Bringing hope

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” George Iles

“Hope costs nothing” Sidonie Gabrielle

We are all human. We all make mistakes. We all make bad decisions. Most of us pick ourselves up and move on – learn from the mistake and continue life as usual. For a long time now it has been on our hearts to work with a group of people, many of whom will never live a ‘normal’ life again. They are the prisoners in the local Ratchaburi prison. There are more than 3500 prisoners.

One of the local churches in Ratchaburi has been going to share the Gospel in the prison every Christmas for the past few years. We have had the privilege of joining them for the past 2 years, but it has been on our hearts to begin to take volunteers to minister to the prisoners more than just once a year.




This past month we took our first team of volunteers (from America) into the prison. They spent time sharing with and praying for around 100 prisoners. Seven or eight of them had already converted to Christianity through the church coming over the Christmas period. On this day however, more than half of the 100 prisoners that attended asked to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.



Many of the prisoners have been in a place of hopelessness for a long time. For most, even their families don’t come to see them. Once they are in prison, they have nothing. Prisoners are given only two sets of clothes by the prison per year. Families bring them what we would consider daily necessities – soap, toothpaste, shampoo etc. Those prisoners whose families don’t come to see them go without such things unless there is a donation from an outside source. We know that bringing them the truth of Jesus Christ is the most wonderful gift that we can give them – eternal hope in a place where many had lost all hope. We also know that there are other ways that we can show them the love of God.

One of the things that we are hoping to do is to collect donations of men’s shorts and t-shirts (new or second hand) and toiletries to distribute to the prisoners. We have distributed Bibles, but would love to possibly start a Thai Christian library for them. We would love donations towards this too!

We are planning to continue to take teams of volunteers into the prison and want to specifically provide Bible teaching for the new believers while we are there. If you have a burden for prisoners and would like to come and serve with us, we would love to have you!

Love is what we want to bring to this group of men and women who are as special to God as you or I are - that they too may know the truth of God’s love and hope in it.

If you would like to contribute towards this project, you can do so online at: http://www.ywamthai.org/onlinedonations.php (please specify that the donation is for 'Ratchaburi' for the specific purpose of 'prison ministries').

YWAM Ratchaburi news - May 2010

“You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. “ ~Desmond Tutu


Noiy’s family
We are reminded again this month of how it was that God lead our family to come and serve in Ratchaburi. We are on a journey with God of seeing Noiy’s family restored – not in a way that the world would imagine, but rather in God’s timing and way – one that we do not always understand. When Noiy’s father passed away last year, we saw Noiy’s mom become more serious about pursuing her relationship with God. She has certainly had her ups and downs over the past 10 months, but has recently been in a place where she has returned in part to her old life. This past week, her father (Noiy’s grandfather) died. He was old and fragile, but to lose a husband and a father within less than a year is something that can shake anyone’s world. We are thankful that we are still here – standing beside her as she walks through this – and helping her to make sense of her faith at a time when she really needs God.


A team of volunteers praying for Noiy's mom

Burmese families
It is not only because of Noiy’s family that God has called us to Ratchaburi. One of the communities that we work with is the community of Burmese laborers that live in our area. We interact with the community in many ways, but we teach the Bible to 18 of the children on a regular basis. Most of the children stop attending school when they reach 6^th Grade (around 12 years old) as they can then begin to work and help to lift the family’s financial burden. Over the past 2 years Noiy has been trying to encourage the parents to allow their children to stay in school for at least a few more years so that they don’t have to continue on in the cycle of poverty that their parents have always been in. We have seen some of the girls continue on for a few years, but never a boy. Three of the boys finished 6^th Grade at the end of the past school year(February) and have asked their parents about continuing on with 7^th Grade when the new school year opens in mid-May. Initially one of the boy’s parents said no, but he tells us that he has been praying and when he went back to ask his parents if he could enroll, they told him yes. We are over-the-moon! So excited not only that he has the chance to continue on in his studies, but also that he learnt a great lesson in faith. He learnt that God hears his prayers, and that He answers them. His name is Chaimon - please pray with us for him as he begins 7^th Grade this year.


Chaimon will start Grade 7 this month

New project
We have been considering other ways that we can help the families in the Burmese community to make the decision to send more of their children to study further. We are hoping to perhaps start some kind of sponsorship program for them (even the youngest ones) so that the families don’t feel that it is a burden to send their children to school. Schooling is free for them, but we have worked out that to pay for their transport to and from school as well as their meal while they are at school every day, will only cost $US25 per child per month. We are still in the beginning stages of drawing up the details of this project, but if you would like to be involved from the very start, please let us know!

April was an exciting time for us as it was the month that we held our camping trip for the Burmese kids. This is something they had been dreaming of for months and it was such a delight to be a part of seeing this dream come true. They learnt more about who God is and how special they are to Him. We know that it was an encouragement to them in their faith and we are so thankful to all of you who had a hand in helping this dream come true!


Teams
We have had a number of teams of volunteers already this year and are so excited about all that God is doing in the community and the churches here. We are currently hosting a team and are excited to report that they are the first team that we have been allowed to take into the local prison to minister.

Prommathat Family
Our family is also growing up so fast. Daniel celebrated his 2^nd birthday at the end of March and Naomi is now 8 months old. They love playing together, and certainly keep us on our toes. Both of them are very social and love to spend time with the teams of volunteers that join us. Daniel has taken to calling them all Aunty and Uncle and loves to hang out with them whenever he gets the chance.



Celebrating Daniel's 2nd birthday

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