Ministry Focus in Thailand
We currently have 2 main children's homes that we are focusing on in Thailand. We affectionately call "May's Place" and "Mikey's Place". You can read more about Mikey's below. See our tab under Asia for information on May's Home. We take food, personal items, Christian books, and other items they need as often as we can. We also try to just be an encouragement to them in their ministry. Below the article about Mikey, you'll also see photos from other ministry we've done throughout Asia over the past 5 years.
Mikey's New Glasses
These photos are of Mikey. We first met Mikey in March of 2009. We were invited by a friend from our church in Thailand to go to her home where she was going to host a group of about 18 kids from a children's home north of where we live. When we first met them, little "Mikey" stood out above the crowd for me (Marcy). His crossed eye reminded me of when our two sons were young. Both of our sons had to have glasses at age 3 and the first sign that told me they needed them was that they had one eye that started crossing. But, Mikey's eye seemed to not just cross occasionaly, but was turned in all the time. So, I asked the director of the home if he'd ever been to an eye dr. Well, "no". One could not be afforded at this time. He is only about 4 years old. So, I explained to them that the sooner this was taken care of the better and our family offered to pay to have his eyes examined.
We learned later that Mikey had quite a story. When he was in his mother's womb, for various reasons, she did not want to keep him. So, she tried every "poison" that she could think of to try and get rid of the baby growing inside of her. But, God had His hand on little Mikey. Nothing she tried worked and when he was born there was nothing wrong with him, except for this crossed eye. He is truly a miracle child!
In Thailand an eye exam costs only about $8 USD. Is that incredible or what?! So, we had Mikey's eyes examined twice by two different doctors, one is a specialist. For now, they have agreed to let Mikey try glasses. He may need surgery to correct his sight later if the glasses do not work. But, we are praying that surgery will not be necessary. Enjoy the pictures below and know that through your support, you have helped Mikey to see better.
We learned later that Mikey had quite a story. When he was in his mother's womb, for various reasons, she did not want to keep him. So, she tried every "poison" that she could think of to try and get rid of the baby growing inside of her. But, God had His hand on little Mikey. Nothing she tried worked and when he was born there was nothing wrong with him, except for this crossed eye. He is truly a miracle child!
In Thailand an eye exam costs only about $8 USD. Is that incredible or what?! So, we had Mikey's eyes examined twice by two different doctors, one is a specialist. For now, they have agreed to let Mikey try glasses. He may need surgery to correct his sight later if the glasses do not work. But, we are praying that surgery will not be necessary. Enjoy the pictures below and know that through your support, you have helped Mikey to see better.
Mikey's Home
We were recently invited to go see the children's home where Mikey lives. Our friend from church that we mentioned above goes to the home once a month to share with the kids. So, the first Saturday of September (2009), we went to visit with the kids.
The kids, of course, were wonderful. We started out the day with our friend telling the kids a Bible story and teaching them a lesson. They were all eyes and ears as she taught them. After she taught them from the Bible, we helped her serve lunch that she brings each month for the children. She'd cooked green curry and noodles. After eating, we were able to give each child a gift bag filled with items pictured below. We also brought sports equipment for them and shirts from America. They really enjoyed all of the items and instantly put those shirts on over their other clothes. We had fun later watching them play badminton, frisbee and ball in the "back yard".
The children's home is looking for land in our area to move to. The vision of the director is that the children get a higher education. There is an agricultural university right near us and he wants to move the home to this area so the children can go to the better elementary schools and then be close to the university when they are old enough to go. He really does have a great heart and vision for the children's future. We were able to travel to the children's village that they originally came from. The director's father was the first evangelist to reach the people in the village for the Gospel. The father is Chinese and the director's mother was Lisu. His mother passed away and so his father is living alone near the village. The children are all from the Barong tribe, which was the last tribe (we were told) to move to Thailand from Burma several years ago. We are really praying for this home. If they are able to move to our area, we would have them close and would be able to be so much more of a help for them than we could now. Their current landlord has also not agreed to renew their contract for the next year. So, by the end of the year they are praying for somewhere different to move the children. Seems this is the same situation that May is also in at her home.
The kids, of course, were wonderful. We started out the day with our friend telling the kids a Bible story and teaching them a lesson. They were all eyes and ears as she taught them. After she taught them from the Bible, we helped her serve lunch that she brings each month for the children. She'd cooked green curry and noodles. After eating, we were able to give each child a gift bag filled with items pictured below. We also brought sports equipment for them and shirts from America. They really enjoyed all of the items and instantly put those shirts on over their other clothes. We had fun later watching them play badminton, frisbee and ball in the "back yard".
The children's home is looking for land in our area to move to. The vision of the director is that the children get a higher education. There is an agricultural university right near us and he wants to move the home to this area so the children can go to the better elementary schools and then be close to the university when they are old enough to go. He really does have a great heart and vision for the children's future. We were able to travel to the children's village that they originally came from. The director's father was the first evangelist to reach the people in the village for the Gospel. The father is Chinese and the director's mother was Lisu. His mother passed away and so his father is living alone near the village. The children are all from the Barong tribe, which was the last tribe (we were told) to move to Thailand from Burma several years ago. We are really praying for this home. If they are able to move to our area, we would have them close and would be able to be so much more of a help for them than we could now. Their current landlord has also not agreed to renew their contract for the next year. So, by the end of the year they are praying for somewhere different to move the children. Seems this is the same situation that May is also in at her home.
Ministry Throughout Asia
