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.
31 July 2021
Together we are stronger
We entered the month of July with sad news as Thailand has been hit badly by the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. This is the worst wave that our country has faced and the daily number of Covid10 infection cases has been in the thousands. This month, Bangkok along with nine province went into lockdown that started on 12 July and educational institutes across the country were required to conduct online classes only as schools had to be closed. In our province we also have a bulk of cases and various clusters and we have also curfews set in place to ensure that people are not roaming the streets at certain timings. We have all be shaken by the news of the rising daily numbers of infections and are deeply saddened, but we have been keeping our spirits high and our hopes up.
The children were sad when they heard the news of having to stay home for online classes and to hear that schools had to be closed once again. It has been officially announced that schools will be closed till the end of August. However, we explained to them that this was the best for everyone as the country has to control and contain the spread of the coronavirus as there were just too many clusters and daily infections. Our children took it well and understood why they had to stay home and attend school from home even though they would much rather attend school physically. We organized the children in their age groups as we had to set up the devices for them to do their online lessons at home and ensure that a staff was on duty to watch over them each time. We are looking and praying to get more laptop devices as we still do not have enough for each child to use for their online lessons or for them to do their online assignments. If you have any old but still in good condition laptops to donate or would like to purchase new ones for the children, please get in touch with us and we will gladly take in the devices.
We also want to thank God that during this time, it is when we would prepare for the rice planting season as the rains will be coming soon (in August) and we have to now prepare the land by tilling it and transferring the rice sprouts into them before the rain falls and floods the field. It is good that the children are all home, they would be occupied with their online classes in the day and in the evenings we would get them to go into the fields to help with rice planting and this was good as it kept them busy and they gathered rich experiences from learning and working the fields and of course great fun as they worked together, sharing play time in the shallow waters, mini mud fights and sharing much laughter and conversations. Even in down and dull times like these, we choose to see and seek out the Lord’s goodness and we are holding fast onto the Lord’s deliverance and promises.
For this month’s thanksgivings, we want to thank the Lord for a community of people who not only helps YCF, but also loves us and supports the work at YCF. We want to thank them for their time to come and help us with the children, be it teaching them or helping to come up with fun and enriching activities to sharing the Lord’s word with us on Sundays and to help facilitate bible study lessons for the children. We are blessed to have your support and we want to acknowledge your heart and hard work. Early this month we were able to carry out our thanksgivings service for the new house at House of Grace, to thank God for His guidance and providence to ensure we have a new house that serves as the staff living quarters as well as a library for our children. We also want to thank God for blessing one of our big girl who graduated from a certificate course in dental assistance and for landing a job. She has managed to get a job in a university dental clinic and we are beyond thankful for the Lord’s providence. We pray that she will seize this opportunity to work hard to learn as much as she can. Another thanksgiving is that our girl who is entering university this year has settled into her new campus and is currently undergoing 2 weeks of quarantine. We sent her off and we were so proud to see her donning her new university uniform. God is very gracious to us, He blesses us with many things and we are very glad to be able to share our blessings with others and this month we did so in the form of helping a village in Chiang Rai near a church we often attend when we are there. We gave out some education funds to the local village children, their parents were so appreciative and we could see that the children were all so thankful for the little help we could offer. It is because of God’s love, He first loved us so we can love others.
30 June 2021
We will get through the storm
Despite all that has changed and all the usual activities and routines that has been disrupted by the virus, we have made it through half of the year and we have none other than God to thank for leading and paving the way for us. The current Covid situation in Thailand is not the best, we have been hit with the third wave of the virus with a new variant and it has been rapidly spreading across the country with the main bulk of the cases in Bangkok, our capital city. With that said, the other cities in Thailand have also been affected and we are on high alert everywhere, taking extra precautions, mini lockdowns and taking on a heightened sense of social responsibility by wearing masks out, staying at home as much as possible, practicing social distancing and ensuring good personal hygiene. We need to continue to fervently pray for the situation to get better and for the Lord’s covering over us, over the world as this virus seems to be returning in different variant strains and is quicker to spread and harder to detect the symptoms for. Our children have been diligent in their prayers and are praying daily for the virus to make its disappearance from the world and for all our YCF friends across the globe to be safe and well so that the borders will open once again for them to come visit and meet again.
