She’s Here!

After a very long 9 months, Mayah (Hebrew for “close to God”) Marie Chan finally arrived on January 7^th, 2010 at 12:35am! With another 2 day labor and emergency c-section, I guess you could say we love to keep things interesting! But boy, was she worth it! What a beautiful, healthy, little girl we have! Thank you Jesus! Mel’s mom and dad came out to welcome Mayah into the world, and mom even stayed 3 weeks to help get me back on my toes!

Movin’ Forward…

Our community is made up of 3 different slum areas from all over Phnom Penh. Those with legal papers received a cement block home, but over 450 families remained homeless and lived in tarps in front of our community. Finally after a year of petitioning, these families all received legal documents and their own plot of land 55 kilometers outside the city. So late December, they were forced to move again, but this time PEACEFULLY and with much rejoicing! 110 of these families came from the slum where we worked…so we will miss them so much but we are so excited they finally have their own land!

Socheat’s Story

Ree, a woman from the slums, married to her second husband, was told she would lose her baby if she didn’t have a cesarean section. She had been bleeding for 2 months. Now at 8 months pregnant, she was extremely malnourished, living under a blue plastic tarp in extreme heat, 20 kilometers outside the city of Phnom Penh. She had been attending our cell group for that past 5 months and came to ask for prayer. Unlike most men from the slum, Ree’s husband was by her side, taking her for check-ups, calling our team for help, and supporting his wife every way he knew how. In spite of the doctor’s diagnosis, one evening under that little blue tarp, little Socheat was born, a week before her scheduled c-section.

A beautiful little girl weighing only 2 kgs born with cleft pallet. Often times in Cambodia, if a baby is born with a deformity, it is considered a curse, a sign of a bad past in a previous life. All circumstances tried to steal this baby’s worth away, but Ree and her husband knew their baby was a miracle from God. They love and care for Socheat so much! Because of your help, we are able to provide milk powder each month as Socheat has trouble breastfeeding and was becoming extremely malnourished. One lady who visited even mailed special nipples for her to suck more easily! This family is so grateful for all the help they have received on Socheat’s behalf. Thank you!

Time for a little one-on-one!

With the new year has come a new vision to reach out to the community! So we still have our normal ministry times in the morning but now the team stays in the afternoon for tutoring and Khmer classes. It has been a shock to see how far behind some of the kids are in school because they’ve never had anyone sit down with them and actually show them how (as most of their parents are uneducated as well). So it is a joy for us to offer some one-on-one time and hopefully give them a chance to excel!

As I write this, all my little ones are in bed, Tim is prepping for his teaching tomorrow, and I can’t help but smile and sing, “God is my VICTORY and He is here!”

With Love, The Chan Fam

Oh, Victory in Jesus!

Thank you ATCC!

Father’s Day! We saw this as an opportunity to honor and challenge the young fathers from the slum to rise up and take care of their families. Preparations started weeks before, as we got the kids ready to perform songs, skits, and lessons from their English Classes. We also prepared 120 gifts for all the children’s fathers and special rice porridge and fruit for an expected 350 people. After 5 years of working with this community, it was our first event ever to focus on the fathers. We were very excited!
We arrived 2 hours early to find all of our 100 kids plus some added siblings ready to help. We set up tents, tables and chairs for the meal; signs, pictures, and balloons for the program, and laid down plenty of plastic mats for everyone to sit on. By the time the program started, we had over 200 people crowded in our house, but not one father. After some quick prayers, we started the program, trying to think of ways we could change the theme to “family day.” But just as we were preparing the change, 11 fathers walked through the door, with a few more standing to watch from the back! So we kept our theme and had the fathers come up front to receive encouraging words and gifts from their kids. All of the kids yelled “thank you, Pa!” and then we all stretched out our hands and prayed blessing over them! The men were so honored! You could see them looking at their children with so much pride…most of us were in tears!
Lots of food followed the event, and although things didn’t go quite as planned, we knew there were about 15 fathers who went to bed that night thinking about their families! This is why we do it… and YOU are how we do it! None of this ministry would be possible without your prayers, your encouragement, your giving, your love, your hands!

When one of our hometown churches visited in April, they left with a burden to help anyway they knew how! So they dressed up, baked desserts, put together videos from their time here, asked area Asian food restaurants to pitch in and put together a big fund raising dinner for our team. They raised over $7,500 for a ministry van. So we can not only bless our team but the people we work with! One day while we were taking a group of moms and their kids for vaccines, the ladies commented after riding in the van for the first time, ‘Teacher, God really knows how to take care of us!” Amen! Thank you ATCC!!!

GO DEEPER B4 WE GO WIDER!

