Tanya Unkovich (TU) was happily married and living with her husband Phil in New Zealand when on Phil's 48th birthday, he got a call that changed his life and set them on an unplanned journey. Today, Tanya is here to share with us their story of faith and hope on a journey of triumph in life and death. Tanya has a book entitled, Unplanned Journey. Dr. Schuller (RHS) interviews Tanya.

RHS: My guest today is Tanya Unkovich. She's a beautiful girl and a wonderful Christian. Tanya was happily married and living with her husband Phil in New Zealand when on his 48th birthday, he got a telephone call. It would change his life and set them on an Unplanned Journey, which is the title of her book. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Well she's flown in all the way from New Zealand at her own expense to be our guest this morning, and to share from her heart the story of faith and hope on a journey of triumph in life and death. So please welcome with me, beautiful, inspiring Tanya Unkovich.

Tell us about the telephone call on your husbands 48th birthday.

TU: We were about to celebrate Phil's 48th birthday. We were with my mother and father, and he was about to cut into his cake when we received a phone call that we'd been waiting for, for a few days now from his doctor. And she told us that the results of the tests that Phil had been having for the previous two weeks were actually cancer.

Now two weeks prior to this phone call, Philip told me that he had a lump under his arm. And he said it won't be anything, but I'll go to the doctor. Deep in my heart, I had a very bad feeling about this, so for that whole two weeks I had "it is" or "it isn't." So that telephone call confirmed for me that it was cancer.

RHS: Wow. And you're in the house with your parents. What did they say? What did they do?

TU: Well nobody else knew about this. When Phil originally went to the doctor, he said this must be our secret and he didn't want us to tell anybody. I actually couldn't resist so I told three girlfriends because the pressure was too much for me. So my initial reaction when we got this phone call was of panic and absolute fear.

So my parents were just astounded at what was happening to their daughter. They had no idea. So within a couple of sentences, we told them and their response was disbelief, absolute disbelief. "Not our Philip," they said.

RHS: How much time did you have with Philip from that moment till his passing breath?

TU: Only five months. Just five months.

RHS: And how did those months evolve and what did that do to you, your faith and to him? Was his faith still strong?

TU: Our faith got stronger. It got so much stronger.

RHS: Why?

TU: Because we knew that our life was in the hands of God. And there was nothing else we could do but to actually hold our hands up and say Your will be done, God. This was something that was far too great for us and we knew that ultimately God's will would be done, so we just stood by Him the entire way.

RHS: Wow.

TU: So our faith did become much stronger.

RHS: You have a beautiful faith today..

TU: Thank you.

RHS: You wrote the book?

TU: Yes. It was actually a book, though, that Philip wanted to write.

RHS: Before he had cancer or after he knew he had cancer?

TU: Once he was diagnosed, he started writing quite a detailed journal about his process and what it was like for him living with cancer. And as the months came along, he actually started to express more of his feelings and his prayers and his talking to God within his own words. And on his death bed, he actually said to me "Tan, make sure you bring in my journal tomorrow because this will be good for my book." So I knew deep down that he wanted his story told.

RHS: So it's out in bookstores now?

TU: Yes it is.

RHS: And you flew all the way in from New Zealand?

TU: I did. I arrived on Thursday and I'll be actually flying home tonight, so it's been quite a journey.

RHS: How did you know about us in America?

TU: Well we have the Hour of Power in New Zealand, and I watch the Hour of Power quite often. My mother watches it every week while she's getting ready for church, so hello to everyone in New Zealand. The Hour of Power is one program that I do get a lot of joy from and quite interestingly, during my time after Phil passed away, I actually had some quite inspiring words by your self one morning.

I was really struggling and I prayed "Lord, You show me what to feel today." And I turned on the Hour of Power and unfortunately I don't remember what verse it was; I think it's in my book, but something that you said gave me incredible strength that day, so it's quite an honor for me to be here with you.

RHS: Wow. Well thank you to all the people who make this ministry possible. Tell me, how have you handled Phil's passing? He had some favorite words. Tell me that story.

TU: Well in New Zealand we call people either mate or brother or something like that. And within a couple of hours of Phil's passing I was at his bedside and I had a photograph of Jesus at the end of the bed. And I would often say to Phil, "Phil can you see him?" meaning Jesus and he said "yeah, He's my mate."

RHS: That's good.

TU: He often referred to people as his mate. And one day, about twelve months after Phil passed away I was walking past something we've got called the rose gardens and my heart filled with sadness because that was a special place for Phil and I. It was where we actually got married. And I was talking away to Phil and I wanted to burst into tears. And at that moment I looked to the left and there was a car parked on the side of the road with a number plate and it said, "Jesus is my mate. Is He yours?" And at that moment I just felt this joy in my heart. My tears were changed to joy because I really felt his presence and I felt so taken care of.

So since his passing I've had many examples where God has shown to me that I'm okay, I'm being taken care of and that there actually is nothing for me to fear.

RHS: If Phil were here today, what would he like to talk about? What would he like to say?

TU: What would he say? Well he would probably put his hand on your back and he'd say "brother, never give up. Never give up on faith, never give up on hope, never give up on the power of prayer." And he'd probably call you his mate, because that's what they do in New Zealand. He would just try and instill in you every possible bit of strength to get through any trial in life without fear.

RHS: Touch her, Lord, in the tender spot. You know where it is in her heart, in her mind, in her memory system. Touch her. Thank You for her faith; it glows, it sparkles. And thank You Father for her witness, Amen.

TU: Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This interview was conducted by Robert H. Schuller from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power October 11, 2009.