*UPDATE* at end of blog
Confession:
I look away
when I see a homeless person on the street. There are too many. I can’t really
make a difference. They might use the money on alcohol anyway.
I flip the
channel when that child sponsorship infomercial comes on. It’s too sad. I don’t
have much money to spare. There’s too much out of my control.
I throw away
the letter from the organization that gives job training to people with
disabilities (but I keep the custom return address labels they sent). I don’t
know anyone with that disability. I don’t buy those products.
I don‘t want
to be bothered. I don‘t want to consider other people‘s problems. I have my own
life to live and my own problems to handle. I look away and keep moving.
What happens when we
don‘t look away? What happens when we acknowledge a need and try to meet it?
We could be like Aron
and Wanida.
Aron and Wanida have been married six years and live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Wanida is from a tribe called Lahu Shehleh in northern Thailand.
A few of my teammates and I met with Wanida as a possible ministry contact for the World Race.
Her family has been Christian for 3 generations. Her brother planted the first (and only) Christian church in her tribe. Wanida worked at the church doing children’s ministry when she felt called to care for the Lahu Shehleh children. They have little opportunity for education. The girls are often married by age 12. Children are commonly abandoned or given to grandparents who can’t care for them let alone pay to send them to school.
She knew she had to do something but what could she do? She works in a rice field and Aron is an English teacher at a local elementary school. They have two small children and very little income.
They could look away… or take a step forward.
They decided to take a
step of faith. They started a children‘s home, Fountain of Hope.
That was 5 months ago. Now their family of four has grown to ten. They have taken in six children from Wanida’s tribe who were abandoned for various reasons or were in abusive home situations. They feed, clothe, educate, and love all of the children. Every morning, they have devotions together at 5:30 before breakfast. After school, they tutor the children in Thai reading and writing since most were never in school before and are behind their peers.
When we asked what her needs were, her eyes teared and she said rent, food, and electricity. They could barely meet basic needs. She said eventually they wanted to buy beds for the children (they all currently sleep on the floor) but that was so far away.
Then she told us about her and Aron’s vision for their ministry. They wanted to take in more children from her tribe while staying a family. They want to buy land to grow rice and corn and raise pigs and chickens. That will provide food to eat as well as income to sustain themselves and the ministry.
Their dream is to be able
to care for the children God puts in their life, to be self-sustaining, to help
others in her tribe get education to start businesses and break the cycle of
poverty.
They continue to choose not to
look away.
Here is our challenge: Don’t look away. Take a chance on something greater. Stretch yourself by caring a little more than is comfortable. Dont be afraid youre not equipped. You are. Dont think youre not enough to make a difference. You are. Dont listen to the voice that says youre not strong enough. You are. Dont think you dont have time. You do.
Can you help jump-start this vision? Do you see how you can change the world for eight children? How you can uplift and encourage two people who stepped forward when they could have walked away?
You change the world when you decide not to
look away.
Where you can help:
- Sponsor their rent for a month: $100
- Buy groceries for a week: $40
- Supply a month of electricity & water: $35
- Provide childrens school lunches for a month: $60
- Give a year of school fees: $30
- Support their vision: any amount
- Love them through regular prayer and encouragement: Free
If you’d like to donate to Fountain of Hope, you can donate through my paypal (No later than 23 Sep): [email protected]
Or if you would like a tax-deductible receipt, you can donate online through WonGeneration: http://wongen.us/donate/ (Select Fountain of Hope Children’s Home from the drop-down menu or write Fountain of Hope Ministry in the comments section)
Or by mailing a check to:
WonGeneration
737 Griffin Avenue
Enumclaw, Wa. 98022
(write the check to WonGeneration; put Fountain of Hope Ministry in the memo)
