Being Light...

Jesus said:  "Let your light so shine..."

Sometimes just living in a developing country like Cambodia gives unique opportunities to show Jesus' light in a place that still desperately needs that light...  In that regard, three recent events come to mind:

• You may remember, Phai Tola, the 23 year old young man we wrote about last month who needed life-saving heart surgery. He was a new Christian and the surgery cost $3,000...  far beyond the means of his family to provide.  Through the generosity of believers around the world, the funds were raised for his surgery.  His open-heart surgery occurred on Thursday.  He is still in intensive care but the cardiac surgeon reported that everything went normally and he has strong hope that Phai Tola will live a normal life.   The surgery almost didn't happen.  David went in to pray with Phai Tola on Wednesday afternoon, the day before the surgery.  The family reported to him they had just learned of a problem that would delay the surgery.  In Cambodia, people are hesitant to donate blood because they believe  that when they donate blood, it does not get replenished in the body.  Phai Tola needed to have 5 units of blood before they could do the surgery.  He had lined up five relatives to donate the blood however, when they went to donate blood, the blood bank (the national blood bank for the ENTIRE  country) reported that they did not have any type O blood (Phai Tola's type).  Of the five relatives enlisted to give blood, only one of them had type O blood so the blood bank told Phai Tola's family at 4 PM that they had to find four more people to donate blood that night to be able to do the surgery the next day.  Phai Tola's home is about three hours from Phnom Penh so they needed to find strangers in Phnom Penh willing to donate the blood.  We prayed about this and David made some contacts with some Christians in town and, miraculously, within a few hours, we were able to find 4 more people with type O blood who were willing to donate that night.  Phai Tola's surgery then went forward the next day without incident...  being light.

Srey Kooit and Her Great Aunt

• About ten years ago we had a cook who worked with us by the name of Jia Tea.  She stopped working for us many years ago and we lost touch with her.  We just learned this week that she died from cancer in our old town of Battambang.  She was about 45 years old.   Tea's husband deserted her many years ago but she had a nine year old daughter, named Srey Kooit.  Tea also had a great aunt in Phnom Penh who was a Christian and whom we knew because she attends one of the C&MA churches in town.  After her mom died, Srey Kooit came down to Phnom Penh to be with her great aunt but her aunt is quite poor and in her 60's and she did not feel she could adequately care for Srey Kooit long-term.  The great aunt did not know what to do but she prayed and as she prayed, she said the Lord put David and Chris on her mind.  She called us and we immediately thought of Marie Ens' (retired C&MA missionary) "Place of Rescue" orphanage outside of Phnom Penh.  We know this orphanage well and they do a great job of caring for the kids, in a strong Christian environment, along with having a strong school program that can take an orphan all the way to college         level.  After making a few contacts, the people at the orphanage were very glad to take in Srey Kooit.  Yesterday  (Friday) the great aunt wanted to express her thanks so she brought Srey Kooit to meet us before she took her out to the orphanage for the first time.  As we talked with them and prayed with them, our hearts went out for this young girl.  Her young life is going through huge changes, and we all know it.  In the midst of this, we were so thankful that she had a good and safe place to go.  Because of the ministry started by this retired C&MA missionary, Marie Ens and the good people who work with her, Srey Kooit will have a new home where she will be loved and have far better educational opportunities than she would have had otherwise...  being light.

• A few weeks ago, David was traveling by bus to northwest Cambodia.  It was about a 6 hour bus ride.  David likes to ride the bus because there are ALWAYS great opportunities to talk to Cambodians about Christ.  There are very few westerners who speak the Cambodian language so the question always comes up, what are you doing here and why do you speak our language so well?   That of course gives great opportunity to talk about Christ.  On this particular trip, a 29 year old Buddhist monk in his saffron-colored robe sat down next to David.  He was from one of the leading temples in Phnom Penh and was working on a college degree in Computer Science...  a very sharp guy.  His name is Kooem.  As they struck up a conversation, the inevitable questions came up.  David had opportunity to share his testimony and they talked non-stop for hours about the differences between Theravada Buddhism (the branch of Buddhism that is practiced in Cambodia) and Christianity.   The conversation was always respectful and open.  When David shared that as a high school student, in looking at nature, he had come to believe that there must be a Creator God.  Kooem replied that Theravada Buddhism does not believe there is a Creator God...  but then he went on to say that he has often times thought there may be a Creator God.  He also told David he was planning to leave the monk hood and asked David if he could give him a Bible.  Since that initial meeting David and Kooem have had additional email/facebook dialog back and forth and are setting up a time (hopefully this week) to meet together to give him a Bible...  being light.

Thanks for your partnership with us in bringing Christ's light to Cambodia.  We could not be light here without your prayers and support.

Prayer Requests:

• For Phai Tola's rapid and full recovery from open heart surgery...  and that he would take this new gift of life and use it in service for his Savior
  
• For Srey Kooit as she settles into her new "home" and to experience extra touches of God's grace and love in the midst of her loss.
• For Kooem and David to meet this week and that the Lord would work in his heart to bring him to faith.

For those who would like to support our ministry, you can donate to: The Christian and Missionary Alliance, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500, clearly marked: "Manfred Support".  Donations can also be made online at www.cmalliance.org/give  Thanks for considering coming alongside us in this way to help share the light in Cambodia.

Surgery Postponed

Just to let you know that the cardiac surgeon has postponed Phai Tola's surgery until May 25.  My understanding is that, as the only cardiac surgery facility in Cambodia, there were more urgent cases that came up which necessitated this delay.  I will send an update after the surgery.

Update on Phai Tola's Surgery

Phai Tola and his mother

We just wanted to update you on Phai Tola.  His heart surgery is scheduled for Friday, May 11 at the Heart Center here in Phnom Penh.  This is the only hospital in Cambodia capable of doing this kind of procedure.  We met yesterday with Phai Tola and his mother.  We told them of the sacrificial giving many people had made to help him with this need and they expressed their profound thanks for your generosity.   We had good opportunity to pray with each other and for the surgery. 


The story of how this all came about is quite remarkable.  There is a new C&MA house church getting started about 2 miles from Phai Tola's home (about 3 hours from Phnom Penh).  The volunteer Cambodian church planter somehow made contact with Tola and led him to trust in Christ a little over a month ago.   He made his commitment to Christ before he knew there would be any possibility of medical help.  His health had been poor for many years and he knew that he needed a Savior to give him hope for eternal life. 

It was through this church planter that we were eventually introduced to Phai Tola.  We sent him to the CSI clinic for evaluation and then on to Jeremiah's Hope for further evaluation for his cardiac needs.  This is a young man who knows that all of this has come about because of his choice to trust in Christ.  When we met yesterday, he shared with us that since becoming a Christian, he attends the small house church every week and is praying and reading from the Gospels in his Bible every day. 

For those who are medically inclined, the cardiac surgeon connected with Jeremiah's Hope, Dr. Ti Sopheap, said that his heart surgery will involve three elements:

1.  Patch the hole between the Right Atrium and Left Atrium (Atrial Septal Defect = ASD)

2.  Replace the mitral valve (below the Left atrium) - his valve is really stiff and doesn't open properly

3.  Repair the tricuspid valve (below the Right atrium) - his valve is dilated and floppy and doesn't close properly

Thank you so much for the part you have played in this through prayer.  There were also many who gave for a stranger.  The funds for this all came together within 24 hours of the appeal.  Amazing!  Thank you as well for your ongoing prayers for the specific surgical repairs being planned for May 11 and for the recovery that follows. 

This young man has been given an opportunity for new life...  again.

In Christ, Dave and Chris