Asia's Hope now provides comprehensive care for almost 500 kids in Cambodia and Thailand. Now that we've reached a certain scale -- 16 orphan homes -- it could be tempting to evaluate the ministry in terms of statistics more than stories.

And God knows I have a lot of statistics I have to review on a daily basis -- donations, expenses, projections, exchange rates, salaries, rents -- the list goes on and on. But the real measure of our ministry can't be charted on a spreadsheet. Our children are our greatest treasure, and each one has a compelling and often heartbreaking story.

Whenever I get overwhelmed by the "business end" of the ministry, I take some time to look over the bios -- the personal stories -- of our kids. I'm often moved to tears, and I'm always moved to thankfulness; I'm thankful to our supporters for their generosity, and to our Father God who has given us the opportunity to act as conduits of his mercy and love to these precious children.

So, I've decided to share with you on a more regular basis some of the blessings I receive in reading the stories of these amazing kids. I'll try to post at least one bio a week. 

Here's an excerpt from the biography we have on file for Rarot, a beautiful nine-year-old girl who lives in our Battambang 1 orphan home in Battambang, Cambodia. I always look forward to seeing Rarot's wonderful smile every time I visit Cambodia. It's amazing to think about the suffering this now-happy little girl once endured...

Rarot's father contracted malaria. Her mother sold their land in order to get money to pay for his treatment, but he still was not able to recover. Without a home, her mother sent the children to live with their grandmother and went to Thailand to find work, but she has never sent word home. They lived in a poor shanty. Every day she took care of her two sisters, washed clothes, cooked and went to catch crabs, snails and fish to make stew. Many times they did not have enough food to eat. For nighttime they didn’t have blankets or mosquito nets. The roof leaked when it rained, and their clothes were often wet. She could not attend school, and lived a miserable existence of extreme poverty.

In 2007, Rarot came to live at home 1 in Battambang, Cambodia, sponsored by Westview Bible Church in Montreal. She is very healthy and happy to be living at the orphan home. She has a lot of friends, a lot of good food to eat, and good clothes to wear.

Rarot's favorite subject is Math, and she would like to become a doctor when she grows up.

If you're interested in receiving a bio and updates for a child like Rarot, you can sign up today to become a supplemental sponsor!

One of my jobs as Executive Director is to present the ministry of Asia's Hope to potential partners and donors. I've put together this presentation that I usually run as a .pdf on my laptop.

Occasionally, people tell me, "I'd like to tell my pastor (or boss, or friend, or parent) about Asia's Hope. Can you send me some information I can use?" So I thought I'd make this presentation available online and also as a downloadable .pdf.

So, now you have it. You want to present Asia's Hope? You interested in finding out what we're up to? Here's a great place to start!

"I'm afraid that this baby will die." Those were the words we heard from Tutu Bee (pictured above), our Thailand national director.

In a destitute hilltribe village -- three hours from our Early Child Center in Doi Saket, Thailand -- a 6 month old child was in a desperate situation. The mother, suffering from severe mental illness, had tried to kill the baby on a number of occasions. The father contacted Asia's Hope, pleading for help.

At first, it looked like we would be unable to help. Asia's Hope runs on budgets with absolutely no slack -- there simply wasn't money to support this child.

But God made a way, and moved in the hearts of ministry advisors Mike and Debbie Flinchum to personallysupport this baby, and yesterday, we accepted this baby into our care. 

Unfortunately, this girl's story is not unlike that of many other children in Cambodia and Thailand. Many children have no family members that are able or willing to care for them. Many of these orphaned children face lives of misery and despair. Many others simply die.

Asia's Hope is committed to providing care for these children, but in many cases, we simply can't. Please consider helping us provide for these kids by making a generous donation this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

May God bless you and your family, and may God bless the 90 staff and nearly 500 kids at the 16 Asia's Hope orphan homes in Cambodia and Thailand.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Do you have five friends who might be willing to sign up for Asia's Hope supplemental sponsorship program? Would you be willing to ask?

Sponsorships cost US$35 per month, and sponsors receive a picture and biography of a child from an Asia's Hope orphan home, and periodic updates on their child and their home. Sponsorships play a vital role in helping to underwrite a portion of the costs to run our 16 orphan homes in Cambodia and Thailand.

