August Newsletter

Dear friends and sponsors,

Thank you for your prayer for the Thai/ Cambodian conflict. It seems to have wound down, and the cease fire is holding. Please continue to pray for the displaced persons on both sides of the border. They consist almost exclusively of the poorest of the poor of both nations. We also had good rain this past week. Thank you for praying!

We had a fruitful and enjoyable July. Ewe writes all about it in this month’s newsletter:

We thank the Lord for every child in our care; they are happy and safe and well cared for. They get on well with each other and are applying themselves to their studies. The new children have adapted to the daily routine and to our standards of behavior for our children, which are very different from that of most of the children in their villages. At first this was a big challenge for many of our children, but they have embraced our work ethic and are much more willing to receive advice and instruction from their house parents. Each member of our staff is much encouraged by this.

Because our local schools were closed several days this past month, the children who live in our local community had the opportunity to return to their homes briefly. Our children who did not return home had a fun time together with our staff on Eden, our farm. We cleaned up the area, fed the cows and fish, played in the pond and had a barbecue together. What a joy to hear the laughter and join in the fun! We are so very grateful to the Lord for the family atmosphere He has enabled us to create here at Grace. We were very impressed with each of our children. They enthusiastically joined in the work details and in all the fun activities. Once again, we were reminded of the huge potential in each of our children. They are acquiring many valuable life skills and are beginning to develop a healthy balance between work and leisure time.

Our secondary school children had their mid-term exams this past week. Most of our children are hardworking and diligent students. There are a number of children in our care who need lots of encouragement and help. Some have the tendency to give up easily, and our staff are exceptional in motivating them and helping them to achieve grades they thought were beyond their capabilities.

Our fifteen university students and our one vocational college student are all doing well, and Sarawut continues to work part-time in Eden while studying online for his degree in agriculture. Our five first-year students are adjusting themselves to the extra workload and are very grateful for the opportunity to have a college education. Our three second-year college students are applying themselves very diligently to their studies. The five third-year students are a wonderful example to all of our children. Daa, our fourth-year student, will serve her internship in a hotel with a very good reputation in Khao-Yai National Park.

This past week we had the joy of feeding 150 medical and hospital staff, 50 local patients and 40 patients who were transferred here due to the conflict at the border. May they come to know the Bread of Life.

Heartfelt thanks to our wonderful sponsors and to our prayer partners for making all of this

possible. We send our love and gratitude to each one of you. How good is the God we adore!