Prison ministry

This week we went to teach the Bible for 2 days in the local prison. One of the prisoners brought his friend to me and said : "We need a word of encouragement. We are both HIV positive." I sat down and talked to them and shared the Gospel and His love with them. No matter who these men are or what happened to them, God loves them. They gave their lives to the Lord that day. They are so hungry to know God more and He is the only hope that they have. Please pray for them.

 Another prisoner wrote a letter to me saying that he will be released from prison this Friday. He wants to go to church. He wants to serve God and he wants to come back to the prison to share about God with the other prisoners. Isn't that amazing?

God truly loves each of us. No matter where we are at, or what we have done. His love is unconditional and cannot be held back by the walls of a prison.

December 2010

The month of December is always a busy one for us and this past December was no exception. We ran 2 of our own Christmas parties, and lent a helping hand in many more that other people were organizing. We also hosted our second camping trip, and were part of organizing the first joint Christmas event in which almost all of the local churches in Ratchaburi participated.

Burmese Christmas party
This year was the third year that we have had a Christmas party in the community of Burmese laborers that we minister in. This year we had mainly non-perishable food items to distribute, as well as a some larger items for a few of the families. Friends from many churches in Ratchaburi and outside of Ratchaburi worked together to help make the evening a success and a good time was had by all. At the end of the evening many of the people in the community responded to the message of the Gospel. After three years of working in the community, we are sure that God is working amongst them and we continue to look for ways to show His great love for them and help them to learn more about how they can know Him more.

Mentally handicapped Children's Home

Our second Christmas party this year was in a Home for Mentally Handicapped Children. A friend of ours helped us to be able to buy pizza for each child - something that most of them have never had the chance to eat before. They played games and had fun, and learnt about God's love for them. We do not know how much the children understand about the Gospel, but we do know that God loves each of them incredibly and we want to be a part in showing that love to them.

The Lord's Tents camping 2
This time, instead of just the Burmese kids that we took camping last time, we were also joined by another 15 children from the slums in Bangkok. Our friends at ARK international and Kings Kids Thailand did a great job teaching and coaching the kids- loving on them and having fun along with them. The camp was a great success and it will definitely not be the last that we host.

Christmas day
On Christmas day, Noiy was on the military radio station sharing about the real meaning of Christmas. It was the third time that he has been invited to share on this particular radio show, which is broadcast to 12 provinces in Thailand. We are so thankful for this open door and pray that they will continue to invite Noiy to share and that the hearts of the listeners will be open to the truth.

Ratchaburi Christmas Event
Our hearts were filled with joy on the day when we finally saw the churches in Ratchaburi working together towards a common goal. During the 5 years that we have been in Ratchaburi, it has been heavily on our heart to see the churches begin to work together. On the 28th of December, the churches gathered to host a Christmas event - the numbers of people that attended greatly exceeded expectation and we are certain that the churches were encouraged by the outcome of the day. Our prayer is that this will only be the start of greater unity.

Every event that we hold, every camp that we host, every time we speak on the radio, we have expenses that we must cover. We want to say a special thank you to those friends that support us and our ministry financially, particularly over the Christmas season when there are so many events that we participate in over one month. Thank you for helping us to make a difference in the lives of the people here! 

Rice Seeds library

'Books can be dangerous.  The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life."  '~Helen Exley

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."
Dr Seuss

When one ministers in a poor community there are endless things that you can do to show the people that you care for them. Our number one desire for the people in the community of Burmese laborers that we minister to is, most definitely, that they each one of them would come to know Jesus Christ intimately as their Lord and Savior. However, there are many other desires that we have for the community - one of those is that we desire to see the children being allowed to stay in school for longer, being allowed the time to have their world view broadened and possibly have a  chance of getting a job somewhere other than the construction site that their parents work on. Leaving school at age 12 is most often the norm in this particular community, and when the children leave school and begin to work, their childhood abruptly comes to an end long before it should.

There are 18 children in the community that we raise support for on a monthly basis in order to help their parents to keep them in school through our Child Sponsorship Program (Read more about Rice Seeds Child Sponsorship Program). Not every parent understands the importance of staying in school - in fact very few of them do. For them, taking their children out of school when they are old enough to begin to earn money for the family means another salary to help to lift the family financial burden.

We know that we cannot keep all of the children in school. We can provide help for those families who decide to keep their children in school, but ultimately the future of the children is in the hands of their parents. We can however encourage the children, and the community as a whole for that matter, to continue to learn even when they are not at school, or are no longer of school going age.

We have begun collecting books and some toys to set up a small library in the community. Very few of the children in the community have ever owned their own toys, and it is unlikely that any of them have books of their own. We have been given a room in the community which we will decorate and make into a special place in the Burmese community. We will begin with the decoration of the room at the end of January and will continue collecting toys and books to add to the small collection that we have started.

We have some lovely English picture books, and we would like to be able to purchase a number of Thai books too. We believe that  books can give the kids in this community a lot of joy and a glimmer of hope - as well as a way to continue learning while they are not at school. If you would like to be a part of this project, you can give online at : http://www.ywamthai.org/donate/?to=Ratchaburi

(Please state that it is for Ratchaburi and specify that it is for the Rice Seeds Library)

or for other ways to give, please contact us: ratchaburi@ywamthai.org