Updates
YCF
There are many things to be thankful for everyday at YCF, and we would love to share snippets of our thanksgiving with you. In this page, we want to also share prayer request items, provide updates and to create a platform where we can showcase what we do at YCF.
Its a joy and privilege for us to keep you updated, we hope that you will delight in our sharing and do remember to keep us in your prayers.
July & August 2023
Joys of New Experiences
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We just passed the last two wet months; it was raining pretty much, and we were glad that the weather was a little cooler and the rain fell to flood and fill up our rice fields. On some days, we were blessed with a glimpse of beautiful rainbows which went from one end of the sky all across to the other, the birds would chirp loudly as they flew just below the rainbow line and the smell of freshly fallen rain would fill the air. In the next few months, we pray that the rice we have planted this year will start growing rapidly in order for us to have a good harvest this year. God has been truly so good to us, and we can only sing His praise and give thanks for all things.
School has been taking up most of our time these days, the routine of waking up early and going to bed early has been taking place and during weekends are the days that we all look forward to as the children have more time to play and just relax. We have also been diligently working in the rice fields to weed and to ensure that there is enough water in each plot so that the soil will not dry up and get tough as that would kill our rice. So, the children have been on rotation to help and check, aside from their daily chores and schoolwork. We love the rice planting season as it is our yearly tradition and it is such a good life skill to have, especially so for us living in Thailand where agriculture is a main part country’s livelihood. Even when the children return to their villages to spend time with their family, most of the time they will head out to the rice fields or vegetable plots to assist their parents with their farming and agriculture work. Yes, it is hard work, and it takes up a lot of our time, but the process is something so precious in giving the children experiential learning and when harvest time comes about, they will know how their hard labor has produced such a great outcome and they get to reap what they sow by enjoying the fragrant rice. Stay tuned to harvest month, which will start in October.
In the month of August, we had the privileged to have some international encounters as we sent a small team consisting of three staff and three children to Singapore to Bethesda Pasir Ris Mission Church to join with them in their annual mission month. We usually will visit the church to share about YCF and to inform them of updates and prayer pointers, we are so thankful for their hospitality and generosity. This year, five out of the team of six travelled abroad for their first time and it was definitely many firsts for them – first time taking a place, first time visiting another country, first time sharing in front of a big crowds, etc. We thank God for allowing them to experience all that and it was such a memorable trip for them as they came back so excited to share with the others all that they had seen and done in Singapore. It is always our joy to be able to provide our children with such opportunities, of course with the help of many others and God, it was all possible. For our children, it is a good reward as they come from small remote villages and being able to travel opens up their minds and shows them how big the world really is, and we love seeing them learn and ask questions. We pray continually that for some of our children without citizenship yet, that one day soon, they too will be able to get their citizenship so that they too will have the chance to travel and broaden their horizons.
Last but not least, the month of August is when we celebrate Mother’s Day in Thailand and it seems like our annual tradition for the last few years, thanks to the generosity and kindness of The Duke’s Pizza, we have been so blessed to be treated to a free meal every year on Mother’s Day. The children simply love it! We enjoy all the delicious food and drinks there and the best part is that there is no limit on ordering and so our big boys will cease the chance to order many slices of pizza and fill their stomachs to the brim. Another thing we love observing is the new children, as many of them do not step foot into the city let alone a shopping mall or restaurant before entering YCF, they are just full of wonderment and in their little awkwardness we delight in seeing them learn how to behave, eat out and just enjoy the moment of being a dine in customer. Everyone was all smiles that day, we all left full, both heart and tummies.
As we enter the new month, we give thanks to the Lord for everything. We continue to do what we do in YCF because we know we can do all things because we have the Lord with us, He renews our strength daily and He watches over everyone in YCF. We thank God for sending us love and support in various forms from various people and we are just ever so thankful.
May & June 2023
Waves of Grace
We are constantly reminded that we can never rely on ourselves, our own strength, or our own capabilities as it is really God who we rely on in all things. He provides and God is more than enough. 2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds us of that daily. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast even more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
The days just go by so quickly, here we are at the end of the first half of the year. We have been really occupied at the foundation, with school now back in full force, preparing the rice fields for the rainy season which is also when we will start our rice planting, going through the last phase of the repair works at home. Things have been quite messy, but we have done our best to make the best out of it, and we can only thank God for all His goodness and grace. We have moved things from room to room, finding space in all the mess but realizing it was a blessing in disguise as it gave us a reason for a massive spring cleaning. By clearing and cleaning up it brought about a sense of refresh. Reorganizing and refurbishing our home has really given us all a sense of newness through this whole repair/renovate process. It is so nice to see things coming together. Though it has been a long time coming and we have had some inconveniences shifting things amid all the reshuffling and reallocating, we thank God for His grace. God has always provided, and we know will continue to provide for us in the way He knows best for our foundation.