On a better note, school has reopened for most of our children allowing them to return to school on a full term basis, the exception being a handful of high school students who are still straddling a 50/50 home based online learning and in school physical lessons. The children were over the moon to know that schools were reopening and starting the new school year, especially the children who graduated from grade school or middle school and were to start studying in their new schools. Excitement filled the air on the morning of the first day of school. The children were up early, back to their school day routine where they are up at 5.30am to do their morning devotion and then after their respective chores and once that is done they go shower and get changed and ready for school and have breakfast together before setting off to school. We took our annual ‘Day 1 of School’ photos of each child to document their growth as well as a form of memory to keep in the years to come…they grow up so quickly! The photo spot remains the same each year, just in front of our rustic greyish blue window and each year we see how tall they grow, just measuring their height against the window behind. It’s a little thing enjoy doing, reminiscing and sharing laughters on their growth and how they look more ‘grown up’ now as compared to their cute tiny faces in the past. Did we mention we have 11 new additions to YCF this year? Yes, 11 new children who are so unique in their own special ways. Thank God for sending them to us to allow us to help care, guide and nurture these lives while they are under our care and to give them an education which will benefit their futures. We are excited to get to know them each better and to see them grow well and get along with their new friends in YCF and we can only thank God and the sponsors for making this possible for us to take in these children to help and love them.
If you have been frequently reading our updates, you would know that in the month of June, we will annually kick off the growing rice project as the rainy seasons are just ahead (August) and we start preparing our fields to start growing rice. This is our year in year out activity that we delight in, it teaches the children so much…from being appreciative of the rice they eat to imparting life skills of growing/harvesting rice processes that they may put to use in the future. Of course, there are so many pockets of fun that they share within the whole process, which makes planting rice something that the children look forward too. Now, we have started on the first round of tossing the seeds into the fields which has been ploughed and we will transfer the rice seedling once it has sprouted, stay tune to see the entire process take place.
Lastly, in this month we had to say goodbye to a long time good friend of YCF. He succumbed to his sickness despite fighting a good fight. We type this with a heavy heart as we will dearly miss him. Khun William H Moeller, we want to thank you for loving us through the seasons, for helping us through the years and most importantly for being a real good friend through the days since we first knew you. May you look down upon us in heaven and smile each time you see us, likewise we will hold you close at heart and remember all the times we shared. We are thankful that we managed to say our goodbyes and to send you off with our hearts full of the love you have given to each one of us. We honour and we thank you.
31 May 2021
Every day a good day
This is the time of the year that we have new additions to YCF and when the children get all excited to head back to school after their long school vacation and when things around the home start easing back to our normal daily routines. However, with the spike in the number of cases this month in Thailand, the reopening of school has been delayed to the month of June as measures has been in place to stem the Covid19 outbreak to help improve the situation. Even with this piece of news, we have been happily welcoming some new additions to the YCF family despite these uncertain times. The Lord has been so good to us and He has been watching and protecting the YCF family. We are very pleased to have new additions to the YCF family and are excited to get to know them better and to love and journey with them during their time in YCF.
Out of the many other things we are so grateful and thankful for this month are especially for the people that God has sent to bless YCF. As this month, we had to stay away from crowds and to minimise exposure by heading out or bringing the children anywhere where they may be exposed we had to keep them well engaged in the comforts of our homes. Thankfully, with the help of technology the children were able to do their online learning as they had school lessons and assignments to do during their time at home as they are unable to head back physically to school in the time being. Aside from that, we have had Teacher Jean and Khun Toto so generously coming to teach our children English and Maths during their spare time. It was nice to have lessons conducted at home and it is so good that are children are constantly learning despite this unfortunate Covid19 situation that has badly affected so many people. We love seeing them constantly learning and expanding their knowledge and we are so blessed with people who are well equipped and experienced to help us do so.
