God’s Love in Action

By Tim and Huyen Bartholomew, serving with CAMA

bartEditor’s Note: CAMA—Compassion and Mercy Associates, the Alliance relief and development arm—provides a variety of practical ministries that demonstrate the good news of God’s love for all people—body and soul. CAMA’s outreach is accomplished through compassionate servants who minister through word and deed to those in crisis situations. The following is an adapted excerpt from a newsletter by a Tim and Hyen Bartholomew, a CAMA medical couple.

We spent a week in Cambodia to help Dr. Kent Copeland in his small clinic and operated on a few people sent to us by an Alliance field worker in Battambang. Our hope is that by doing this, we can augment and support the practical ministry and evangelism of Alliance and CAMA team members elsewhere.

The parents of a girl with a facial deformity had dressed her like a boy for years, probably because she wasn’t considered a “pretty, normal-looking girl.” In their culture, it is embarrassing to have an “ugly daughter,” but an “ugly boy” is more tolerable.

After she arrived at the hospital, her own relatives left her there alone, so the pastor and his daughter cared for her during the pre- and post-op stages. This is a great example of the church being “family.”

Since we operated on her, she appears very happy and apparently is no longer ashamed of her appearance. She continues to go to church faithfully and even attended a church youth camp.

We also operated on a boy with a jaw tumor. Through the care that he received, his heart has softened to the gospel.

These are just two examples of CAMA in action: combining word and deed to meet physical needs with the hope of opening doors to the gospel message afterward.

We are grateful for those of you who pray for us and who support us financially. Your support makes surgery possible for patients who otherwise would still be suffering. And as we have seen, once people’s broken bodies are fixed, their hearts can follow.

Learn More

 Click here to learn more about CAMA.
 Check out Alliance work in Cambodia.

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