Back Shed Bible Study
Back Shed Bible Study
To the Depths and Back
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Gary Veerkamp is live with Cliff to tell his cancer story, near death experience, and how God carried him through it all.
Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/sunrisecommunitychurch
Watch live on Mondays at 10am: www.facebook.com/sunrisecommunityonline/live
Song: Fredji - Happy Life (Vlog No Copyright Music)
Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/KzQiRABVARk
Well, good morning, friends. Welcome to the Backshed Bible study. Today is the 3rd of August 2026. I am here in now what it would be my uh third iteration of a studio. I'm not in the shed. I'm not in my office. I am here live with my good friend Gary Veerkampf. We are. And we are in the prayer corner of the worship center here at Sunrise. So it's kind of a fun, a little bit of a different spot to be doing things today. And um, Gary, I'm thrilled to have you here with me.
SPEAKER_01It's wonderful to be here, Clinton.
SPEAKER_00It's it's fun. We we sat down at Pete's Coffee last week and had an elongated conversation. And at the end of it, I I just said, Gary, I need to have you come on Backshed and tell the story. And I'm going, oh no. Right? Exactly. Um, so I'm gonna do a couple of little points of order right now to be sure that I'm able to see your comments and that I'm able to block out the outside world because people start texting me in the middle of Backshed and it distracts me like nothing else. So I am um going to put us on sleep mode and uh do not disturb, and then uh and then hopefully I don't get any texts or anything like that that are coming through. So, because Gary, I want to be focused on you today.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_00So um, goodness, where do I start? Uh Gary is someone, by the way, uh, if you've been coming to Sunrise on Sunday mornings, especially over the last several months or last couple of months, we have been striving to tell more story, um, to tell more story about how God's working in different people's lives. And and this Sunday, this past Sunday, yesterday, um, you got to see a video that Luke made of my son Peter uh working up at camp and how God's been working in Peter's life, and um, and that's been really fun. And then along the way, we've we've talked to, we've had people share testimonies from the platform, and then we're capturing some in video form. So Gary and I are going to be sitting down in the next few weeks, and we'll we're going to capture more of his story to put it into a concise video that we can show on a uh Sunday morning. But I thought it would be cool to do this in a little more long form, uh, where a lot of them can hear what you and I talked about at Pete's the other day. So uh without any further ado, uh welcome, Gary Veerkamp. You are uh pleasure to be here. It really is. It's it's good to have you. How long have you and Nancy been coming to Sunrise?
SPEAKER_01To Sunrise since about somewhere around the end of 11, beginning of 12, somewhere in there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so about two years longer than April and I have been here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you that's just about exactly right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And uh and just to kind of set the stage for the whole conversation, uh how long, like when did you start following Christ? Because I think that that plays into what we're getting ready to talk about a little bit.
SPEAKER_01Uh well a lot. That's uh I'll I'll try and be somewhat brief, but it was a process. I mean, Luke talked about the process yesterday. My process, I was a longer seeker. Uh started actually with my youngest daughter Ann, who came to Christ before me, then led my eldest daughter Jen and my wife Nancy, and she kept saying, You need to come to church. You need to see this pastor. And I just didn't, I didn't, I didn't, I was resistant to you know engineering me. I don't need to see this pastor. I believe in God, but but I was disappointed by Christians. Right.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_01So I didn't want to do that, and uh finally just to shut her up. Okay, okay. It is true. She'll tell you. I went and saw this pastor Mike, who is still a very dear friend.
SPEAKER_00I had the privilege of meeting Pastor Mike.
SPEAKER_01Uh and uh, oh, this guy is he seems to be talking the truth as far from my perspective. Just a down-to-earth guy. So that started a one-year seeking process. I went to church every Sunday trying to see if this was real. I read the Bible twice. I read other documents, I read Mere Christianity and some other some other very informative books. And for me, of course, which I think for a lot of people, especially I think engineers who are technical and need to figure it out. Yeah, um I had to get over this resurrection thing. I it was just it was hard for me to grasp that Christ could have been resurrected after being is crucified. And I saw up at Hume with Ann a gentleman, I forget the gentleman's name, talk about what it meant to be crucified. And it was just horrific. And I'd never appreciated how horrific it was. And uh so I saw that and I said uh and but he was raised from that. How how do you do that? So after a year of of reading and and talking to people and and and going to the that church uh that we went to in in uh in Fairfield, we lived there at the time, had a God's kitchen. So I went there and helped every Sunday after church, but I wanted to see if they walked the talk.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01And my goodness, they did. Here's Christians who walked the talk who were who were quote unquote real Christian Christians the way I would envision that do what the thing says. Right. And so I said, okay, I guess I'm all in. So I became a Christian. I was baptized by Mike back in the mid-90s, and I'd to say I was a strong believer at that time, I wasn't. No, you're growing, but I was uh just like Chris Luke said, I was it took me years to grow to really become strong. That's a good 30 years ago. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's been I'd say the last 15 years I've been a much stronger Christian. The first 10 or 15, I was doing stuff, I was going on short-term mission trips, but to say that my strong faith was strong, I wouldn't say that.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, and to me, it's I I've had several conversations with people lately about this whole concept of what it means to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Like sometimes people think that you know they come to Christ at a certain point, and then that's just it. It's just that point. And everything's good to go from there on out, right? And we live out that process our whole lives. And as a lot of you that watch here know, I we've we've had these uh conversations along the way. It's uh Christian life's a hard life. And especially when lots of different things happen and hard times come along, especially when they happen in your family, and they happen in your family and they happen to people that you love.