Besides work, as the famous saying goes, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” and as we are firm believers that through play, our children learns best as they gain experiences and nurtures how they make sense of the world, we also had days that the children had lots of fun. One of the days this month was when the children was sent for a little mission, they had to go collect mangos from trees that were full of tangy yellow mangos. As late March through July is the mango season in Thailand, we decided to head to a field filled with mango trees that belonged to a friend of YCF to collect mangos for our consumption and it is no secret that our children are big lovers of food and of course…mangos! They can eat it ripe, unripe and are great at climbing up the trees to get the fruit. It was a lovely day out and everyone has so much fun, it was fun collecting the mango, seeing how much we gathered, washing the mangos and of course eating and preparing some treats using the mangos. We also had a blast going swimming this month at a friend of YCF house that is nearby, he is always so hospitable and knowing that the children loves swimming, he opened his home for them to take a dip. It was so refreshing and lots of fun as everyone splashed around in the cool waters that allowed them to forget about the crazy heat. Apart from the outdoor fun, we also had activities like paper cutting, singing and helping with the chores around the homes.
A big thanksgiving this month that we want to share about is regarding one of our older girls who recently was successfully enrolled into university. We are so proud of her and we are excited for her as she embarks on her new chapter in life and further her education in university. We thank God for the support we have received for her and are truly glad that it has all come to be and she is well on her way to start her university experience.
As June rolls in, we are hopeful for the Covid19 situation to get better and for the children to be able to return back to school. They have been looking forward for school to start and are praying that the situation gets better and for the number of daily cases to decrease. We are all well and thankful for the Lord’s blessings over us daily, we know that in these uncertain days, we have to only look to Jesus and for Him to lead us in His ways. We hope that you and your loved ones are keeping safe and taking care. Our prayers are with you and we hope that you too will keep us in your prayers.
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30 April 2021
Restore Us
The first quarter of the year has passed and we have been really blessed with the Lord’s protection over us all at YCF. The children have just ended a school year and are now enjoying their school vacation even as the nation has been hit with the third wave of Covid19 and there has been a spike in daily cases. We have been very careful and cautious in order to prevent our children and staff from any exposure. Their safety is our outmost concern as we want to ensure that everyone is safe and well. We have restricted movement to minimize any exposure to the virus, hence most of the children are staying back in YCF during this period of time. As so, we have been having many activities with the children to keep them well occupied. We had a little survival skill learning trip for the children to the dam nearby with our staff overseeing them as they learned to pitch tents, catch fish in the river, cooking the fish with a fire they started using natural elements such as rocks and twigs and learning how to survive in such a terrain. The children had so much fun as they could enjoy a nice splash in the cool waters of the river and had a whale of a time having a ‘picnic’ with one another. We want to impart such life skills to the children as we see it as valuable lessons which will be very useful for them in the future. Aside from outdoor activities, we also had some activities which were based at home, we had paper cutting time where the children will come together to cut out creative figurines to be used on cards to be sold to raise funds. We have been doing this for many years and it has been such a good way to allow our children let their creative juices flow and also for them to take ownership of learning to be responsible for raising funds for things around the house. They learn that hard work pays off.
In April, we also commemorated Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We had a lovely worship service which was followed by a great spread for dinner on Easter Sunday as we were blessed with Mookata (Thai Barbecue) for everyone to delight in. The children ate so much that night and went to bed with their stomachs full. We are so thankful for the Lord’s goodness over us, the house at House of Grace is now completed with the windows installed. The house building project was made possible by the God’s goodness and providence through the help we have received from various people who have donated to this project. Thank you for giving out children a new library and our staff a new living quarter. We have moved some items in and we have been using the space in the new house well. Everyone is loving it and enjoy inhabiting it. We painted it a bright light green as we thought that it would be a nice and fresh colour to add more cheeriness to the area. As for what May holds, we are still unsure but we know that God is with us. Just an update on the beach trip to Hua Hin, we have prayed and discussed and have decided to but the trip on hold now as the Covid19 situation is bad currently now in Thailand. We do not want to risk anything happening to anyone of our children or staff and the wise decision will be to stay put at home and not head out to minimize the exposure. Please pray with and for us as our country is badly affected once again by the return of a new wave of cases and as the country tries to provide healthcare for those who have contracted the virus. We pray that this will soon roll over and things will get better as we hope that this pandemic will come to a complete end.
