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

Phai Tola's finances for surgery have been met... Praise the Lord!

Dear Friends who gave and Friends who prayed!

We just wanted to let you know that the full commitment to pay for Phai Tola's surgery has come in.  About 15 individuals committed to help with this need and we know that a lot more prayed for this provision.  This is amazing in that the request for the funds for his heart surgery went out less than 24 hours before the full need was met!

Phai Tola

Thank you so much for your partnership with us in this way and for your ongoing prayers for Phai Tola's surgery.

For those who contributed, as the details regarding the time for the surgery are nailed down, I will send you a quick email.  You may also check this blog if you would like updates.

Thanks for giving this young man a second chance at life.

Dave and Chris
_____________________________________

Original Email Request -- NOTE:  These financial needs are now met:

Dear Friends:

In 17 years serving in Cambodia, we have never made a direct appeal for medical help for an individual.  That changes with this email.  There is a 23 year old man named Phai Tola (picture attached) from a village about two hours away from Phnom Penh.  He and his family are very poor.  He was referred to David by one of our Cambodian pastors who is planting a new church in that area.   David met with Phai Tola, prayed with him, and referred him to a Christian clinic with which we have a close relationship called Mercy Medical Center (MMC).  This is not an uncommon occurrence.  We probably refer at least 50 people/year to this clinic and have given limited financial help to hundreds of poor people over the years to get medical care.  It just comes with the territory of being a missionary in Cambodia committed to loving our neighbor. 

MMC examined Phai Tola and referred him to a Christian organization called Jeremiah's Hope who helps with severe medical cases in Cambodia.  After that assessment, MMC contacted me again with the medical report in the email below... 

Bottom line, this surgery costs a bit more than $3000 and should save his life.  He should have the surgery within two weeks.  We believe we should help but do not have these funds in hand.

If the Lord should put it on your heart to assist with this need, even with a small amount, could I ask you to take the following two steps:

1.  Make a donation to the Christian and Missionary Alliance for the "Manfred Work Fund". 

This gift can be given online at

https://www.cmalliance.org/give/online-giving?project=1-47100-%20%20-%20%20-46436&projectName=David%20and%20Christine%20Manfred&projectDesc=Work

or it could also be given by check made out to "The Christian and Missionary Alliance" and designated with "Cambodia, Manfred Work Fund" sent to:

The Christian and Missionary Alliance
PO Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935

Please be aware that, as per C&MA policy, 15% of your gift will go to the Great Commission Fund which provides necessary ministry support for C&MA workers.  

2.  Inform me via email that you have sent in a gift and the amount of the gift so I know when we have received sufficient funds for the surgery. 

I will not receive these funds in Cambodia for at least a month so I need to know via email that we have sufficient funds committed before I can authorize this surgery.  You can inform me by responding to this email address.

Of course we are thankful for your faithful giving to the Great Commission Fund which is our foundational support for ministry in Cambodia.   We would not want this gift to in any way diminish your regular church or missions giving but if the Lord puts it on your heart to help with this emergency medical need, please take the two steps listed above.

If you can not help with a financial gift at this time, we certainly understand and would appreciate your prayers for God's provision for Phai Tola's surgery instead.  I will be sure to send a follow-up email to report on what has transpired.

Thank you,  Dave and Chris Manfred


-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	patient
Date:	Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:55:13 +0700
From:	mary kluck
To:

Dear David,

You may remember referring this young man to MMC for assessment of his heart problem. He has severe congenital heart disease which is making him feel very unwell and is threatening his life. He has been seen by the cardiac surgeon at Jeremiah’s Hope and he advises as follows:

1.      The heart defect (mainly a hole in the atrial septum) can be surgically corrected here.
2.      The cost of surgery is around $3000 (I expect additional costs will push this number up a bit – e.g. blood, post-op care, medicines….)
3.      After surgery, Tola can expect fairly normal function and life expectancy.
4.      If surgery is delayed, there will soon come a time when he cannot be helped by surgery. (This happens when the abnormally high flow of blood through the lungs does irreversible damage.)

With all this information now sorted, it is clear that he should have surgery as soon as possible. He consents to have the surgery but of course cannot fund it.

I am writing today to people I know who might be able to help with funds and would ask you to do the same. Please make this an urgent request. If the money can be found, I am hopeful that his surgery can be done in the next 2 weeks or so.

Thank you very much.

Yours sincerely,

Mary Kluck

Manfred's Cambodia Christmas

We are so thankful to have Joel and Janelle visiting us for Christmas in Cambodia!  The C&MA helps missionary kids with one trip back to visit the country where their parents' serve and both Joel and Janelle decided to take their trip this year.  What fun for us!!!!

The Ultimate Missionary

The C&MA Cambodia Team

A Very Merry Christmas!

