October 14, 2002
Greer makes wish; retirees surprised
___By Orville Scott
___Texas Baptist Communications
___GLORIETA, N.M.--Eugene Greer surprised hundreds of participants at the Retiree Ministries Retreat.
___Two months ago, doctors told him he has inoperable pancreatic cancer. So, most of the retirees who attended the retreat in the New Mexico mountains didn't expect Greer and his wife, Elaine, to show up.
EUGENE GREER
___Greer, a longtime Baptist General Convention of Texas leader, has coordinated the annual retreats since they began in 1999.
___Doctors said anyone with Greer's condition has a life expectancy of about three months. As they sought to prepare him for an "absolute worst" diagnosis, Greer told them: "The absolute worst cannot happen to me. The worst would be separation from God. Nothing can separate me from God."
___After Greer's diagnosis, friends Diego and Juanita Guerrero, members of a Catholic church in Garland, asked him, "Of all the things you can't do because of your illness, what would you like to do most?"
___"Attend the Retiree Ministries Retreat," Greer responded.
___The Greers met Mrs. Guerrero, a native of Monterey, Mexico, when she came to the International Class at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. Elaine Greer became Mrs. Guerrero's English teacher.
___When the Guerreros' daughter, Sulyana, was diagnosed with leukemia and was treated at Children's Medical Center of Dallas for five years, the Greers became honorary grandparents to the family, and the relationship continued after Sulyana's remission.
___After the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas flew Sulyana and her parents to see Snow White, Mrs. Guerrero served with the organization as a volunteer. Then she was invited to become an employee.
___Early in September, the Guerreros informed the Greers arrangements had been made for the four of them to fly from Dallas to New Mexico for the Retiree Ministries Retreat.
___"Initially, we assumed we were guests of Make-A-Wish Foundation," the Greers admitted, "but we learned that the charitable organization helps children and youth up to age 18.
___"There are no words to express our feelings for the labor of love by the Guerreros."
___Not only were the Greers able to attend the retreat, Greer played the hymns "Have Thine Own Way" and "Without Him" on his saxophone during one of the services.
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