Writing to you from ASIA! I have officially been at my new home in Ratchaburi, Thailand for a whole 9 days now. Life has been a crazy whirl wind of travel & exploration & travel & eating new foods & TRAVEL, but we have made it! For the next three months, my team & I are working with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) Thailand in Ratchaburi. A little bit about YWAM–
“Youth With A Mission is a global movement of Christians from many cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. Also known as YWAM (pronounced “WHY-wham”), we unite in a common purpose to know God and to make Him known… We focus on youth, and we also involve people aged 8 to 80. We currently work in more than 1,100 locations in over 180 countries, with a staff of over 18,000.”
My team & I are staying in an apartment-y thingy one block from the YWAM Ratchaburi office. Our hosts, Bronwyn & Noiy, are the most missions-minded people I have ever met. The two of them developed a vision for YWAM Ratchaburi 9 years ago, & they made that dream a reality. It has grown into a diverse & beautiful ministry that serves Ratchaburi in many invaluable ways-
Child sponsorship (Rice Seeds)- Noiy & Bronwyn help meet spiritual and physical needs of underprivileged Burmese children who live in Ratchaburi. The children’s parents have found work within Thai borders so they relocated the family. Their households have very little income & are largely atheist or Buddhist. As a result of Rice Seeds, most of these children claim Christianity in their Buddhist households (& 95% Buddhist nation). HOW COOL! YWAM Ratchaburi also sponsors the education of 25 children in the Kirin tribe, living in a Refugee camp on the Myanmar-Thailand border. These children’s families are a stateless people without citizenship in Thailand or Myanmar. Education greatly increases the chances that they will become a Thai citizen in their future- a privilege their families currently lack.
The Lord’s Tents Camping– This program was started 6 years ago, after Noiy had asked a Rice Seed’s child what his dream is for his life, and the little boy answered “a cement mixer”. His heart as saddened by the little dreams these children had, simply because they had never experienced anything bigger. Noiy explained to the children that God has much greater things in store & asked them again what their BIGGEST dream was. One of them answered “To go camping!” So they went camping! A program that started with 15 little dreamers now has over 100 children. How sweet!
In-School Ministry– YWAM staff & teams visit local schools (Kindergarden-University!) to host english camps, teach songs, culture, sports, music, and most importantly, JESUS. I will be hosting quite a few Christmas parties at local schools during my stay!
Rice seeds library– Noiy & Bronwyn collected many donated books & built a small library in a village without books or many reading materials, as to offer opportunities to increase literacy in the underprivileged community & provide a safe space for children to hang out & learn about God.
Reaching hands– YWAM Ratchaburi shares the gospel with refugees in the slums on the Myanmar border. They also serve by cleaning, cooking, distributing food from a food bank, & planting a church in the community. I will be spending a few weekends here in my tent while hosting a Christmas party & serving the people in any ways my team & I can. I have the privilege of helping build the physical church with another team towards the end of my time in Thailand as well! Woohoo!
Love Ratchaburi- Noiy & Bronwyn noticed the divisions in the small Christian churches existing in Ratchaburi when they arrived. They began working with local churches and the government to bring churches together to work towards the same goal. From Love Ratchaburi, a Christian radio station has started that is shared by all the churches. They also host a huge corporate-sized Christmas party as a community. This party functions as an outreach all of the churches work together on every year! There are usually more than 1,000 people in attendance & this year, were praying for more! Thrilled to have my hand in this this year.
Prison ministry– This one of my FAVORITE. Today, the prison outreach ministers to 6,000 prisoners in a bi-weekly basis. The program was birthed by Noiy 4 years ago as hosting a simple monthly church service in the prison was put on his heart. The first time they brought a team for a service, they saw 50 people come to know Jesus. In 4 short years, prison church has over is 1,000 inmates in attendance. He also started a Discipleship Training School for the men interested. It meets for 3 months in prison every day, morning through afternoon. This is the first time a Prison Commissioner has let a bible study happen in prison in Thailand. The first year, they had 55 people attending the discipleship school. Their second class was 75 inmates & at the end of the three months, all the men were baptised. A new program is underway called Outside the Walls, which takes on recently released men as YWAM staff. They currently have two men on staff. They are some of the most special people I have ever met. My team & I hosted a Christmas party here our first day & I will dare say it was my best day on the race yet. We had 12 PEOPLE come to Christ.
I am feeling so spoiled here by God. My heart is full & I am working with such a special ministry. Stay tuned for more details on my days of ministry 🙂 Love you all.
