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