Help fill the bucket for the Ahn's

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Update from Yohan: (March 27th)

First, I want to express my deepest gratitude for those who have given aid to my family’s time of great need since arriving in Orlando, Florida. It has been a very long and dark journey. Your aid has given us hope, as well as preventing eviction, water/electricity being on, and much needed relief while fighting for our daughter’s life and recovery. Ultimately, you’ve shown us, we are NOT alone. I wanted to take a moment to update some important information that gives some answers to the past 2 years.

Cause of sickness: There was a reason why our Faith got so sick and was hospitalized fighting for her life. There is a reason why the recovery took over a year and a half for Faith. A reason why Jackie miscarried months into being in Orlando. There’s also a reason why everyone in my family fell ill so often, including our dog. Here’s why:: We’ve been living in high levels of myotoxins for 2 years that caused so many chronic illness and pain. Three separate companies confirmed it. We tested positive for high levels of ochratoxin A, and other mycotoxins. In our house and in our bodies. This has been incredibly painful to realize as it was due to a huge part of negligence on the landlord.

Immediate relief: Thanks to a very generous friend we were able to relocate to a rental nearby and begin recovering from toxicity. During the move, advised by the mold expert, we discarded all porous items that were not washable (couch chairs, mattresses, certain duvets, books,and lots of other household items). Unfortunately, our insurance did not cover anything pertaining to mold. This was another trigger point for us as we had had been robbed of things before and lost many material possessions before.

HOWEVER, we have seen positive changes the past few months since we moved out. No more frequent ER visits! Jackie’s chronic pain and dizziness has greatly subsided in recent months. (She’s been dizzy for over a year now.)

What the funds are for: We continue to need aid to cover for medical expenses (800 a month) for treatments. Funds to recover some of the discarded items advised by microbiologist mold experts. (See pic) Even simple things like lampshades. Preventing displacement from our current place, while I retain odd jobs. We also have some immediate vehicle repair needs that need attending.

Employment Update: I could not have imagined taking this long to find employment! It has baffled me and my family and friends. I’ve networked beyond count, physically knocked on doors, applied to over 700 jobs. (I’ve actually lost count, it’s approximate) What I've been doing: I’ve been picking up odd jobs (gardening, mulching, delivery services) while creating space for interviews and networking. I’m physically knocking on doors (hospitals, universities, businesses, companies) meeting with people and networking locally. There’s been some very promising jobs that have fallen through for me. I’ve also studied and got Security+ certification to see if I can widen my scope of employment opportunities. I’m leaving no stone unturned. I’m not gonna lie, it’s been incredibly difficult and discouraging.

Final thoughts: Ultimately I am my family’s keeper and caretaker and provider. It has been extremely humbling to experience again and again how my best falls so short. I understand why people want to quit life, or run away. But I cling on to hope. Cling unto God. Our major “earthquake” happened over two years ago, but the “aftershocks” have kept us in need. We have immediate needs post escaping from the toxic mold. We need your help. Please feel free to reach out to know more. If you also are facing impossible situations please reach out. We’ve learned a things or two through our long suffering. Let’s journey together! Thank you so much!

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Yohan

16th November 2024

I talked to Yohan today (we are in regular contact)..and he is in a good headspace after being turned down for a role he was verbally offered. He is back out there applying for work and to a much wider field than before.

So please keep up the support, especially in prayer. He definitely needs a good door to open wide for him, and the courage to step through it.

We can all make a difference by looking after him at this time, so that he can focus on getting employed as soon as possible.

Hearfelt thanks for those who have donated, and those who are going to donate.

I will keep on updating this...please read below

Last month we visited Yohan and Jackie as they had been through a financial, physical, emotional and spiritual crisis.

The story behind this is brutal and could not have happened to a nicer couple.

So I am setting up this page to help them to cover the most basic of costs till mid January.

That is 3 months at $3800 = 11,400, I have added $1,100 to help with moving costs

Total $12,500

I have known Yohan for about 20 years, he is the most amazing Christian man, trained pastor, evangelist, and friend. He has always been an inspiration to me and I am certain that this whole experience is going to be used for good. He has gone through so much testing, far beyond what we can humanly cope with yet he is full of so much love and passion for the Lord and for his family.

Please help them URGENTLY as they have no reserves left.

I have copy pasted below the back story from a gofundme page that Yohan put up last year....it was after reading this that we decided to visit them when we were in USA for or sons wedding ceremony. Since then Yohan has applied for over 300 jobs and had no success until he recently reached out of state...He is expecting to be employed by Mid January God willing!

