Thursday, 10 June 2010

A helping hand out of the cycle of poverty

Many people in the world are born into poverty. It is not something that they choose, and many times it is something that they simply cannot choose to get out of. They grow up going to schools that have below standard equipment and a shortage of teachers. Most of them must drop out of school early on in their lives to help their family pay the bills.

Two years ago,we stumbled on a community in Ratchaburi that we believe God has called us to show His love to. They are a community of Burmese laborers, living and working on a construction site. Most of the children were born in Ratchaburi and have never been to Burma- yet they are not Thai. Though they are looked down on in Thai society, we believe that God has a special plan for each one of them. We have been working with the community in different ways over the past 2 years – mainly with the children.
We believe that if given the opportunity, certain people will be able to step out of the cycle of poverty. It is not everyone who has the strength of character to make such a change, but then, too few poor people are ever given the chance. In order for the children in the community that we are working with to stay in school for longer, families would have to have carry the burden of keeping them in school. This is beyond what they are able to do, but we see it as a way that we can help.

It only costs US$30 for one of the children in the community to attend school for a month. Only US$30 – but yet that US$30 is usually just too much of a burden to continue beyond 6th Grade for these families. There are 18 children that we are hoping to find sponsors for – to be able to attend school and to be able to have the opportunity to study further. Our hope is that given the opportunity,  that these kids will have the strength of character to begin to step out of the cycle of poverty. Would you consider giving that chance to one of these children?  Please contact us if you would like to have a part in this project: ratchaburi@ywamthai.org  or  bronnismith@yahoo.co.uk or take a look at our sponsor/prayer page to see more details on how to send donations to YWAM Ratchaburi.

The 18 children in need of sponsorship