Debbie Flinchum, one of our key volunteers in Thailand, sent along these pictures from October.

Kids enjoy the new playground at the Doi Saket 3 and Doi Saket 4 shared campus.

Kids from Doi Saket 2 pose for a picture.

Kids at Doi Saket 3

This little girl from Doi Saket 4 enjoys the monkey bars.

Kids from Doi Saket 4 enjoy learning a new song.

This little drummer from the Hot Springs orphan home keeps the beat during an evening worship service.

Executive Director John McCollum speaks with the kids as Mike Flinchum translates.

Kids and caretakers from the Doi Saket Early Childhood Center mug for the camera.

Beautiful smiles at Doi Saket 3 and 4 playground

Thanks to the generosity of Wooster Grace Brethren Church, Asia's Hope has opened its 6th orphan home in Thailand, this time in Wiang Pa Pow, about two hours north of Chiang Mai.

Known in Wooster as Grace Place Thailand, this home will serve about 20 kids at capacity. As you can see from the pictures taken in the kids' very first days with us, these tribal children have lived very tough lives. Please pray for them as they adjust to their new family and home.

Tutu Bee, our Thailand director, reports that the kids are very happy and are amazed to find that they have plentiful food and shelter. Thank God for these kids and for our staff!

Our newest orphan home, Doi Saket 4, is sponsored by Grace Community Church of Fremont, Ohio. This church also sponsors Doi Saket 3, which shares the same property. Pastor Kevin Pinkerton will join Asia's Hope Executive Director John McCollum to visit these kids for the first time in October!

 

Many of the children lived with distant relatives or neighbors in the hill tribe villages before coming to Asia's Hope.

The kids do chores together at their new home.

The kids enjoy an evening snack with their new mom and dad.

Please pray for these kids as they transition to their new family. Pray for physical, emotional and spiritual health. And thank God for his provision for them.

The kids sing at church on Sunday morning.

The kids enjoy a family dinner.

Bath time at Doi Saket 3.

All the kids line up by gender and age before dinner.

The kids gather together for prayer before bed.

The kids work together on a homework project after dinner.

The kids gather for a picture after a church service at the main Doi Saket campus.

A little princess gives the international sign for "I love you," while proudly sporting a t-shirt from her supporting church.

The kids enjoy playing with each other outside of their home.

Each Sunday, all of the kids and staff from the four Doi Saket orphan homes gather at the main Asia's Hope campus for worship.

The kids pose -- in matching t-shirts from Grace Community Church in Goshen, Indiana -- after church.

The kids enjoy a beautiful water fountain show on an evening outing.

The girls sing a song of worship at a Sunday morning service.

Some of the girls pose together in the large yard in the middle of the Doi Saket 1 campus.

The older kids sing together at church.

The student-run worship band is a highlight of every church service.

Country Director Tutu Bee poses with some of the kids in the beautiful garden at Doi Saket 1.

Update provided by Asia's Hope Thailand intern, Ashley Barnhill.

Throughout the last few months, I’ve been collecting new pictures of all of our kids and staff. Early May, after church, many of the staff got together for a group picture. Praise God for the hard-working staff that He’s provided for Asia’s Hope and please remember to pray for them often.

Dob and Ying joined our staff early this month after just recently getting married near the Karen village of Om Koi (see last update). They are doing a great job with the kids and are already expecting their first child!

Birdy, a Bible college student and Asia's Hope orphan, helping prepare shots.

Jeran - Home 2

Thilapha - Home 2

All of the kids from Home 1, 2, 3 and Hot Springs were given another round of immunizations before school started again.

Rachinee and Muntri from Home 3 recited almost 5 minutes of memory verses on an awards night for all of the orphans. 

 

Things are going great up at the widow’s farm in Wiang Pa Pao. Several trees full of ripe lychee greet you as you pull in. They just finished planting several acres of crops, including corn. The widows' house is progressing and Tutu will soon be taking several of the older kids up to help lay brick and get it finished. The widow’s continue weaving bags and shirts and several visitors have taken many items home recently to help sell for the widows in the U.S. and Canada.

L to R: Dow (Tipanee), Paleupa, Sai (Natiga), Tua Lek, Jam (Pawinee), Jo

The nursery kids got all dressed up one day and sang and danced for church. They all remain healthy for the most part.  The older four, Jam, Jojo, Paleupa, and Tua Lek just graduated to “big kids school.” Joci, her brother Eric, (two short-term interns here) and I threw a congratulations party for them last Saturday, playing games, eating cake, and giving gifts. They were so excited!

 Short term intern, Eric Biddle, with the nursery kids during the party.