That was the challenge given to us by one of our speakers during our staff retreat. We are expanding fast, but unless we go deeper in our walk with Jesus first, we will lose out on the impact we can make for His Kingdom! So we are examining the quality and goals of our projects and seeking God how we can bring His BEST to the people!
We were able to send two of our staff for special training on Child’s Rights and Family Values…so at the end of this month we will be hosting a special seminar to bring awareness to our “Victory Community.”  We are so excited to watch our team grow in confidence and leadership!

With Love from the Ends of the Earth,

Tim, Mel, Luka and lil one!

Happy Khmer New Year (April 14-16)!
The streets are empty in the city, as everyone has traveled to home provinces to visit family and make offerings of luck to their ancestors for the new Cambodian year. Rom. 12:2- “But be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is…!” We’ve sensed an urgency to declare the Gospel amongst the people of New Land (esp. those evicted from their homes)…but we are also challenged to let our faith give opportunity for God to prove that it’s REAL!

So, as we received donations, we passed out shoes, mats, mosquito nets, meds, tarps, etc., telling them that it wasn’t from us, but a God who cares…the same day, there were thunderstorms and they were protected from the rain! We visited the sick and prayed for one lady burned from ankle to thigh, she has slept soundly every night since! We sat down with the elders to let them ask about Jesus and many lies have been broken! They are SEEING the GOSPEL! Lets give Him more opportunities to move!
Tim Goes to Hong Kong!
Never in a million years did Tim dream he would be traveling alone to other countries to speak for Cambodia and the Gospel…but here he is! The team that visited us last November had it on their hearts to raise awareness of the needs in Cambodia in Hong Kong. So they hosted a huge dinner party and asked Tim to come out and speak! After much convincing, Tim agreed, and with great courage and faith, sang and spoke on behalf of his people!  We are so grateful for the new team behind us!
Babies, Babies, Babies! Due to lack of sanitation where families were relocated, pregnant women are at high risk. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to pay for hospital births and vaccines for all new-borns! A midwife also volunteers with us once a week to give check-ups. 3 of the mothers have joined our cell group every week!

Praise and Prayer needs:
1. Dr. Carroll Wallice and Will Wilson (from our first Ministry Partners!) are finally able to come next week to see their prayer and investment in ACTION!
2. My brother, Will, is leading a mercy team outreach here in May!
3. We will try and have a Movie Night in the New Land to show the “Passion of the Christ” and continue our evangelism outreach.
4. Tim and I feel led to MOVE out to New Land…become a part of the community we are fighting for! Please pray for the write timing, proper housing, and a car. (Cars are more expensive here than the States as they are all imported, so we need wisdom how to invest and  save a few more bucks;)
With Love from the ends of the earth,

Tim, Mel and Luka Chan

Forced To Move…

Just two nights ago the slum that we have worked in for 5 years was raided and completely evacuated. A large army of men came in with tear gas and sewage water and sprayed the entire area. Families were loaded into trucks with nothing but the clothes on their backs and drove 20 kilometers outside the city and dumped on the land we now call “The New Land.” Although, we knew these families would have to move in time, we had no idea it would happen like this. What little these families had: photographs, mattresses, clothes, mosquito nets, money hidden in walls, was completely destroyed. Even the earrings were ripped out of the womens ears!
As we arrived on the scene, people we knew came running up to us telling us their stories. One lady handed me her baby and said, “Please take her, I have no food to give her!” Another lady just held on to me and sobbed. It was so surreal…people who had nothing in the first place, forced to an even greater disgrace of having no home.
This week we are headed for outreach in Siem Reap to join friends who have started a home for girls who want to leave the brothels. We will run training programs for those who have become Christians to learn about teaching kid’s club and bible studies, and we will also take time to encourage the new girls and give testimonies of God’s transforming power, as well as pray for the missionaries who are serving them full time!
At first we thought we should cancel the trip and minister to those being moved to New Land…but we feel peace that God wants us to continue on this outreach for one week. We hope some relief organizations will help with food and clothes, and when we get back we can focus on helping them long term. We will get with the families to start support groups, community surveys, bible studies, help kid’s get enrolled in local school, help with small business loans, getting the kids involved in kid’s club and extra curricular activities…fill them with hope that God has a plan and they are not alone!
This is the time to preach the Good News, bind up the broken hearted, and show them they have been set free! Isaiah 61. Please join us in prayer for these families, as well as for our team, that God would fill us up to pour out on those He Loves and has been waiting for so long! Let’s pray in the Kingdom of God!!!

december08

Holidays

You talkin

Happy Thanksgiving! We’re thankful for…

Moto Helmets

Ring Worm Meds

Rice Crackers and Popcycles

Shoes

A washing machine

BBWorld and Lucky

Family and Love that NEVER fails!! We miss you all!!!