KFC Christmas

Every year for the past 4 years, we have had a Christmas party in the Burmese community near to where we live. This year, we won't be in Thailand over Christmas, but still wanted to do something for the kids in the community.

A fun meal together at KFC and some games in the arcade. It may not seem like much of a Christmas to some, but to these kids, just a little love and attention, along with a luxury that they are never really afforded, goes a long way. Sometimes Christmas memories at KFC are just what you need when facing the hardships that life has for the kids in this community.

Thanks to everyone that has been a part of our Rice Seeds program this year. For the volunteers, the sponsors, the visitors, and the prayer partners - thank you for having a part in helping us touch the lives of these children throughout 2012. We appreciate you!

The Lord's tents Camping #4

Every year, we take a group of children camping. This is never an ordinary camping trip and these are by no means any ordinary children. These children come from circumstances that many other people never have to face. For some, they live in a place where they will never truly belong - born as the child of a migrant worker, never having set foot in the country that they are citizens in. For others, their struggle comes in the form of family - for whatever reason their family could not properly care for them, and they have been placed in a children's home so that they will be able to complete their studies. Often people in situations like this grow up feeling unknown, unimportant, unloved.

Each child's situation is different and yet they all have something in common. They have all someway, somehow, through someone discovered the truth of the Gospel and the great love of Jesus Christ. In previous years we have watched children on our camp grow steadily. This year we watched as many of the children who were so young when we started hosting the Lord's tents camping 4 years ago, now confidently lead group devotions, sharing passages of scripture with the younger children.



One of the highlights of the camp was a 3 hour hike. Each group had some local children in it who lead the group on a journey to find different species of plants and animals. Through thorn bushes, up mountains, often off the beaten track, each team journeyed together. For the children from the slums in the cities and towns, this was a new and exciting experience. Even the local children expressed their joy in walking with a goal in mind, often having walked these paths before, but never having thought about what was actually around them while they walked.


On the Saturday night, each team was given a number of ingredients and told to make themselves a meal. The conditions were that they had to make something in a hollow piece of bamboo, and that everything needed to be made over the fire. With a little imagination, each team managed to come up with quite an appetizing meal - which was finished just in time for a huge downpour of rain.





Each year we have come across different challenges when it comes to having the kids sleep in tents. This year, it was the rain. It rained and rained and poured until the tents began flooding from the water that had begun to build up around the tents. At midnight everyone was pulled out of their tents and given a safe and dry place to sleep for the remainder of the night. On the final day as each of the children stood to say something about their camp experience, it was obvious that even the rain had brought the children closer together.

God did something special in the hearts of  each of the children. They are important. They are loved. They will never be unknown - for their Heavenly Father has called them each by name. And while their circumstances may be more difficult than some others have to face, they can have the boldness to dream the dreams that God has put in their hearts. He will show them the way.

Sanitary Pads for Christmas?

With names like Carefree, Freedom, Always and Stayfree, one would imagine that such a simple thing as a sanitary pad should be available to everyone who needs one. Unimaginable to most ladies is the reality that there are women out there who do not have access to the monthly necessity of sanitary pads.

The women in the Ratchaburi Central Prison do not have access to sanitary pads unless their friends or relatives bring them a supply when visiting. Visits are often few and far between leaving ladies in the prison with a limited supply of something which most of us would consider essential. Others have no visitors and must live without any access to sanitary pads among other essential items like toothpaste, deodorant and shampoo.

This Christmas  YWAM Ratchaburi would like to give a donation of as many sanitary pads as possible to as many ladies in the Ratchaburi Central Prison as possible. It's such a simple gift, but we really believe that they will feel loved by receiving something so practical. We will be holding our annual Christmas party in the prison on the 14th of December. Would you consider helping us to bring joy to the ladies in the Ratchaburi Central prison this Christmas? 

Interested in being a part of this really practical Christmas gift... you can give online here. (Please make sure to mention in the note that the gift should be for the "Ladies Prison Christmas")

So many things happening in Ratchaburi over the past few months - click here to read our latest news:)

Introducing Diaw

This is Diaw. At 28 years old, his life significantly changed a few months ago.