From Last years Go Fund Me site

Short Version:

Humbly Asking for aid for Crisis Relief for my family. Robbed of everything we owned by national moving scam, robbed and cheated in our business, then a life threatening illness almost robbed us of our daughter who was hospitalized for a month, and with many other ongoing crisis that has led to great loss financially, physically and psychologically. We’ve lost: our home, our belongings, our business, all our assets (saving, cash, retirement etc) We are seeking relief help as we work to get back on our feet. Thank you.

Normal version

I have resisted doing a GoFundme as I felt unless you are on the streets or homeless the need is not as dire or legitimate. (Although i have lost count of calling the bank to request overdraft fees and seeking loose change for a few items at the grocery store) My reluctance is also because I’m aware that many of the people around the world are greatly struggling to make ends meet these days. Even more, I have read family’s being displaced from their home, evicted, electricity being shut off, water being turned off, natural disasters, wars….So I want to be sensitive to these realities as I seek help for my family. However, what finally led me to this point to seek help (after yet another kind friend’s prompt) is the clarity that I cannot do it alone. I see the desperate need for aid for my family. The long suffering of my family through the relentless crisis and trauma that has plagued my family for multiple years has broken us over and over again to where we need aid outside of our own scope.

If my words move your heart towards compassion please consider helping my family recover.

Currently I am unemployed (as of October 2023) and working to change that situation. But let me briefly take you in our journey which has shaped us, changed us, humbled us significantly.

This week marks one year since our second daughter returned home from the month at the hospital after being diagnosed with FIRES (Febrile Infectious-Related Epilepsy Syndrome). This rare illness is a life threatening illness with poor outcomes (death) for most children with surviving children suffering neurological impairment. Miraculously, Faith not only survived but do not have neurological impairment! We are beyond joyful and grateful to God for sparing her life. However her long recovery has absorbed everything we had and more, leading us to further debt.

In the precursor to this last year, my family has had an unusual multi-years of crisis. A few years ago (2018) we were robbed of ALL our belongings in our move by a national moving scam, with no insurance help. I remember the image of my wife at 8 months pregnant with my youngest daughter sitting on an air mattress, wondering how we were going to set up the nursery. We suffered great loss, financially, materially and psychologically. It was hard to believe and difficult to know how to proceed. Not long after, we were robbed by our tenants during Covid, where a tenant did not pay rent for 18 months (taking advantage to the eviction moratorium law) and destroyed our property, ruining the entire business and putting us in debt. (Ironically they did this after we cancelled their initial debt and lowered their rent). There are too many other hardships to name with other unexpected medical expenses (paid out of pocket) and hardships, where we had finally used up all our assets, savings, sold our home, closed down business and liquidated everything we had including retirement and any cash reserves we’ve had to cope with these crisis. Now we have no assets or resources to lean on except prayers to God… which has lead me to seek help this day.

Beyond the financial toll, our crisis had taken the biggest toll on my humanity and my spirit. As things got very very tight, my marriage struggled, disillusioned and wondering what God is doing and why this was happening to us and for so long. I had much shorter fuses, extreme fatigue and exhaustion. Even the smallest fever on my sick child would trigger my body in sweats remembering our trauma at the hospital. I know for certain my marriage would not have survived if not for the hope God provided. (So much more to this story) At times my wife and I individually thought it would be easier if we could end our lives. This seemingly never ending hardship finally led me to a dark place of hopelessness a few months ago. What became clearer was that every effort to change our circumstances were met with the severe ongoing aftermath of hardship.

What the fund is for and how I would use it.

Over the past year I neglected many non-urgent matters, in order to attend to the urgent medical matters with time and resources for our daughter. These non-urgent has become urgent. For example the auto mechanic tells me I can no longer delay some major repairs on the car for safety, including replacing the bald tires. There are also medical equipments needed to help aid Faiths continual recovery. Other needs include rent payments, water and electricity and bills for the next 3-4 months until we can establish a few income sources for ourselves. We are close to establishing at least one part time gig as of now (end of Oct). Yay!

We’ve lost our home, lost our business, lost all our assets, savings, retirement, and even our health… and I was on my way to losing my relationship with my wife and Kids (no joke). But Gods in his kindness has given me the courage and strength to say “hell no!”. My oldest tells me that I have changed since I stopped trying to fix things myself. :) but now as we seek to regain hope and recover from our great losses we really need your help.

I’m not asking to pay for our debt. Rather 3-4 month of aid to help us get back on our feet and some very needed funds to repair our vehicle, some medical bills and purchase medical equipments and buy some clothes for my three daughters who are quickly outgrown their current wardrobe. There are some expenses cause by our Medical crisis we experienced this past year as well. This would immensely help us to get back on our feet: establish income sources (including new employment) to sustain our family to pay rent/bills/for.

Thanks for being curious enough to read this much. Reach out if you want to know more. And thank you so much for your willingness to help!