We have had a few visitors come by to bless us in the past two months. They have not only given their time but have also donated many things to help us ease our expenses in feeding our big family of growing children, especially our teenage boys who eat at minimal, two big servings of food each meal. We love seeing them enjoy their food and seeing them grow is something just so beautiful. Some visitors even came with their talents to help us to cut the children’s hair, giving free haircuts to ensure our children are well groomed and looking smart for school. Some gave and taught our children skills like illustration and story writing, embarking on such enriching projects with the children and imparting such good life skills to them. Most importantly, we are thankful for their support, thoughts, and prayers for YCF. God is so good; He sends people who bless us and are of such big help to the foundation. Thank you to each of you. Even in our imperfections and weakness, God’s grace is sufficient and by His grace we can carry on each day and with His love, we can love the children and love the work.
The past two months has been good, we are happy to see our children enjoying school. Our older children are starting to feel the pressure of being in high school with more subjects and schoolwork, but we are certain that by being hardworking and resilient they will be able to put their best foot forward and give their best shot in their studies. Please keep them in prayer as we have a handful of high school youths this year, and as we know, teenage years are at times challenging. Finding their own identities, having to manage school and friendships, and making sense of the world. We are confident that the Lord will work in each of their lives, and we strive to provide them with the best opportunities we can to learn, grow and develop. The new additions have also been settling in well, we are always so amused to see them ‘transit’. It’s a whole different world from the remote villages that they come from, coming down to a big city and attending school, having to speak the Thai language instead of their native hill-tribe language, seeing and learning new things – for instance, many of them have never seen an airplane (because the airplanes do not fly across their villages) and having to see them fly across our homes at night with their bright red flickering lights is something very new and foreign to them and their eyes just open wide in awe at the sight of the airplane flying by. Little things we take for granted yet are larger than life for them serves as a good reminder for us to be constantly thankful for all the blessings and opportunities we have. We look forward to getting to know them better and to watch them grow physically and spiritually. They have also settled well into their new schools, and we are happy to see them enjoy going to school and hearing about school from them each evening.
As we enter the rainy season, we are praying for our rice fields to be flooded by the rain waters so that the rice we plant will be well nourished and we will have a good harvest this year. Even though the heat is not the most ideal, we will soak it all in before the daily rain comes, and we will have to deal with the wetter and cooler seasons of the year. Thank God for everything.
March & April 2023
Newness
There has been so many things happening in the past two months, the weather has not been the best with the worst combination of heat and haze, however we are thankful that everyone is well. March and April in Thailand are the hottest months as the Thai New Year (Songkran) is celebrated in April where Thai people enjoy all the water splashing activities to help quench the heat and it is also during the long school holidays that lasts for two months. In the month of March, it is also when we up North, are hit by the horrible haze which sees the air quality index going up to PM 2.5. It is very bad as the haze is thick and it just lasts for weeks. This is due to the irresponsible farmers who still practice the slash and burn farming methods. We can only pray for the rain to come shower down and wash away the thick choking haze to help clear up the weather. God has been good as it rained a few days, and those days were good, and we gave thanks and enjoyed them.
We have also had much progressed with the roof repair and maintenance works, the main building’s roof has been replaced, electrical wires and new paint has all been done and now we are moving to the lower building over the dining room, kitchen, laundry area and all the internal rooms’ wiring, paint job and ceiling boards will be put in soon. It is so nice to see everything coming together, the children are all so excited to have a ‘new building’ and we are also looking forward to having it completed.
As most of the children are back in their villages with their family and relatives to spend their school holidays at home, our staff were able to get their own much needed breaks and had the time to do their own things and some even went to visit family and friends. Self-care is so important, as they have to take care of all our children daily, it is good that they rest and have time to themselves too. We all had a good week to rest, clean and just recharge. Once the staff returned, it was back to work as we had to welcome the new children for this year. This year we will have a handful of new children joining the YCF family, thank God for sending them to us and we are looking forward to getting to know them better. It was a busy period for us as we had to go fetch some of them from their respective villages as their villages were far away, remote, and hard to access without a vehicle. We spent much time on the road, but we are glad that they are now with us in YCF and starting to settle in well. We also had to settle all their schooling arrangements and administrative matters. The new children are still rather shy, it will take a while for them to adjust as most of them are still working on their Thai language and do not speak fluent Thai as they are used to speaking their ethnic hill tribe language back home in their villages. However, we are confident that in no time they will pick up the Thai language and will be well settled into YCF, their new schools and will make good friends here.
As May comes about, we are all getting ready for the new school year, in which we will know the initial weeks will be rather hectic, but we know that the Lord will see us through it. More updates to come regarding our new additions to YCF in the next update and we will share about the children’s schooling.