If you think you have five (or more) friends who might be interested in sponsoring, you can hook them up in two ways:

1. You can send them a link to the sponsorship program portion of the web site and encourage them to get involved.
2. You can contact me via email, and I'll send you five (or more) biographies, which you can show to your friends, encouraging them to sign up on the Asia's Hope web site.

Asia's Hope is -- and always has been -- a grassroots movement. We need everyone's help to support these children. Let me know if you're up for this challenge!

You can’t unrape a child.

You can, however, prevent the abuse of children by providing permanent, loving families for kids at high risk of sexual exploitation and trafficking.

Human trafficking is an unspeakable horror; the sale of children into sex slavery is a tragedy of  genocidal proportions. Thankfully, this once-hidden scourge is now widely discussed in churches, on college campuses and across a wide spectrum of media.

Given the scope and complexity of the problem, it’s often difficult to know where to start. Is there anything we can do today beyond “raising awareness” and mitigating the damage already done to those who have already suffered this horrific injustice?

At Asia’s Hope, we’re working to defend and rescue the children at the highest risk of sexual and economic exploitation — orphans, whose parents have died or abandoned them, and whose extended family cannot provide care.

Asia’s Hope orphan homes are real families with real moms and dads. These children receive food, medical care, clothing, shelter, and education and a loving, secure environment — safe from the imminent threats posed to them on the street.

You, your church, your business, your family — you can help us engage suffering and unleash hope for children at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation. 

• You can sign up as a supplemental sponsor http://www.asiashope.org/sponsor
• You can help underwrite the costs of our expensive, but essential projects http://www.asiashope.org/current-funding-needs/
• You can spread the word by reposting this article
• You can make a donation by PayPal or credit card http://www.asiashope.org/support/ 

Remember, you can’t unrape a child. But you can prevent that abuse from happening by partnering with Asia’s Hope.

Thank you, and God bless you. 

John McCollum, Executive Director

john@asiashope.org

It’s a beautiful night in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. There’s a slight breeze – welcome after another blazing hot day – a perfect evening for dinner or drinks at a street-level café like the one gracing our little hotel just a few blocks north of bustling Sisowath Quay.

Andy and I spent our last afternoon and evening in Asia playing with kids, splitting our time more-or-less evenly between our four local orphan homes. We ate a late dinner at Prek Eng 4 courtesy of Ravi and his wife, and returned to pack for tomorrow’s long, long journey. After stuffing our suitcases far past their normal carrying capacity, we retired to the hotel’s restaurant for a drink and some peoplewatching. 

The scene that played out was one I’d witnessed countless times before, but it seemed more poignant having just said goodbye to about 90 of the sweetest kids in the world. As we sat sipping our drinks and munching aimlessly on the ever-present sugared peanuts, we watched a seemingly endless stream of ugly, paunchy, past-prime white in Khakis and polo shirts guys ogle, then grope, then leave with beautiful, slim, young Khmer women in tight blouses and miniskirts.

I see prostitutes every day in Asia. I get propositioned on a regular basis. But it’s still a bit shocking to see The Trade up close. As in “at the next table” up close.

I wanted to scream.

I also wanted to punch each of the guys, or at least flash him an obscene hand gesture. I settled on simply glaring at them, but I was dying to grab one by the shirt and sneer, “She hates you, don’t you know that? She’s doing this because her family is destitute. She’s laughing at your stupid jokes and pretending to find you attractive, but your rolls of fat and the thought of your foul nakedness disgusts her. You’re going to pay her, but you it could never compensate for what you’ll take from her. With every filthy thrust, you destroy another piece of her waning sense of humanity. You’re no better than a common rapist. You’re a modern-day slaver and you’re exactly what’s wrong with this country.”

Of course I didn’t say any of that. But it’s all true.

I don’t believe that my anger and disgust are based on prudery or a sense of my own personal moral superiority. It’s just that I can’t look at the girls in the restaurant without thinking of the girls at our orphan homes, many of which would have had a very good chance of becoming one of Cambodia’s 60,000+ prostitutes, 25,000 of which are minors – some as young as 6 or 7 years old.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am that God has allowed Asia’s Hope to engage the horror of human trafficking in Cambodia and Thailand by providing loving homes for children at risk for sexual and economic exploitation. I pray that God will give us the money we need to rescue many more children.