SPEAKER_01Yes, they did.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and they have, and they have, and and they will, right? That's uh that's a another hard piece to it all. So um let's fast forward now several years. You've been walking with Christ, and um and and I'll and I'll use the word abiding with Christ. I think that's that's fair to try to, that's for sure. And if you get to know, by the way, if you can get to know Gary and Nancy. I I yesterday from the platform during announcements I was bragging on them, but stop by our information counter. I'm sorry, the welcome center. The welcome center, yes. This verbiage, right? Stop by our welcome center first Monday every month. First Sunday of the month. So I know that as executive pastor.
SPEAKER_01Oh, you're smarter than you look.
SPEAKER_00Right? No, we're working on it. Um, but stop by the information counter, you can say hi to Gary and Nancy. They're a lot of fun. And Nancy serves on one of our commissions here at the church. Yes, she does. They're very involved. So um, okay, so let's actually instead of fast-forwarding, let's just go back a couple of years. Um, you you had uh a cancer diagnosis.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, actually, it's get just a little bit before then.
SPEAKER_00Let's go before that.
SPEAKER_01So in the end of 2022, um, like November, December, it was pretty innocuous starting. I my nose started running like a sieve, and and I for no reason that I could tell, and I went to the doctor and said, What's going on? He said, Oh, it must be allergies or whatever. I haven't had allergies my whole life. Right. And that led to finally, along with, well, that led into the next revelation. I had gone in in around late February, early March of 23 to BSS for my left hip replacement, which I very much wanted.
SPEAKER_00And because if if you if you know Gary, like you know, Gary's kind of been walking with a limp for a little while. But I don't anymore. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_01I'm a bionic man.
SPEAKER_00See, this is what's fun, is my office sits in the in the office building over there, and I I have a view of the parking lot from my desk. So I see everybody coming and going, and I've watched you walking in over the first. And um, yeah, it's pretty cool to see today. But anyway, well, we're gonna get that story in.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I so I went in to get assessed um to have the uh hip replaced. And part of that is to make sure you're healthy for that. So they run a blood test to make sure you're not that you're well, and it came back with a high red blood cell count, or no, white, white blood cell count, excuse me, white. Said, you need to have this checked before we can do anything. I go, oh, darn. I I was I don't know how thinking darn, but that's I'll say darn.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And one thing led to another, and that led to finding out that I had kidney cancer in my left kidney. So uh in late April, I went in to have that removed and it went well. And um, for those of you who don't know, kidney cancer usually is localized to the kidney. So when you have the kidney removed, over 90% of people it's it's done.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, I was one of the few percent where it turns out it wasn't done. So I go home thinking, well, I'm done. But I keep not having energy. When this runny nose thing started, it started a process of losing energy and losing weight. When this whole thing started, I was around 175 pounds, and I just started losing weight and losing energy, and I kept going in trying to find out what's going on after the kidney was removed, and nobody could tell me.
SPEAKER_00So it was very visible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Oh right.
SPEAKER_00I mean, it was yes, you were you were shriveling up and plus being polite.
SPEAKER_01I looked like death warmed over by the time it was done. Um Nancy and I said, Okay, we're going into to ER, and we ain't leaving until they tell me what's going on. And this was around Nancy, may have this a little bit different, but I think it was like September, October of 23.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So this has been you you've been dealing with. Almost a year for almost a year.
