Leukemia Treatment for Veasna

Written by my friend Mom Ravy:

INTRODUCTION

My name is Mom Ravy. I grew up in an orphanage in Sihanoukville, Cambodia with 200 brothers and sisters. While we might not be related by blood, we are family in the strongest sense of the word. Last month (October), we found out that my older brother Veasna has Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He is only 31 years old and has so much of his life left to live.

The worry and fear that we all felt when we found out our brother was so sick made us—his brothers and sisters, his family—start asking what we could possibly do to help him. There are no treatment options for him here in Cambodia. Right now, he is receiving one blood transfusion a week to give him the energy he needs to function, but it is doing nothing to combat the cancer that is raging inside his body.


Our brother needs to travel to Mumbai, India to receive chemotherapy. He plans to leave next week (between November 12 and November 16, 2019) as soon as his visa comes through. He will need to stay in India for three or four months and his medical expenses alone will be at least $30,000.  We are all giving him everything we feasibly can but we can only pool together so much money. With the short amount of time and the sheer amount of money to be raised, we need your help.


VEASNA’S STORY

Veasna came to the orphanage when he was only four years old. His dad passed away when he was very young. When his mother married another man, she left him behind with his grandma. Hoping he’d be better taken care of, his grandma left him at the orphanage and he never saw her again. I remember my brother as an active and musical, but naughty boy. He may have caused lots of mischief, but, boy, was he smart!


After completing high school and living at the orphanage for fourteen years, Veasna moved to Phnom Penh and went to university to study Information Technology. He taught English for a year and then got a job as the technology guy at a church.

It was here that he found his passion: video production. This passion has developed into a video ministry called True Media. He and his team of five create social media videos with the goal of telling people about Jesus. Because Cambodia is a Buddhist country, they find creative ways to share who Jesus is. His passion has developed into a dream.


VEASNA’S DREAM

Veasna dreams of having a video production company. He wants to make high quality movies that communicate the gospel message in a way that is innovative and engaging. He wants to have a studio to record Christian music in Khmer. He also has a passion for training youth. Part of the ministry through his production company will be to involve and train youth in all areas of video production.

 
Veasna was so close to seeing his dream become a full-blown reality when he found out he was sick. He and his team were one month away from being able to start working on projects. They even had a youth training camp organized when his entire life was put on hold because of his cancer.


YOUR PART IN VEASNA’S STORY

My brother has the dreams, the passions, and the abilities to have a significant impact on Cambodia and its youth. There is nothing more impactful than Khmer whose hearts burn for their own people. But the reality is, his potential is being blocked until he is healed. He believes in the God of healing and the God of miracles, and we stand with him in that belief. With medical treatment and our powerful God, we believe that we will see Veasna return from India to pick up on his ministry where he left off.

You can be a part of Veasna’s story. You can be a part of his treatment, his healing, his future ministry by giving. Please consider whether you can help my brother see his dream come true.


Thank you for reading his story. Please share this this page with your friends on whatever social media platform you use; my brother Veasna deserves to be known around the world, not just because of his illness, but because of his dreams, his faith, and the incredible life that he has ahead of him.

With love from Cambodia,

Mom Ravy