In short, I pray that we have the resources to reach children on the brink of the abyss before these dirtballs do.

Pastor Kevin Pinkerton and the kids from Doi Saket 4

It’s early morning on my last day in Thailand. It’s been a bit of a blur. And while it seems that I’ve been away from home for far too long, it also seems that I’ve left quite a bit undone. There are people I had hoped to meet, issues I wanted to address, kids I wanted to hang out with and staff I wanted hang out with – but it’s time to leave.

Andy and I spent the last few days with Pastor Kevin Pinkerton. His church in Fremont, Ohio sponsors our Doi Saket 3 and 4 orphan homes. Without his church’s support, we would not be able to provide food, clothing, education and shelter for 40 incredible kids.

It’s been a amazing to see Kevin with his kids – he and his church have only ever seen the kids through a video screen or computer monitor; the kids have, until this week, had only a vague impression of the church. Kevin’s visit has put some flesh on the bones of the relationship – it’s been a real incarnation.

He can go back to his church and say “I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt the heat of the Thai sun, I’ve hugged every one of those kids.” And the kids now have a tangible representation of God’s provision and the love of the church that supports them. The staff feels a sense of camaraderie with their colleagues half a world away, because Kevin has made it clear to them that he considers them to be an extension of his own church’s staff.

I’ve spent somewhat less time with the kids from the other homes than I might if I hadn’t been hanging with Kevin all week, but I’ve long realized that there’s never enough time on each trip to do everything.

This afternoon, Andy and I will be flying back to Cambodia to wrap up a couple of loose ends and then we’ll be heading home, arriving in Columbus on Saturday morning. My to-do list is daunting, and I’m sure I’ll be swamped when I get home. I am a tired guy with too much work on his plate, but I am so grateful that God has called me to this work. I can think of things that would make my life easier, but I can’t imagine a better job.

Well, despite relatively fast and widely available internet access, Thailand has not yet provided me much time to blog. We’ve been here for what? three days already? and have been busy from just after sunup to way-past-sundown. 

On our second day, Tutu invited some of the kids from Doi Saket 1 and 2 orphan homes to swim with us at our hotel pool. Everyone had a great time, forgetting language barriers for about four hours until the kids had to go back home and the white guys had to rest.

Yesterday we drove about an hour and a half north of Doi Saket to our property at Wiang Pa Pow. We own (or will own once we pay off the mortgage) about 20 acres in the foothills of the mountains. It’s a beautiful plot of land that we’ve already started to develop.

We’ve refurbished the farmhouse, and will be accepting kids into a new home, Wiang Pa Pow 1 (Sponsored by Wooster Grace Brethren Church), in about two weeks. We’ve also planted 6,700 mulberry trees, which will provide the food and lodging for about 100,000 silkworms. We’ve also started a silversmithing project that will provide hilltribe widows and orphans profitable vocational skills. Andy Taylor has been helping Tutu and I develop sketches for the property’s master plan.

There are many things to do – but the first is to actually pay for the property. We have a contract and we’ve been paying interest on the mortgage, but we need to raise about $100,000 to own it free and clear. In Thailand, loans and contracts can be pretty exotic financial vehicles; we’re hesitant to develop the property much further without the deed in our hands.

This morning we’ll be visiting some other silk farms to see how it’s done. I’m thankful for the Queen of Thailand – she has funded a project that is designed to train hilltribe people in silk production and the creation of other traditional handicrafts. The Queen’s people are helping us already, but will be even more involved once our mulberry trees mature and we’re ready to start making silk in earnest.

We’ll also do some other research related to vocational training and microenterprise projects, and then it’s off to see the kids. We’ll be visiting Doi Saket 1, 2, 3 and 4 and perhaps making the drive to see our kids at Hot Springs. 

I’ll post more pictures later, including ones of the pig we killed (well, our guest Chris Ramos from Back2Back ministries was the one with the spear in his hand) and butchered at the farm. Bloody, but fascinating.

And delicious.