We spot the coffee shop across the road and duck inside, grateful to get out of the sweltering Thai heat. We sit down with Jeff Raich, a tall engineer originally from Minnesota who’d driven almost an hour from his new home outside Chiang Mai to meet with us.
Jeff, Britt, Lauren and Myself
Jeff was working as an engineer in California when God called him to a short term trip to Thailand. He came in 2011 and was hooked! While Jeff shoveled snow and studied differential equations in Minnesota, God was preparing a wife, a vision for Freedom Harvest ministry and a legacy for Jeff and Tiffany halfway around the world, in Northern Thailand. Jeff said yes to all God had for him and married Tiffany at the end of 2012. For the last two years they have been living near the Burmese border and working with refugees who’ve come to Thailand seeking respite from one of the longest lasting civil wars. Jeff and Tiff bring the true hope of the Gospel in the midst of this trauma, devastation and poverty.
This girl experiences tradition the hard way in Mae Hong Son province
To describe Jeff in three words, he is thoughtful, flexible and tender-hearted. Although we didn’t get the opportunity to meet Tiffany, I know that she is compassionate for the refugees and well-equipped as a communicator and mediator. Together they are establishing a presence in Thai schools with English language teaching, crafts, games and sports. They are also reaching out to the Shan and Pa-O people groups through village ministry and to refugee workers in cities like Chiang Mai who’ve left everything to work in desperate conditions for meager pay.
Freedom arriving through studying the Word
A huge barrier to evangelism in Thailand is that not only is the local temple a place of Buddhist worship but it is a center of the community, where meetings may be held and decisions made. By becoming a Christian, a Thai truly believes they are forsaking not only their religion but their community and life. However, there is an openness among the Burmese refugees Jeff and Tiff are reaching out to as they have already lost it all and left it all for freedom. Jeff and Tiff have the pleasure of leading them into true Freedom where they need never fear again.
A temple is more than just a place of worship, it’s the center of a community
Conditions in the refugee camps are brutal, perhaps most of all for the children living in them. Right now 15 children have been rescued and are being supported by Freedom Harvest in a children’s home. Ideally the children will return to their homes but although the option exists in theory, it’s been almost 5 years since some have been home.
The purpose of the children’s home is to connect the kids with resources they wouldn’t have otherwise had and propel them to their dreams in an environment where the Gospel is central. One young woman living in the children’s home is named Esther. She is 17 years old and currently in the 8th grade. One day she dreams of becoming a missionary nurse. By God’s grace the Freedom Harvest children’s home will be a platform from which she can reach this dream.
Many are receiving Christ and Freedom
Freedom Harvest is shining a bright light into the darkness of the Burmese refugee situation in Thailand. Between all of the people groups involved there are any language barriers, so please pray for more skilled translators to rise up. It was a blessing for us to meet with Jeff and we hope the World Race can partner with Freedom Harvest in future. In the meantime, keep Jeff and Tiffany in your prayers, and check out their website for more information: freedomharvestministry.wordpress.com
“Here is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness: but your darkness cannot now infect our light.” (CS Lewis, The Great Divorce)