A word not often associated with Christmas is "missionary". But in fact, that has EVERYTHING to do with Christmas!  A missionary, of course, is one who is sent on a mission.

We can honestly say that Jesus came on a mission.  The angel said to Joseph:  "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 -- NIV).  His mission was and is to save us from the punishment of sin.  This was and is Good News.   Jesus truly was Heaven's ultimate "Missionary".

Jesus' Great Commission has the word mission right in it.  The Mission that Jesus had on that first Christmas has now become our mission...  to point people to the Savior.  Particularly going to those places where people have no opportunity or limited opportunity to hear this Good News...  places like Cambodia where about 99% of the people do not yet know the Savior.

Chris and I are so thankful for the privilege of joining with Jesus in His mission to Cambodia.  It has now been more than 10 years since we started serving as the Field Director couple working with the C&MA Cambodia team of about 40 missionaries.  By God's grace, we have seen significant impact for Christ and His Kingdom.

As those who have supported us in prayer, we would like to share a few ministry highlights from 2011 as an encouragement to you as our partners in ministry:

• The C&MA Mission helped establish a church planting training program with the Cambodian Alliance church where more than 40 volunteer Cambodian church planters are fanning out throughout the country to start groups of Christians where there have never been any before...  Since this program started in 2010, there are more than 20 house churches that have been started in unreached areas.
• More than 250 Cambodians are enrolled in the "TEE" leadership training program for church leaders around the country.  In addition, 17 students are studying full-time in the Elim Rural Ministry Training School.  It is exciting to see Cambodians being trained up to lead the churches and to eventually work the missionaries out of a job!
  
• In November we received official permission from the Cambodian government for five churches in Ratanakiri province of Cambodia.  This is an area where the number of churches has grown from 0 to more than 30 in the past 12 years.  This has also been an area with a lot of persecution against Christians.  This permission is very significant because, of the 30 churches in the province, these five are the first to ever receive official local and provincial recognition. 
• Medical professionals on our team (2 doctors and 2 nurses) literally helped thousands of Cambodians in need of medical care...  combining medical expertise along with the compassion and care of Christ.  In addition, pretty much everyone on our mission team, oftentimes at personal sacrifice, has assisted people too poor to receive medical care to get the care they need.  This doesn't get reported much, but it is something that happens VERY often.
• CAMA Services is working with the mission to support an ambulance ministry in Banteay Meanchey province.  In 2011, our staff conducted more than 300 ambulance runs, trained Cambodians to successfully operate an Emergency Medical Services program throughout the province, and donated one ambulance to a remote area that has never had an ambulance before.
• NewHope schools helped more than 400 children, mostly from very poor, sometimes destitute, backgrounds, to learn reading, writing, arithmetic, and the Gospel.  Most of these children are now believers and have hope for a brighter future than the one into which they were born.
• We have two families on our team who are translating the Bible...  one into the Bunong language and the other into the Kuy langauge.  It is a thrill to see these people groups beginning to receive the Bible in their own language for the very first time.
• At the national church youth conference in April, more than 700 young people attended.  Some of them made first time commitments to Christ and many of them responded to a call for total surrender to Christ.
• Missionaries working with our team have had the privilege of leading hundreds of people to Christ this past year...  from a very high government official to a very poor person dying of AIDS...  and everything in between.

Please pray for the following:

4 Generations of Manfreds, August

• Many Cambodians have already made professions of faith at Christmas services around the country.  Pray for open hearts at the remaining services yet to be held (up until Jan. 1) and for appropriate follow-up for those who, through faith, have experienced the true meaning of Christmas.
• On a couple of personal notes, we are so thankful for the prayers and support we have sensed from so many as Dave's dad went to be with the Lord earlier this month.  We had a great chance to see him (along with our first grandson, Caleb) in August.  Thanks for your ongoing prayers for God's grace in our lives.
• That the Great Commission Fund (GCF) of the Alliance will prosper, allowing for greater Kingdom advance in Cambodia and around the world.  

As the Lord leads, please continue giving to the GCF.  Funds can be sent 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!  

We’d also like to appeal to anyone who has never given to the GCF to consider starting.  It is through the GCF that many hundreds of Alliance workers, and their vital ministries around the world, are supported.  We are able to continue our ministry, and live in Cambodia, only through the GCF.  Thanks so much for considering this!

We appreciate you standing with us as we bring the Mission of that first Christmas to the peoples of Cambodia.

In Christ, Dave, Chris, and Jenna

Faith in the Flood

Worship in the Flood

Dear Prayer Supporters:

Thank you for your prayers for Cambodia.  We would ask you to continue to do so as Cambodia is experiencing the worst flooding in many years.  More than 200 have lost their lives and the rice harvest has been significantly impacted.  In areas where the needs are the greatest, our missionary team and CAMA services have been assisting with emergency food supplies through several local churches.

