We have just returned from visiting the families of our sixteen Akha children in Chiang Rai province (20 KM from Burma). The 58 families in the village told us they frequently hear the sound of explosions on the other side of the border as a result of the ongoing armed conflict between the Myanmar army and the Karen and Kachin liberation armies. It is unsafe to leave the village at night. The extreme poverty, chronic debt, and huge drug problem in the tiny village reminded us once again of how vital it is for children from such backgrounds to receive an education. We have extended our sponsorship program to include the village Catholic and Buddhist children, whom we did not know previously. We chose a total of six new children to come to live with us at the end of the month.
We also visited six of our current children who live in a Hmong tribal village 10KM from the Laotian border. The children from this tiny village drop out of school and travel to Taiwan and South Korea illegally to work as laborers and in factories. One of our girls from this village lives in a small shack with her drug-addicted father and younger brother. Despite her background, she achieved the highest grades in her end-of-year exams.
The Hmong and Akha families received us with great love and generosity and were deeply grateful to us and to our sponsors for giving their children a way out of the destructive lifestyles of the majority of the young people in their villages. We were very proud of our young leaders. They loved and served with a joyful heart, and they were a blessing and encouragement to everyone they met.
We have been inundated with requests from parents and guardians, pastors and teachers to take children into our care. We have received three sisters who live in a slum on the outskirts of Krasang, and we have taken many children who have been abandoned by one or both of their parents. After much prayer and a careful and detailed selection process, we have chosen 24 precious children to come and join our family here at Grace. This will bring the total number of children in our care to 129, the largest number of children we have ever had. We have also increased the number of our college students from 14 to 17. We are confident that our God and Father is leading us to do this, and having always supplied for our every need, He will continue to do so.
We had the opportunity to encourage and bless many people in several villages and provinces during the selection process. For example, on the Thai/Cambodian border we visited a pastor whose wife has great difficulty breathing. She was due to undergo surgery in Bangkok—an expensive undertaking for them. We gave them a cash gift. (Unknown to us, they were down to their last $16.50.) They immediately bought a ventilator for her and rejoiced in the Lord’s answer to their prayers. Heartfelt thanks to our wonderful sponsors and partners for empowering us to express the Father heart of God to our children, their families and to many others we met along the way. How good is the God we adore!
A young couple whom we have known for many years are joining our staff at the end of the month. Their oldest daughter has lived with us for some time. Dtic, the husband, will work in Eden, our farm, and Naa, his wife, will work in our home for little girls. We are overjoyed to receive them on to our team.
All of our staff will have a well-earned three-week break in April and will return to Grace on April 20 to prepare for the return of our children in early May.
Grateful thanks to our friends, supporters, and sponsors for helping to make these exciting times at Grace Ministries possible.
Yao & Doi, Ewe & Witoon, Yokie & Charles and all of us at Grace