Dear CCAM Partners and Friends,

In January, we began the process of receiving some new CCAMS students. Following is the story of Naomi and John Chem (pronounced "chime"). Their story describes the type of difficult circumstances that all of our students have endured prior to coming to CCAM. Please pray for a smooth transition for the new students as they become part of our family.

Naomi Chem (age 7) and John Chem (age 5) came to CCAM from a desperately poor rural family. Their mother became a Christian years ago through contact with an English-speaking visitor from the West. When Naomi and John were born, she chose Bible names (in English) for her children.

The husband/father of the family was an angry person who routinely got drunk and beat up his wife and children. A few months ago, his attacks on them became more and more brutal. At that time, he fatally wounded his wife, who was 7-months pregnant. The auntie of the children rescued Naomi and John and whisked them away to another province to hide them from their father. But when he realized that his wife might die, and he might be charged as her murderer, he fled far away to hide himself from the police. The auntie's son carried the severely wounded woman to a hospital, where both mother and baby died.

The auntie, who is a Christian, is also desperately poor and cannot provide for Naomi and John. But God led her through a mutual friend to bring them to join the CCAM family. When the children first came to us, they were malnourished, had weeping sores all over their bodies, were infested with lice and worms, and were still emotionally traumatized. However, just a few months of prayer, love, nutritious food, and medical treatments have already yielded positive results in their lives.

Please pray for these children (especially Naomi, who still suffers from some strange liver ailment), and for all of us as we care for them in the love of Jesus.

Many blessings,
Gioia and Noren