SPEAKER_01No, I mean, no, I couldn't eat. I had I had no appetite. I'd throw up food. The most I could keep down, I was told Cliff the other day, was a hot dog in a bun with nothing on it. And that's so I was basically fasting for 10 months. Yeah. 12 months. Um, so I lost a lot of weight. I went from 175 at my where I started down to 125 when I was done. So finally they fit uh that when I through the process of going to the ER, they said, Oh, well, we see this lump in there, this small, and we don't like to look at the doctor said, and I said, Okay, so we went and did a biopsy and then it was cancerous. So we hadn't gone away. So I started in so it must have been late August. We started the end of August uh uh immunotherapy process, and this is part of Godwork. Immunotherapy had not been around very long. I think it had really been released for I'll say general consumption a couple years before I was using it. And um, so I started a one-year regimen of twice monthly treatments uh on different concoctions. Uh and and that went for a year. And during that process, uh at the end of 23, uh I was like they had to put a pacemaker because I was getting so weak that they were concerned about my heart. So I had a I had not a pacemaker, a heart monitor, excuse me. And had that for a while, and I kept passing out at home eating because I couldn't eat it, just food just did not appeal to me. I guess one time I passed out, I don't remember this. My heart dad, thank heavens, thank you, Lord. I had the heart monitor on. My heart stopped for 30 seconds. And fortunately fortunately, I had a daughter who was an RN, trained as an RN. She was no longer working as an RN, but she this is not the correct term, but I'll call it a heart massage. And she restarted my heart. Uh and they got me to the ER, and this was in in late December of 23. And they got there and they found out not only was I low on energy, but I had pneumonia. So uh they treated that, and in the process of being there, I don't know how long I was there, I was out most of the time. Uh they decided to put a pacemaker in, which I still have. Okay. And uh had to transport me to another hospital to have the pacemaker put in, then came back. I was in Roseville, most of the Roseville Kaiser come back and I wake up after having just a horrific nightmare in early January of 24 and um I'm feeling better. And food is And this is you're in the hospital. In the hospital, and hospital food is never exciting. But I actually started eating a little bit, not a lot, and I got better, and they released me to I'd go to a f care facility for a week, which I had to stay there at a place that was okay, but it wasn't home. Right. And so I eat ate some of their food, which is okay, but when I got home from there, all of a sudden I told Nancy, I'm starved. And I'd never been starved. Uh-huh. Starved, so bring on the food. I couldn't, before I couldn't eat hamburger, I wanted hamburgers, I want steak, I want I want everything. Yeah. Uh so I had my birthday, and uh my birthday's in late January. We went out to a restaurant and just I pigged out on a 16-ounce steak. So from that point, uh it was a real long process of recovery because then they didn't want me to gain weight and re-strengthen too fast because my hip replacement couldn't begin until I was off my immunotherapy program. Oh that didn't end until the end of August in 24. And so that that happened then, and a couple months later, in uh end of November of 24, I finally did have my hip replaced, and then I started real physical therapy recovery. So I've been truly recovering since uh the end of November 24, and I'm still recovering today. Today, I mean I'm I'm so much better. But it's it's just been such a process that he's been allowed me to do and given me the ability to do and giving me the support system to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's just been a process, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00Well, let's let's lean into that a little bit then. Um talk to me, talk to us about just like how was how was your walk with Christ through all of that? I mean, I could I could imagine all kinds of stages of disbelief or anger or uh and or you just lean into him and trust him the whole way through and it was great. You know, what can can you tap into that a little bit for me?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I can't. I mean, there was never anger. I mean what I saw all that he had done for me for my family and me over the course of the last 15 years when I was really walking. Not not sort of humbling, bumbling along, but walking. Um and I knew that he was in control, and I sure as heck wasn't. That was an understatement in all this. So I I I was never I was never mad uh at him. I was really concerned with why they couldn't tell me what was going on. And one thing I haven't told everybody, I haven't told you in this whole process. I finally found out in the in sometime in December of 23 that the reason I lost all this strength and weight, my adrenal plant had decided to take a vacation.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So this wasn't even related to the cancer. No.
SPEAKER_01Well, I don't know that. I don't know if it could have been aggravated by it, but it it's a separate problem from the cancer. So they started me on hydrocortisone, and I'm still on it today. I'll probably have to be on it the rest of my life. But that's really why I finally started recovering energy and strength and from being down to 125 pounds. I'm back up now. I'm about at 170. So I'm not sure. You know, but yeah, that that hydrocortisone has also saved me. But I was, you know, God, I never, I never screamed or shouted. I, you know, I knew that he was in control. I truly did knew he was in control. He was either gonna take me home, which I didn't, he knew I didn't want that. Yeah, he knew I wanted to go home. So I was either gonna go home or I was gonna go home.
SPEAKER_00So what was what was that like you know, being confronted with this? I mean, I could I could die.
