There are many things that make converting to Christianity in Thailand challenging. One of those is that religion is so much a part of the culture here that when you become a Christian it almost feels like you have to give up a part of who you are as a Thai. It takes years for new Christians to understand what the commitment that they have made really means, and sometimes a very long time for their family to allow them the freedom to grow in the way that they need to.

Noiy has been a Christian since he was 17. His mom made a commitment about a year ago, and his sister and niece about 9 months ago – around the time that his dad passed away. Since that time, we have been encouraging them to take the step to remove the many idols from the house that they all live in. Noiy’s mom was ready a long time ago, but his brother-in-law was not ready to allow them to yet.

This past weekend, we received a phone call from Noiy’s sister to say that they were finally ready. With great joy we went along with our pastor to their house to pray with them and explain to the whole family what taking down the idols means for them in their faith with the Lord. On Sunday, Noiy’s sister attended church for the first time in a few months and we believe this is the start of something new for her as she taken a big step in faith. We are praying for protection on her whole family, especially her husband who hasn’t yet begun to walk in relationship with the Lord. Please pray along with us!

Only $100 to go!

We are so grateful to all those that have given towards our camping trip with the Burmese children in our children's church. It's just less than a month away, but we have raised almost enough to cover the entire trip already!

We have already been able to purchase the tents for the camp. At this stage, we are only US$100 short of covering the costs for the entire camp! Would you consider helping us to cover that last $100?

You can give online at: www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (please state the the money is for 'Ratchaburi' and specify that it should be given to 'The Lord's tents camping'.)

We took the tents to show the kids yesterday - they are so excited and being able to actually climb into the tents has only made them more so!

February 2010 news update

Burmese children’s church
It’s been almost 2 years now since we began ministering to the children in the Burmese community near to where we live.We could never have imagined the way that God would move amongst them – we have felt privileged to be a part of their journey in getting to know Jesus. It is hard to express on behalf of someone else what they are experiencing on a very personal level – but here is what some of them have to say about their journey with God so far:

” I am so proud that I am getting to know God and Jesus. If I am sad, I ask God to help and I believe God can help me and my family.” Jan (13 years)

“The day that I met P’Noiy and I got to know God and Jesus, was the happiest day for me. I want more teams to come back to teach me again. I want to know God more. Everything that P’Noiy has taught me has touched me so much – especially that Jesus died on the cross for me.” Nisa (10 years)

“Jesus listens to what I pray all the time. I promise that I will not forget Him. I will respect and obey Him forever and love God.” Chaimon (12 years)

This summer we are helping to make a very simple dream come true for this very special group of kids. Chances are, these kids will never have the opportunity to do many of the things that you and I did as children. We want to help them to be bold enough to dream big dreams but also to believe that they deserve to have everyday dreams of things they would like to do- they deserve to enjoy their childhood just as much as any other children. We want them to know that they are not only as good as the Thai children they see every day, but even more importantly that their Father in Heaven loves them and created each of them with a special purpose.

On Easter weekend, the perfect time to reflect on all that Jesus has done for us, we will be taking 18-20 of them camping. We want each of the kids to be able to have their own sleeping bag and are hoping to purchase 10 two sleeper tents. Just $30 will help us to purchase 1 tent and 2 sleeping bags. If you would like to help us to make this simple dream come true, you can donate online at:www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php
(Please state that the money should go to Ratchaburi –and specify for ‘The Lords tents camping’).

As a

family we headed up to the YWAM 50 year celebration in Chiang Mai at the end of January. We were away for a week and it was wonderful to see many old friends and to make some new ones. Daniel loved seeing all the new sights that the north of Thailand has to offer, and doing all sorts of exciting things like feeding elephants and riding on horse drawn carriages. Naomi still likes to sleep a lot and missed a lot of the sights because of it, but she adapted very well over the time that we were away. We can’t believe that Daniel will be 2 next month and that Naomi is almost 6 months old. They sure are growing up fast!

This past week, Bronwyn and Naomi were involved in a car accident. Our car is very badly damaged, but by the grace of God neither Bronwyn nor Naomi got so much as a scratch on them from the accident. Thank the Lord for His divine protection!

Please continue to pray for us as we serve God here in Ratchaburi. We just love what He is doing through our family here – but we are aware that the enemy does not. Pray for protection, health, strength and wisdom as we serve Him each new day. We need you to be a part of our team by lifting us up in prayer!

Blessings

Noiy and Bronwyn

These are just some of the kids who will be attending our first camp in March. Do you want to be a part of making their dream come true? Just $30 can buy two sleeping bags and 1 tent. Donate online at www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (donations should be made to Ratchaburi)

Sponsor a tent

Rice Seeds - Helping little ones reach their potential

Rice seeds started as a dream to see children have enough hope to dream. Many of the children that we reach out to come from families with parents who have very little if any education. Many of them don't study beyond 6th Grade as they leave school to work to help lighten the financial burden of their parents.

When these children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, they don't reply as you would think children should... doctor, lawyer, teacher... but they say things like dishwasher or bricklayer. We hope to see them grow enough that they feel they also have the right to dream big dreams - even if those dreams may not come true, every child should feel the freedom to dream.

Part of our ministry with these kids is to give them opportunities that they would otherwise never have- so that they can know that no matter what family background they come from, that they too are special. We would like to take them camping within the next few months. We will need to purchase tents and sleeping bags for around 20 children. Would you like to help us make this simple dream come true for some very special kids? One tent and two sleeping bags will cost only $30. If you would like to sponsor a tent, you can give online at: http://www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (please state that you making a donation to Ratchaburi and specify that you are giving to "The Lord's tents camping")

For more details -contact us at ratchaburi@ywamthai.org

YWAM Ratchaburi office building

YWAM Ratchaburi's office is slowly getting furnished bit by bit and is preparing to start receiving volunteers to serve alongside us in Ratchaburi. In the last few weeks we have been trying to get the building ready and have been spending the majority of our time on that. We have also continued with some of the English classes that we were previously running and will be re-starting our schools ministry from next week as some of the schools will be opening for summer school.

We have posted some pictures of the inside of our building in the following posts.

bathrooms

Our building has three bathrooms, all with toilets and showers.