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31 March 2021
Much Appreciated
Time passes surprisingly fast, we are approaching the last month of the first quarter of the year. As we look back on the month of March, it has been yet another delightful month filled with God’s goodness. All our days He holds us in His hands, from the moment that we wake to the time we lay our heads, for that we are ever so thankful.
March is a month most of us would coin as the ‘worst air quality’ month as shrouds of thick smoky haze would blanket most of the Northern Thai provinces. The source of this can be traced back to a common method of slash and burn which many farmers still practice by setting lands ablaze to clear their farm land. This year however, it has been said to be the worst in all the previous years.
“It’s more severe than previous years because the fuel – all the dry leaves and plants – had accumulated for a few years without burning. This year is dry. There is no rain and little humidity. So when the fuel ignites, it’s harder to control,” said Amphon Kanchan from the Khun Kan-Samoeng forest fire station.
We have been trying to ensure that the children do as much activities as they can indoors and refrain from heading out as breathing in the haze is very harmful to one’s health as exposure to the micro particles of this air pollution can penetrate deep inside one’s lungs and may be passed into the blood stream unfiltered which may result in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases or cancer. We had a record of a very unhealthy P.M 2.5 air quality index reading recently. Please help to pray for the haze to clear out so that the children enjoy their outdoor activities as well as for the sake of our health. As it is the hot and dry season in Thailand now, having the haze around really makes it all the more worse and very unbearable. As the school vacation is fast approaching, we have also been planning to take our children to the trip to the sea in Hua Hin. At YCF, we try to make a trip down to Hua Hin once every four years so that our children will be able visit the sea - all our children are from the highlands/mountains and so for many it would be their first time to the sea and they all have the desire to be able to visit the sea and experience it. More importantly, the visit to the sea will also be a bible camp and a baptism trip as we have few children who will be baptized and also during the trip (around 10 days) we are looking at running a bible camp. It would also be good to escape the bad haze and to head to somewhere with fresher air for the children to enjoy the great outdoors and soak in sunshine and to bask in the vast nature. We are currently asking the children’s sponsors to help support their child to pay for the trip’s expenses. It will be 5000 baht per head for the entire trip, if you would like to contribute and help towards the travelling expenses (gas, food, accommodation, miscellaneous expenses) please get in touch with us at youthcharityfoundationthailand@gmail.com we will greatly appreciate any donations. Initially the trip was planned for April however, the Christian Mission Home at Hua Hin is fully booked and so we will have to push our trip back a bit and head down South in May instead of April.
Another thing to give thanks for is the house building project which we embarked on 2 years ago. It surely has taken a bit more time then we estimated, however, we are glad to share that the project is well on its way to completion. Everyone has worked hard to chip in to the construction of the house. In times that we were running low on funds to purchase resources or pay for external help to build up the house, we have learnt that as we wait patiently and faithfully trust in the Lord by committing all our concerns and requests for help, He hears and He delivers. He has blessed us through many who have stepped forward to contribute funds in many ways to help us. We are almost done with the house, all walls are up, floors are stable, the walls have been painted, and electricity has been installed. We just need a little bit more for the finishing touches – the roof! So as we wait, we pray and we know that God will provide for our needs. Thank you to all who have generously given to our house building project which is a building that will be the staff living quarters and a library for the children. We can’t wait till it is completely built, functional and furnished, all ready for the people to move in to occupy the space. Thank God for everything!