SPEAKER_01We're all gonna do it, right? Yeah, I didn't I didn't want it. I'm not gonna lie. I I have stuff I want to do. Yeah, I have daughters I want to continue helping in their their own ways. Yeah, I have a wife I want to continue helping, and and she my wife's a pretty strong person, and she is pretty remarkable. She doesn't need a lot of help, truly, but uh emotionally sometimes she does, and and I that's something I can give her. Yeah. Uh and start physically helping. I for this whole process, I she was carrying a giant load.
SPEAKER_00I can imagine, and and she was going through a lot of things with her own mother at the time.
SPEAKER_01And uh to be able to help her after she helped me so much for two years, two and a half years, uh, I want to be able to do that and pay back some for what she's been able to give me and what my daughters have been able to give me. They both have given the whole family's given me.
SPEAKER_00And well, at the end of the day, Gary, I think, and I and I know your family would agree with me on this, and anybody that knows you well is um they they would probably do it a hundred times over for you. I mean, that's just you mean that much to people, and and you're kind and loving to people. And you know, I just even think, you know, myself from the day we met 12 years ago.
SPEAKER_01And hard to believe twice hard to believe it's been 12 years. Yes.
SPEAKER_00I know you're just you think the best in people and and you you love people remember. I like people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I do. Uh do I like them all the same? You know, I I don't like them all the same, but I do like them.
SPEAKER_00You know, we we all have our struggles. Um this is fun. Alyssa's who's watching along, uh, one of our regulars here, she says, God's hand in this man's life is boldly evident. Amazing testimony, God is good. And I know you'd give that in things.
SPEAKER_01I thank you for that. I I hope that's what I project. I I don't know that I always project that.
SPEAKER_00I think you do. I I I think you do pretty well. I mean, we all know our own struggles along the way.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Nancy could tell you.
SPEAKER_00Yep. Well And and in spite of those struggles, our our wives still stick with us.
SPEAKER_01Fifty-two years. Putting up with me.
SPEAKER_00Well we all have our things, right? Yep. Well, and that's the thing. I mean, that's we could lean into to that more, but we we don't need to, but at the same time, to just look and I I think if if I understand the timing right, you came to Christ somewhere in your forties.
SPEAKER_01Yes, in the mid-90s, yes. Yeah. Right around 40, 41.
SPEAKER_00And I think a lot of us have this perception that you you come to Christ at a young age and you kind of grow and you struggle during those younger years or college and and come back and and walk. And so it's it's not always somebody that's coming to Christ in their 40s. And uh a lot of a lot of us just kind of look towards the younger years, and yet regardless of the age, we should always be in a growth path and and teachable, and and you know, here you were in your 40s, and yet you would even say 15 years later, well, yeah, like Luke Fisher, they said, you know, you you germinate, which I took a long time germinate, and then you've and then the seeds sprout with the drip system watering.
SPEAKER_01And then you grow, but yeah my growing was slow, yeah. And then not so slow, but so I I I he what the way he described it, I was thinking yesterday, really fit me. Uh now everybody's different. Some people can sprout quickly, right? I mean, truly, I've seen people come to Christ and be and exhibit strong belief fairly quickly. I wasn't that way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I had belief, but I I would not call it No, I I get it.
SPEAKER_00And I think in in everybody's uh growth patterns a little little bit different, and some of that is that working out our salvation. It it happens over time, and and there are things that regardless of age, we're going to learn. And you know, I know I'm I'm in my mid-50s I'll still say mid-50s. I'm not gonna say late 50s yet. I know um, but uh uh I'm in, and as if as you all that watch along know, we we had this conversation a few weeks back. I'm in a a kind of fun growth pattern myself right now, and you said something that really hit me earlier is you just want to finish well.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I do.
SPEAKER_00And and that's that's where I'm my mindset's starting to shift from, oh, I want to have these things to show, accomplishments to show, and where it's it's way more, you know, I want my my time to count.
SPEAKER_01I want him to be happy with uh with what I did. And I've done stuff that he would not be happy about. But you know, if if you can help, it it's about following, right? I mean, uh and we all try to follow. Some don't, some, including me, don't do it well initially. Okay, but you can always get better.
SPEAKER_00So so let's talk about this. We're gonna go off subject here for a second. And by the way, Angie Bessenbacher, hello, Angie. Hi, Angie. Um, she says, thanks for sharing today. Um but uh let's talk about here. You are you're hanging out in your 70s. What what is you give me some advice as somebody that's almost 20 years older than me. Um not quite. Uh but like what what does it look like to follow Christ in this season of your life compared to 20, 30 years ago?