Diaw has been a musician for as long as he can remember. He picked up the guitar for the first time at the age of 12. He dreams of travelling with a a band of his own, writing songs and performing.

A few months ago, Diaw made a wrong decision that landed him in jail for six months. While going to jail is nobody's ideal, Diaw's life may not have changed had he not had to serve the time in prison.

Inside the prison, Diaw met the inmates in the Christian fellowship that YWAM Ratchaburi runs. He joined the group and over time asked God to come into His life. He may not have understood much about Jesus, but God began using the gift that Diaw has in song writing to help him to understand more. To date Diaw has written more than 30 worship songs. He now dreams of using his musical gifting to help bring the truth of the Gospel to others who have never heard it before.

Diaw began the Prison DTS with YWAM Ratchaburi in June 2012, but was released only 2 weeks into the DTS and is not allowed back into the prison to complete the DTS with us. Diaw's life is changed. He is learning more every day, currently studying the Bible and serving alongside the YWAM Ratchaburi team. He wants to complete his DTS in Chaing Rai this coming September.

We believe that God has an amazing plan for Diaw. We are excited to see the things that he is learning and can already see an enormous amount of growth in him. He is humble and willing to learn, and most importantly, God has captured his heart.

If you would like to help to sponsor Diaw to attend his DTS you can do so online here: http://www.ywamthai.org/donate/?to=Ratchaburi (please mention in the note that the donation is for Diaw's DTS). For more details, please contact us by email: ratchaburi@ywamthai.org

We are standing with Diaw in prayer - we know that he would appreciate your prayers too!

God's love knows no boundaries

Many things that have happened over the past few months in the prison have surprised us. God is doing something new every day - there seems to be something beautiful that He does that takes our breathe away each day. Some things are very simple and beautiful in their simplicity. Others are deep and so touching.

This past week, a life outside the prison walls, came to know true peace because of someone inside the prison. 

A relative of one of the inmates in the prison came to visit her family member. While there she noticed on the list of names that another inmate was someone that she had known growing up - a childhood friend that she hadn't seen in many, many years. She decided to begin to visit him. Her childhood friend happens to be one of the Prison DTS students and after a few visits, he begun to tell her about what God was doing in his life. He wrote letters to her and also spoke to her about it during their visits.

Meanwhile, in the Prison DTS classroom, this man shared of his desire to finish reading his entire Bible so that he could give it to this childhood friend. He wanted her to know the peace that he had found. When he had finished reading the Bible once completely through he gave it to us and asked us to deliver it to his friend outside.

Looking lost and bewildered, she showed up at our home one rainy afternoon to fetch the Bible. She didn't understand why he had sent her this book, but she did know that she had seen something different in him - a hope that she herself very desperately needed. She took the Bible along with a few tracts and over the course of a few days, began to read it. 

She started asking God to reveal Himself to her and eventually, came back to talk to us a few days later. On the day that she arrived, she looked different. She didn't yet understand much of what she had read in the Bible, but she was certain that she wanted to know more about what it was all about. At the end of the evening, she prayed a prayer to ask Jesus to come into her life.

Perhaps we shouldn't be astounded that God's love is flowing out of the prison ,despite the high walls that seem to stand in the way of anything else getting in and out. After all, God's love knows no boundaries. It's just that when these things catch us by surprise, they truly take our breath away.

Our new sister in Christ (in the light blue shirt)

When asked how life has been since she made that decision just a few days ago, our new sister in Christ says: " I've never been happier." Please pray for this lovely lady who will begin to study the Bible with us this week - the first life outside this prison that has been changed by hearing the truth from someone inside. We are certain that she will not be the last.

Hearing God's voice in prison

Extraordinary things have been happening in a small room in the Ratchaburi Central Prison. Since the beginning of June this year, fifty of the inmates have gathered daily to join in the YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) that is being held there. Many of the students really had very little idea what they were letting themselves in for. Most are new in their faith and many had never owned a Bible of their own before the start of the DTS.
 
