Dear friends and family,
As Covid restrictions are laxing and borders are reopening, we are re-adjusting back to normalcy. We are having more visitors as family and friends visit us here in Chiang Mai, and we are excited to host them. In this newsletter, we give an insight to our ministries in Thailand for the past couple months.
Community Center (Baan Dem Rak)
Ever since we reopened the community centre for big-group programmes, we have seen a surge of participants coming. With more than 30 kids coming, we have to think of creative ways to manage the crowd and grow our volunteer base. It’s a good problem!
As the new term started, the kids and their guardians came to the centre to register for the different programmes we have on weekdays. To our surprise, there was an overwhelming response for the children’s cell group. As we informed the guardians about the spiritual nature of the cell group programme, focusing on God and Christianity, we thought that the signups will be low. However, the guardians were very open to sending their kids to cell group voluntarily! We believe that God is moving in this community and we praise Him!
We have also resumed basic computer skills programme on Tuesday evenings. The exciting part is that the class is completely anchored by the staff of our social enterprise. Although they are young, they have so much passion to make a difference in the next generation, imparting digital skills and being Godly older brothers to the young kids.
We are trusting God to receive quality interns and missionary volunteers in the near future. Pray for us as this is an urgent need. We only have 2 full-time staff running everything from programmes to operations and everything in between.
Social Enterprise (Banah Digital)
Our social enterprise turned 1 in July 2022 (Read our first post about the social enterprise here). In the past year, we grew to a team of six. While we strive to be an excellent provider of web design and graphic design services, we also dedicate our time and resources to being a blessing to others. It’s our heartbeat to bring God’s love into the workplace and to see it multiplied through the lives of our staff.
Our staff are excited to share their knowledge, skills, and journey with others. We were especially heartened when we hear our staff telling us about how amazing it is that they have something to give. More than just skills, they want to see God’s love in action. The team started to pray for opportunities, and in no time, we had the chance to run a web design course with a Boy’s Brigade ministry in Chiang Mai. At the same time, we started running web design workshops in our office with undergraduates. We are proud of our staff team who go beyond their work hours to volunteer and support the work at Baan Dem Rak. It has been encouraging to see our staff passing on what they received from us.
Recently we had a thanksgiving party for the team from both the community center and the social enterprise. As we worshipped God and played games together, we could sense God’s presence strongly amongst us. We could see all the gifts and talents that God has given our team members, and it’s special to be a part of their life journey. May they continue to discover their calling and learn to use their gifts to expand God’s kingdom in their own country!
Why do we do what we do?
Have you ever wondered why? Here’s a list of exciting reasons that God has put in our hearts:
- We want to invest in and build up Thai Christians to reach their own people and be a powerful testimony for God.
- We want to develop excellent work ethics and skillsets amongst young Thai Christians so that they can transform culture in high places
- We want to inspire Thai Christians who are called to start their own businesses
- We want to love practically through our business
- We want to see God’s love in action in our offices
- We want to bring sustainable development to the communities we serve
Do you resonate with any of them? Tell us more!