SPEAKER_01Well, physically it's different, yeah, of course. Uh when you're younger, I I did different kinds of short-term mission trips.
SPEAKER_00Right, you can go out and do more.
SPEAKER_01Do more. Nan Nancy and I both went to China several times, a couple times. I went to Mexico with my prior church who supported a uh orphanage outside of Tijuana seven or eight times doing construction work. And I could do that kind of stuff, more physical stuff.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Um I could not and would not want to do that now, especially want to do that now, especially given what I've been through. I now I've recovered well. Um, but I I would not say I have recovered as to to the same to be at the same physical condition point that I was when that started. I can get around well, I'm yeah, I'm just very happy, but it's not quite the same. So you have to refocus on trying to help people help people. Yeah. I'm more of a helper. I do that various ways. You do, you do that really well. I'm not a a physical doer as much. Like I I did work on b on toolbox crew for for quite a few years until COVID started. And then uh I didn't for I and I still have not yet. And now they've got a pretty big crew, so I They have a huge crew.
SPEAKER_00And it's it's kind of wild.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's good.
SPEAKER_00We have to give them their own budget. That's good. It's really that you've got that guys want to help. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it'd be something I we would come back to.
SPEAKER_00So I I see where I see your ministry happening is is way more relationally than than uh um you know doing a thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It has more with communicating and who you are with people.
SPEAKER_01On this latest ministry that we're supporting, I I and I've told Luke, Nancy and I both told Luke this that we could see us being people who people they could send people to for support for advice for or ministry support. Uh it would be hard for us to do some of the hands-on teaching that they're doing, but we could certainly do and I would like to do if when it's appropriate. Yeah. Because it depends on the person and what their needs are, whether what I have to give. I'm I'm a engineer by training, so I I know physical stuff well, and I know engineering and science and math and all that kind of stuff. I'm not a sh a shrink.
SPEAKER_00You're a Nancy's more of a you're a mechanical engineer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, and and yet I I see in you a lot of ability to really really relate well with people. I I don't I don't see you approaching people as an in from an engineering mindset as well.
SPEAKER_01No, well, you know what I did as an engineer is I ran large projects. So you have to be able to work with people.
SPEAKER_00This is what I told Peter. I said, you know, given that this is my son, that your relational uh That will serve him well for that. It's gonna serve you well. And and I said, you could end up being a a manager, like you could end up managing people and project leading.
SPEAKER_01Yes, he could. If he wants to talk about that, I would be happy. Let him know.
SPEAKER_00He very much could. You guys could hang out. I love it. Um fascinating. Well, we'll keep hanging out, we'll keep talking.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we will.
SPEAKER_00This is good. Thank you, thank you so much, Gary. This is this has been a huge blessing.
SPEAKER_01I hope I hope this helps somebody else.
SPEAKER_00I I guarantee it. I guarantee it. Hey, let's let's pray. We'll have a couple of closing comments and uh and we'll be on our way for today.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00All right, Lord, thank you um for my friend Gary, and uh just these these few times connecting in this last week has been amazing um for me. Um just getting into more of the depth of his heart. And I thank you how you have been with him for the long haul. And we praise you, God, for uh just what happened through uh an assessment going into a hip surgery that led to a cancer discovery uh that led to what was going on with the adrenal gland and and um Lord that he is uh being able to healthfully, healthfully sit with me today here and um and just testify to your goodness through it all. Um we praise you, Lord, and may you continue to work in Gary's life and his heart and Nancy, um protect their marriage, Lord, and uh and please continue to use them uh in how you choose to. Yeah, and would you do that for all of us, Lord? In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Um very cool. Um thank you, and I want to thank all of you for joining. Always want to say hi to those that that comment live um during the Facebook session that we have here. So, Candace, um joining us late. That's all right. You made it. Uh Barb, you're back here from Ohio. Glad to have you. I told you we probably have someone from Ohio. So uh Barb's here, Alyssa, and uh and Angie Melanie Eastman watching from the office. How about that? I love it. Um, right over there, watching on the job. You're allowed to do that at sunrise. Um there's there's one podcast you're allowed to watch on live.
SPEAKER_01Interesting selection.
SPEAKER_00Um I don't know what else I have to say here, but uh this is this is perfect. We ended right at a half an hour, so um that's great. Any last final comments? No, stop by the info count. Say hi to uh Gary and Nansen.
SPEAKER_01We'll be there this the last Sunday of the month and the following Sunday in September.
SPEAKER_00Beautiful. All right. Hey, thanks, hey, those of you here in the Sacramento area, stay indoors today and stay cool because it's gonna be a scorcher out there. Um that's all I have for now. See you next time. Goodbye.