Cambodia is a low-lying country and much of the country is what we would call in the West, a flood-plain.  That is one of the reasons why many Cambodian homes are built on stilts.  However the floods this year have been much worse than normal.  The flood waters have gone higher than the stilts in many of the homes near the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.  This particularly affects the Vietnamese minority who tend to live on these rivers.

One of the ministries of the C&MA Cambodia Mission is called "NewHope" ministries.  This is a ministry focused on the million plus ethnic Vietnamese people who live in Cambodia.  The number of Christians amongst the Vietnamese in Cambodia is much less than 1%.  NewHope currently has 8 small churches amongst the Vietnamese living here.  Two of these churches have been under water for four weeks. 

In the midst of this hardship, it is encouraging to see the faith of the faithful.  A few Sundays ago, one of our missionary families from Australia went out to see how the "Prek Kdam" church was doing.  Even though the water had risen above the height of the stilts and the floor in the church was flooded, they found that the faithful had still come to worship.  They all came in boats and tied their boats together in front of the church where they worshiped, shared in communion, listened to God's Word, and prayed. Since the church flooded four weeks ago, they have been gathering together in their boats in front of the church every Sunday.  

Serving the Lord's Supper

Their testimony reminds me of Jesus words in Luke 6:47-48: "I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."

These are people, who in the midst of the personal challenges all around them from the flood have chosen to built their "house" on the solid Rock of faith in Jesus. What a great reminder and testimony to the fact that whenever the "floods" of life come, there is a Rock to which we can cling.

We are thankful for the testimony of God's people. This church was started a few years ago through the faithful witness and testimony of C&MA missionaries who continue to invest in developing new leaders, strengthening this church, and doing the same in many more places like it. Thanks for your support in prayer for the people in Cambodia who are being impacted by the flooding but even more significantly, thanks for your prayers and support for our missionary team and Cambodian believers who are helping the peoples of Cambodia to understand that there is a true Rock upon which they can cling when the inevitable floods of life come. This is the eternal need that only Christ can address.

In addition to your prayers, your support through the Great Commission Fund helps to keep us here impacting the multifaceted needs of this land. Giving can be done through your local Alliance Church or online at www.cmalliance.org/give

Thank you for helping us to be here and serve here in these times of need.

In Christ, Dave and Chris Manfred

23 in 18

Dear Praying Friends

Please look through the following list:

1	Lweah Kaum (Kandaal)	Sarun	Mar-10
2	Lweah (K. Chnang)	Taon Ton and Preap Kain	Mar-11
3	Pum Plong	Njol	Apr-10
4	Koh	Theun	Apr-11
5	Teah	Theun	Apr-11
6	Pum Jo-Aan	Seeuw Haing	May-11
7	Pum Peak	Seeuw Chol	Jun-11
8	Pum Kohl	Chuel	Mar-10
9	Camka Kabah	Bin David/Kum Een	2011
10	Ang Tosoum/ Kum Tosool	Bin Navi	2010
11	Bat Num	Pauw and Sokun or Theun	Oct-10
12	Sambua	Tea, Houng and Tuck	May-11
13	Lweah (Varin)	Seiha	Sep-10
14	Chuk Sohh	Hein Moch	Jan-11
15	Anlong Veng	Phearum/Srei Noi Church	Mar-11
16	Srei Noi	Nhorn	May-11
17	Rung Wean	Camraen and Kam Pui	Mar-11
18	Bay Domraam	Tree	Mar-11
19	Kabaal Crobei	Chung	Mar-11
20	Pum Puyou	Mimi and Oreang	2010
21	Trean	Can Ton/Elim Bible School	2010
22	Srei Amboung	Cin Tan and Klum	2010
23	You Ondeang	Cin Tan and Tea	2010

What are all these strange names?  The first column is the name of a
Cambodian village/town that now has a group of believers meeting weekly
to study God's Word and worship.  18 months ago,  none of these
communities had a Christian presence.  To re-emphasize... since the
beginning of time, there has not been a Christian presence in these
places...  at all...  but praise God, over the past 18 months, there is
now.

The second column has the name of the Cambodian Church Planter(s) who
took the initiative to get each of these new groups started.  The last
column is the date when this new group was started (all within the past
18 months).

Three years ago the Khmer Evangelical Church (KEC--the name of the
Cambodian Alliance Church), asked the C&MA Cambodia Mission to help them
strengthen and expand their church planting ministry in Cambodia.  The
table above is the fruit of these labors.  With encouragement and
training from the C&MA Cambodia Mission, the KEC has started
house-churches who meet weekly for worship in each of these 23
communities...  this means that over the past 18 months, on average,
more than one unreached community per month has a new Christian presence
(house church).