 The four graduates!

Samaporn and Muntri - Home 3

Home 3

Phi Pha - Home 3

A group from Campus Crusade came to have an English camp with the kids the week before school started. The kids had a blast playing games, learning English, and doing fun crafts. The staff from Campus Crusade took the kids swimming one day and topped of the week with a special meal and a great night of ice cream, fireworks and sparklers (above).

Short term intern, Jocelyn Biddle, with Galia and Mai from Home 3

While Joci and Eric were in town, Tutu decided to hold a big concert for all the kids. Us three interns, Tutu’s sons, some of the staff, and some friends all put on a concert of love songs, fun songs, and worship songs for the kids while they ate cookies and drank Coke.

Tutu, her son David, and us three interns headed to a prison about 2 and a half hours away with another group involved in prison ministry. We sang songs, shared testimonies, and shared from the Word of God together. Please pray for God to continue to work in prisons throughout Thailand.

Prison ministry in Pa Yao

Boys from Home 2 and 3 waiting for haricuts.

Several volunteers came this Saturday to cut the kids hair. They were cutting all morning!

Jutamat, Home 1, getting her hair cut.

Girls from all 3 homes waiting for their turn.

Now that the kids are back in school, I’m working with the girls again on Saturday afternoon, teaching English songs and cooking. Today we learned “How Great is Our God” in English and made a Devil’s Food cake. The girls did a GREAT job reading the recipe, making the cake, and learning the song!

Supawadee, Jinda, and Ahrunya with the cake they made with the rest of the girls :)

Please keep praying for continual protection for our children from physical, spiritual and emotional enemies as they attack. Being here for almost 10 months now and living with the kids, I haven't gotten close to seeing the end of God's grace in these kid's lives. Everyday you can see God's awesome provisions and grace in these kids lives. He truly loves them unconditionally. Thank you immensely for your prayers and financial support. 

Update provided by Asia's Hope Thailand Intern, Ashley Barnhill

Throughout the beginning of this month, many of our students continued studying Thai and English during the week in hopes of them getting caught up with their classmates. They’re progress is evident and it’s a blessing to be able to see their minds working and to see these children being invested in and challenged to work harder and reach a goal that before coming, would have been completely out of reach.

Their coloring and cutting skills of the kids at Home 3 have even gotten much better!

After a fourth complete month of being here, our Home 3 kids are doing excellent. The staff is incredible and really emphasizes the importance of God’s Word. Before every meal, all the children recite Bible verses and pray together, all led by one of the kids.

Also pictured is Jojo with his watermelon, enjoying a safe home at Asia’s Hope. Jojo’s father used to beat him, so when he was told that some of the kids were going to visit the villages, he said he didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay with his new dad, Ajarn Boone.

One day early April, we took all of the kids that were here to the Chiang Mai Zoo. The kids loved it and had a great time.

After the zoo, we took all the kids to a local waterfall to have lunch together and play. All the kids were fast asleep on the way home after such a long morning and afternoon.

This month, Dob and Ying, an engaged couple who have been helping out at Home 2, were married up in the Karen village of Om Koi. They will be joining our staff soon at Home 2.

In mid-April, Thailand celebrates the festival of Songkran. The festival is celebrated over 3 days by people throwing water, sometimes ice cold, on one another all day everyday. We took our kids out on the first day to join the fun. They had a great time, but were pretty tired by time we returned.

The kids in the nursery home are all healthy and happy, which is such a blessing after a long battle with re-occuring sickness, especially with Tee Noi and Sai for several months after they came. They have personalities like you wouldn’t believe! The kids love to color and are getting better each time!

Rachel from Home 2 just moved with her new care-taker to live in the baby house as well. A welcome addition. She’s walking and babbling now!

We have some different activities for the kids to do to fill their time before school starts, such as language study, learning dances, art and new songs as well as some chores around the orphanage. They are all adjusting well coming back. Their first Sunday back, after church, we had an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids and they all searched for hard-boiled eggs to eat for lunch. They enjoyed it so much. (Easter hunt).

Please pray for:

• Health of the children and adjustments as they enter new grades and, some of them, new schools
• Safety and protection for our children and staff
• Continued encouragement of the staff as they work hard to care for and to guide the children who have experienced extreme hardships and loss

English and Thai classes are taught Monday through Friday at Asia's Hope. Most of the children from homes 1 and 2 are taking advantage of the extra tutoring. Some of the children were behind in their studies. The children know Thai as a second language and they need the extra practice reading and speaking. Usually the school teaches English but it is not taught by native speakers. The focus on the English classes are letter recognition and the corresponding phonic sound.