City of Praise Cancer Research Foundation

About us

The City of Praise Cancer Research Foundation (COP CRF), a Non-Profit 501 (c)(3) Public Benefit Corporation, was formed in 2016, Los Angeles, California, USA by Alexander (Lody) de Ridder, Tom Saras and Dario Sunga, MD. The purpose of this foundation is to raise funds for charitable, educational, medical missions & research activities, and to build the 1st. hospital on the premises of the City of Praise, Kalimantan, Indonesia. The hospital would serve several purposes: one as a community hospital and second as a cancer research facility for clinical trials that will be spearheaded by Dario Sunga, MD. We currently have a small clinic to support the orphanage and school but with the addition of a hospital, we can do so much more to serve the people, children and community who are in need of medical care. Educational cancer prevention and wellness programs is also part of the agenda.

Specifically, our mission is to provide critical funding to support an innovative direction in cancer research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention and treatment of various chronic and grievous or terminal diseases. The program we envision is to enhance and augment the current scientific research activities currently being globally by various institutions towards the search of alternative ways aside from the extensive mainstream BioPharma research activities currently being done.

Background Information

Pastor Alexander (Lody) de Ridder  is the founder of City of Praise Tiberias World Outreach Organization in Los Angeles, CA. In 1994 Lody also founded City of Praise World Outreach in Kalimantan, Indonesia (aka as Kota Pujian). City of Praise in Kalimantan currently has a church, orphanage, kindergarten, grammar school, middle school, high school and a dormitory to house 150+ children. In 2008 Pastor Lody took his City of Praise congregation in Los Angeles and merged with Pastor Larry Walkemeyer from Light and Life Christian Fellowship, N. Long Beach, CA. This merger has expanded their mission goals. Pastor Larry currently has established churches in the Philippines, Mexico, and Ethiopia. The mission continues until today.

Cancer. In 2010 Pastor Lody was diagnosed with a rare disease of Non-Hodgekins Mantel Cell Lymphoma Cancer at the 4th degree. He has undergone numerous Chemotherapies. Peggy de Ridder, spouse of Pastor Alexander, was also diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2015. Peggy de Ridder also has undergone Chemotherapy and surgeries. Both have been battling this disease for sometime now and continue to fight it.

Because of these reasons, the COP CRF was established to raise funds to immediately build the hospital. The plot of land has already been allocated and prepared to build the 1st hospital at City of Praise (Indonesia) to start the research and clinical trials, to improve people’s lives until a cure is found for this disease. The clinical trial will be spearheaded under the leadership of Dario Sunga, MD.