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Tag: Thailand

Changing Communities for the Better

Sometimes, as a donor, I wonder what difference the money I give really makes.  Let me assure you that the quarterly reports that come to Good News International from our overseas ministry partners make me excited that much is being accomplished!  Let me share a few highlights from Thailand.

Your funds are used for daily life, school, meals for the kids both at school and home.  These parents build up and disciple the children so that when they return to their villages, or wherever they go after graduation, they will have a good impact in their own communities.  We see this with our first girls who are sponsored to go to university or have graduated from nurse’s aid training. 

I am also amazed at how generous our partners are when they have so little.  They have been known to help cover costs for a grandmother with kidney disease or help a family send their children back to their school dormitory so they can continue their studies.  Sharing Christ with others is their focus as they travel to several villages for Christmas outreaches and weekly ministry.

It’s hard to place a monetary value on the relationships that our ministry partners form with others as they teach guitar to those who want to serve on a worship team.  Other times they counsel individuals and celebrate when they see people freed from addictions.  Their hearts break when, sometimes, the temptation proves too great and some stumble back into their addictions.  The fight also continues as our partners pray for people who have been trafficked and teach others how to stay safe, to protect people around them as well as their families from being trafficked. 

While the cost of a meal for one child may only be a dollar or two, seeing a child grow in her faith or a grandmother venture forward to receive prayer and inquire about God is priceless!

Thailand’s Outcry Against School Rape

Many girls around the world are afraid to go to school because they are raped along the way.  In Thailand, it is so common that children are raped at school that no one seems to speak out or do anything about it.  That is, until May 2020 when 5 teachers and two alumni were accused of allegedly gang-raping two students, age 14 and 16, several times over the past year.  Their fellow staff members defended them on social media, which shows how strong nepotism is in the school system.  However, the public outcry has been immense and has demanded that education professionals and politicians take action to ensure safety at school.  You can read more about this particular case at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1919760/when-education-supports-rape-culture and  https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1923208/school-sex-abuse-cases-spark-alarm.

Our ministry partners in Thailand have also suspected similar cases and work tirelessly to develop relationships with those around them and create safe places for children to talk.  They teach families what it looks like to live as a family with Godly values, respecting both males and females and remaining sexually pure. 

Please pray for our ministry partners as they model this life and reach out to others.  Pray for justice in this case and for the healing of these girls.  Pray for Thai culture to shift to one of safety and purity, especially as officials work towards prevention. 

God’s Lightning Glory

Have you ever watched a storm approach and gone to take cover? Perhaps you’ve watched a tornado track, seeing whether you needed to head to the basement? Or watched a hurricane and prayed for those in the devastation? Or maybe you are like my (Traci’s) husband, Jason, and are a bit of a storm chaser. When we were first married, he went outside in a thunderstorm to try to photograph that “perfect shot” of lightning. He came back in to get a chair in order to steady the camera. However, when he grabbed a metal folding chair, I suggested a plastic one.

Ann Voskamp once wrote, “Our storms can be canvases for God’s lightning glory.” Let me share how God’s lightning glory shone through during our recent heartbreaking storm of transition from an institutional model (House of Blessing) to many family-style homes (Families of Blessing).

Rob and Amber were driving back from the city to the small town where our original House of Blessing was located. Rob had driven this road many times before but for some reason, he missed the correct exit and had to circle back. While in heavy rush hour traffic, they received an urgent phone call stressing that funds needed to be transferred immediately or a great opportunity would be lost. This wasn’t a hoax as it was from GNIM’s lawyer. It all happened because of a clerical error. Rob and Amber didn’t know how they would get to an actual bank branch in time to do so only to realize just then that God had put us right in front of one. Some would call that coincidence. I would call that God-at-work: “God’s lightning glory.”

Here’s another example: eleven children needed to be placed into three separate homes. These eleven children had become one family so how could we separate them? God had a plan! Six children stayed with J and A, the new houseparents that had come on staff earlier this year. Two children went to live with a pastor couple who were friends of J and A. God had earlier put it on this couple’s hearts to take in a couple children…and the best part?! They live close to J and A so the children can all go to the same school, same church and remain friends! The remaining three children went to another home where the father is a former chef…and the girls LOVE to cook! Again, “God’s lightning glory!”

It is in the darkest storm that “God’s lightning glory” shines the brightest!

*Photo credit: Photo by David Moum on Unsplash

The Lord is my Banner

GNI field-workers. Amber & Amanda, partner up with Josh & Julie (House of Blessing) to help do gospel outreach each week. They also work to counter human trafficking with the goal of catalyzing community transformation through the Good News of Jesus Christ. Just this weekend, our team was given permission to show a Christian video on how to prevent human trafficking. This video, co-produced by Christian Broadcasting Network and YWAM, is a powerful drama on the lives of two young Thai girls who were trapped into sexual slavery. It teaches parents and children what to watch out for.

Amber reported that “It went well. It was mainly kids but Josh was able to explain better to the kids what is not ok and when to get help.” Northern Thailand has many cases of abuse and human trafficking and Amber shares, “Sometimes things are complicated and we’re not sure how to help. But thankfully God does and He lives in us! Thanks for joining us in joining God in His work in this area. He’s seen these people endlessly suffering and it’s time for this abuse and endless cycle of addiction to stop.”

It reminds me of God’s name “Yahweh-Nissi,” “The Lord our banner.” In spiritual warfare, it is the Lord who gives the victory. The enemy can surround us but the Lord raises a banner of His love over us and covers us.
(Exodus 17:8-16). He has heard the cries of the abused and trafficked and He will wage war on our behalf and make us more than conquerors. Let us stand in the gap and pray for our ministry leaders. As Romans 8 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us,who can be against us?” It goes on to remind us that nothing can separate us from God’s love so may the abused constantly know God’s love. Again, Romans 8 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” May God make both our ministry workers and abused “more than conquerors” for God’s glory!!