In addition, there is ongoing work to start new house churches in many
more unreached communities.  One of our Alliance missionaries, Erik
van't Ende, is working with 47 KEC Church Planters who are being trained
and are actively taking steps to start new churches...  Just a few of these
church planters receive some reimbursement funds for their travel expenses but
none of them are paid by the Mission to carry out this work.  They are
donating their time, talent, and treasure for this work out of their love for Christ.

When we see this long list of names, it is merely an obscure and
meaningless list.  In reality, each of these names represents a unique
place that now has an active house church where people are learning
God's Word each week and coming together to worship the Lord.  Each of
these communities represents hundreds of families who, until recently,
have never had a Christian presence near them.  Each of these names
represent people who are now "within earshot" of God's Word and are
able to see Christ's transforming power through the lives of their
friends and neighbors who have become Christians.

The Cambodia C&MA Mission is one of the leading voices within a
movement called "MK2021".  MK2021 means "Mission Kampuchea (Cambodia)
2021.  It is an inter-denominational effort to see a Christian presence
(typically house churches) established in every village in Cambodia by
the year 2021.  It is a God-sized vision since there are 14,000 villages
in Cambodia and less than 3,000 of them currently have a Christian presence.

There are a lot of things being done today that are popularly promoted
in missions...  medical help in the developing world...  helping women
and girls in danger of being trafficked in the s-x trade...  having short-term
teams come to assist with English or other felt needs...  providing
education to kids who have never had the opportunity to receive a decent
education...  helping widows and orphans.  The Cambodia C&MA mission is
also involved in each of these good and important initiatives.

However, in my opinion, the most significant area where we as a mission
can be involved is seeing people come to Christ and grow as His
disciples.  The rest, as good as it is, must be secondary to Christ's
Commission to make disciples of all nations.  I have been Field Director
over the Cambodia Alliance field for ten years.  I have seen it over and
over again that people change destructive behaviors and patterns after
they have had a radical encounter with the living Christ.  THAT is why
starting groups of believers in unreached communities is foundational to
any lasting change.   This ministry, to be long-lasting, can not be
done without a deep understanding of local language and culture.  It is
best done in close partnership with local Christians who have a proven
track record of integrity.  These are some of the reasons it is so
important to have long-term missionaries serving in Cambodia.

I want to thank you who come alongside us in prayer.  Thanks also for
giving to the Great Commission Fund.  This is what enables our team to
be here for the long-haul to bring the Gospel of Christ to the peoples
of Cambodia.  I am not ashamed to say that your investment in prayer and
sacrificial giving is making an eternal impact for Christ in this land...
Praise God for 23 house churches birthed in unreached communities
over the past 18 months!  We can not do this without you.  Bringing the
Gospel to the unreached of the earth truly requires a partnership between the
sent ones and the ones who send.  Your support for the Great Commission
Fund can be given either through your local Alliance church or online at
www.cmalliance.org/give.   At the website, you can designate your gifts
specifically to support the ministry in Cambodia if you would like.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership to come alongside us to bring
Christ's light to the peoples of Cambodia.

In regards to Praise and Prayer needs:

Praise God for a wonderful Field Forum conference in July with our
Cambodia Alliance missionary team...  We sensed that God's Spirit met us
and we also had encouraging and supportive connections between our
missionary team.  Our team has now grown to about 35.

Praise God that we will have the joy of meeting our first grandson,
Caleb Manfred, as we travel to the US for vacation in August.  We will
also help our daughter Janelle get settled into life as a freshman at
Crown College.  Finally, we will most likely be saying our earthly
farewells to Dave's dad who is in hospice care.  He is 93 years old and
knows and loves the Lord.

Please look through the list at the top of this email and pray for the
evangelism and discipleship that is happening in each of these
communities (the names in the first column)...  God knows each place and
each soul.  Your prayers can impact hundreds of families in each
location as the Gospel is beginning to take root in that community for
the first time ever.

Please look through the list at the top of this email and pray for the
names in the second column...  These are the names of the Cambodian
volunteer church planters who are bringing the Gospel to unreached
areas.  Pray for their strength, wisdom, and perseverance as they take
on this pioneering work of evangelism and discipleship...

Pray for open doors for the Gospel and for the other church planters who
are being trained to bring the Gospel to still more unreached
villages...  that the vision of MK2021 would be accomplished through us
and others.  Our desire is to see a sustainable church planting movement
that will truly transform Cambodia for Christ.  We appreciate you
praying with us towards these ends.

Thanks again for being our senders and partners in Christ's Call to the
unreached in Cambodia.

Dave and Chris