During one of the weeks, the students were learning about the subject of: “Hearing God’s Voice.” One of the students had to do some extra work duties on one of the days and wasn’t able to attend the DTS class. He went somewhere to be alone and took his class notes and his Bible and prayed to God:” God, I really want to be in the class today and I am disappointed that I am not there.” He then opened His Bible and found the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. He was really touched by the story and had a wonderful time reading his Bible and praying.
Little did that student know that while he was reading that very story, the DTS staff were washing the feet of the Prison DTS students. Students were so touched by the symbolism of what the DTS staff did for them – a gesture that would bring many people to tears, but even more so in Thailand where feet are considered lowly and untouchable (many of the students expressed that not even their own parents would have done something like that for them). Tears flowed freely from many of the students and hearts opened to understand the love of Jesus in a new way.
One of the students wrote a note to the YWAM staff saying: “'I don't know exactly how to explain what I want to say because I am someone who is usually not very bold. However, what happened yesterday helped me to know many things about Jesus - because for someone to come and wash someone else's feet is not an easy thing. Nobody has ever done something like this for me in my life. I was really touched. It caused the tears to flow from my eyes - not tears of sadness, but tears that flowed from God's great love shown through you. I know now how great God's love is - that God has allowed you all to come and help us to know God more. I know that God is real and that God loves me so much. Thank you so much. I will walk in His ways, in His will in every way.”



 
The DTS student who missed class that day was shocked when he heard from his classmates what went on in the classroom while he was gone. It was a very special lesson for him in “Hearing God’s Voice.” He may not have been able to be in the classroom, but God wanted him to be included and he heard God’s voice for himself.

The fifty Prison DTS students are in for an incredible journey…. And this is only the beginning.

Follow the journey on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PrisonDtsYwamRatchaburiThailand

Rice Seeds Child Sponsorship Program 2012

The new school year started today. The kids in our sponsorship program were excitedly waiting for the school bus this morning along with all of the other children in the neighborhood. For most of the children in the neighborhood, this is just another school year, but for the children that we sponsor we know that every year that they are allowed to stay in school counts. Every year is a sacrifice for their families and we are thankful (as we know the kids are) for some of the parents who have begun to see the value in having their kids stay in school.

For 2 years now, we have had sponsors for the Burmese children in our sponsorship program and we are grateful for each and every sponsor. Over the past year however, we have begun to reach out to other children, both Thai children in our neighborhood and children in a Karen community about an hour away from where we live. These children also desperately need help to be able to stay in school, and we would love to find sponsors for them.

Would you consider sponsoring a child to stay in school? For only US$30 a month, you could help one of these children continue pursuing their education - we believe for some of them, it will be a helping hand towards a better future.Our hope is that some may grow up to be a helping hand to their own community - helping to stop the cycle of poverty.

If you would like to sponsor a child to stay in school you can give online:  http://www.ywamthai.org/donate/?to=Ratchaburi 

A Second Rice Seeds Library

There is a community of Karen migrants that we began to reach out to around a year ago. Most of the parents have very low paying jobs, if they can find jobs in their area at all. Many times families cannot afford for the children to stay in school and they are forced to take their children out of formal education and send them to work at the end of their primary school years.

This is not a unique story, and is one that can be heard in many slum areas throughout Thailand, as well as in many other places in the world. Each person however does have a unique story of their own, with hopes and dreams that perhaps will never come true because of the family situation that they were born into. 

With around fifty children in the community, there is much hope that the future of the community need not be as grim as it now appears - should someone just step in and help them to continue on with their education.

Just as we have done with the Burmese community in Ratchaburi, we would like to find sponsors for some of these children to stay in school. We cannot force them to continue on with their education, but with friends and supporters standing alongside us, we hope to at least offer the chance of a better future to some of these children and their families, should they so choose to walk that path with us.

Presently, we don't have sponsors for any of the children, but we do have plans to build a library for the Karen community as we did with the Burmese community. A place in their own community where they can go to do their homework, study the Bible, have toys to play with, and books to read.

We will be starting to build this library during the third week of May 2012. Right now we have no books, or games. Just a few second hand toys, a small starting budget and a dream of a special place where these kids can be safe, and feel the freedom to nurture their dreams.

Do you have second hand books/toys or games that you would like to donate? Would you like to bless these kids with some new books or games? In a project like this, every donation truly makes a difference, no matter how small. 

You can donate online here. (please specify in the note that the money should be allocated to the Rice Seeds Library) Or contact us to find out more about donating second hand items to the library.