries us through it, offering strength and hope for the journey ahead.
