Sofia de Guzman's 2nd (Final) Open-Heart Surgery

Most of you reading this will already be familiar with me, my ministry, and Sofia’s story. However, for the few of you who just happen to see this, allow me to briefly introduce myself and Sofia de Guzman. My name is Mike Morrissey; I am a missionary to the Philippines and the pastor of Truth Baptist Church of Dapitan on the Island of Mindanao. I, along with my wife Ruth and three children started TBC, Dapitan, in August of 2017.

In March of the following year, I had the privilege of leading Jedie de Guzman to Christ. His wife Marites also got saved on the same day. Now, 4 years later, Jedie is a valuable member of my staff. Though I’ve never given him an official title, he is in essence my office administrator, overseeing everything related to our church office work. Here is a recent picture of their family.

Sofia de Guzman is Jedie’s oldest child. She was born with an extremely complicated heart defect that was not discovered until she was 9 months old. Over the years since she was first diagnosed, the doctors have changed their official diagnosis several times as they have continued to make new discoveries through countless examinations and tests. Last year, the doctors finally concluded that she has Congenital Heart Disease, Single Atrium, Single Ventricle of Right Ventricular Morphology, Pulmonary Valve Atresia, Multiple Collaterals, and Aortic Regurgitation Moderate. Needless to say, I have no idea what that means, but it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that she has serious heart problems.

The truth is that Sofia is a miracle child. According to the doctors, she should not have lived past the age of two, yet here she is, nine-years-old, and stronger than anyone ever dreamed possible.

Last year, eight years into her miracle life, Sofia and Jedie traveled to the Philippine Heart Center in Manila where she underwent major open-heart surgery. Many of you reading this were praying for her and her family during that time. The surgery lasted nearly 8 hours and was deemed a complete success. The doctors repaired many different problems which I can neither understand nor attempt to explain. However, the end result was that Sofia’s blood oxygen levels improved immensely. Before her surgery, her blood oxygen was commonly 35-60% (95%+ is considered normal.) After the surgery her levels jumped to 70-80%! The difference in Sofia since the surgery has been extraordinary! When we first arrived in Dapitan, she could have been best described as languid. She was tired all the time, and the slightest exertion would wear her out in minutes. Since the surgery, she is a different girl. She is spirited and energetic. She has a sense of humor, and, at times, is downright mischievous.

That being said, we have known from the beginning that Sofia would need one more surgery in order to have a chance at a relatively normal life. THE TIME FOR THAT SURGERY HAS COME, AND I’M ASKING FOR HELP.

Last year, God did incredible miracles in providing for all the expenses of the trip to Manila as well as the surgery itself. The total hospital bill came to over 1.2 million Filipino pesos. At a 50-exchange rate, that’s somewhere around $24,000. While that may not sound like a lot when you compare it to medical expenses in the States, when you consider the fact that the average worker in Dapitan makes anywhere from $4 to $8 per day, you realize that is a HUGE AMOUNT! God used two politicians in particular, both of which have foundations for cases like Sofia’s. One gave 600,000 pesos, while they other donated nearly P300,000!

Unfortunately, the political landscape in the Philippines has changed, and things are looking very uncertain regarding the politicians God used to help us last year. However, our trust is in God, not in the men He chose to use last year. Psalm 118:9 says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” God is not limited this year by the methods He chose to use last year.

This past Tuesday afternoon, I was praying for helping and guidance regarding Sofia’s surgery, and I felt very clearly that God was impressing on my heart to ask for help. Many of our friends from literally around the world have been praying for Sofia for years, and I suspect that some of you would like to help her get the final surgery that she needs. I’m going to be very frank. I’M NOT ASKING YOU TO DO SOMETHING THAT I HAVE NOT DONE. Over the last three to four years, I have given thousands of dollars of my own money for Sofia’s medical expenses. I have not kept track of everything we’ve given them, but Jedie told me earlier this week that just the major expenses come to over 300,000 pesos (That’s over $6000). Thank you, Uncle Sam, for the Covid Stimulus Checks! God used them to save Sofia’s life.

Here's what we are hoping to do. We are hoping that we will be able to fly Jedie and Sofia to Manila sometime in early August. Due to a flight cancelation a few months ago, I have some money in a travel fund with an airline here in Philippines. I am allowed to transfer that money to Jedie, so we shouldn’t have to spend too much to get them to Manila. Once in Manila, they will have to pay for a swab test before being admitted to the hospital, and then there is just the expenses of living in a big city far from home. Once they get done jumping through all the Covid hoops, it will probably take at least a couple thousand dollar, and probably more, just to get the ball rolling towards the surgery, and I’m not even going to guess what the surgery itself will cost. Clearly this is far beyond anything that I can take care of personally, and I’m asking for financial help. This is not for me or my ministry. Every dime that comes in will go straight to the de Guzman family and their ever mounting medical expenses.

Well, I tried to be brief… and I failed miserably. I’m still a Baptist preacher.

Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help. God bless.