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.
May & June 2023
Waves of Grace
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.
January & February 2023
A Great Start to the Year
So quickly the days past, it is already two months in of 2023. We started this year with many things that has been keeping us busy and on our feet. If you have been following us and reading our updates and prayer requests, you would have been aware that we have been seeking financial support for repairing and maintenance works on our main building. This is because over the years, wear and tear and unwelcomed guest- bats have infested the roof and hence has led to stains and foul odor seeping through the ceiling boards and the electrical wirings were also giving way. It was a big problem as it was unhygienic, and we did not want the children falling sick from the bats’ droppings and to prevent any unforeseen dangers related to the faulty wires etc. It was a big project to take on and the amount needed for the contractor, repair and maintenance works, resources like roof tiles and new wires were too much for us to finance on our own and so we have been praying that we would be able to find people to help fund it. Thank God for His providence, He has sent help and now we are able to start the repair and maintenance works. We are so blessed and would like to share this big thanksgiving with all of you, who have been praying alongside and have given to bless us in this project. So, these two months, we have been busy moving the things and looking into the children’s sleeping arrangements to prepare for the works to start. However, it is good as there are many of us and when we all come together to help pack and move things, it gets done faster. We cannot wait for the new tiles, ceiling boards, wires and all the cracks and holes to be filled in and for us to get a ‘new’ building as we utilize and are in the building most of our time.
On top of the repair and maintenance works, we have been busy at home ensuring that the children are on track with their studies as they will be sitting for their final examinations soon, during the last 2 weeks of March. We will have a few graduating students this year and we spent some time with them individually to sit down and chart out their future paths and to talk about it. The next thing to look forward to will be their graduation ceremonies and this year it will be back to physical graduation ceremony; the children are all so glad. Graduation is such an important time to celebrate and commemorate, precious memories as everyone prepare for a new season ahead and treasure the friendships and times spent together before setting out on different paths.
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November & December 2022
Ending on a Great Note
The last two months of 2022 were really packed months as we had to prepare for many big scale events and juggle between the children school time and free time to prepare and pack. Nonetheless we are very thankful for the smooth completion of the year with the Lord’s guidance and blessings over us.
In November, we were busy preparing for Christmas, and the children were privileged to be able to learn how to sing Christmas carols in English with a group of kind volunteers who gave their time to help teach and train our children in their singing. We are so glad that they have this opportunity to brush up on their singing skills as well as to boost their confidence. They sang so well, like angels and it was all thanks to our friends from Faith Lutheran Church. We appreciate all the singing lessons and the dedication and passion they had in training the children. We look forward to next year’s caroling. The older children were also tasked with a very important job of preparing for a Christmas program that we had at a refugee camp and village school in Mae Sot, Tak Province. They were very task oriented and gave many good ideas for the Christmas activities and games for the program and it was very nice seeing them come together to plan, prepare, and try out their activities together.
In the second week of December, a small group of us headed down to Mae Sot, Tak Province and carried out the Christmas program at the refugee camp and village school. It was such an eye opener for everyone, and we really counted our blessings seeing how they lived their lives so simply with just the basic amenities and how they delighted when they received a small token of our love – towels – as their Christmas presents. Their living conditions and the village schools was something that will always be etched in our minds. It was our blessing to be able to be a blessing to them during this festive period and to show them God’s love through our actions and short time together. We hope to be able to do so again soon. We thank God as it is because of Him, we had this opportunity and He help us get permission to enter the refugee camp and really opened doors for us during this trip. We also did a community outreach in Chiang Rai with the church we are working closely with to give out some food rations as blessings to the villagers during Christmas and to remind them that the best gift that they can receive is Jesus Christ which is a gift for all to receive. It was really heartening to see the smiles of the villagers who received the gifts, and we are glad that we can bless them in small ways.
We celebrated Christmas and New Year on the last day of 2022, with a simple celebration in our open field with good food, company, and worship to thank the Lord for all His goodness over us and seeing us through 2022. 2022 has been a year of many ups and downs, but one thing we know is that the Lord is with us always and He has always delivered us and sent us the help we need during that specific time. We are very thankful to all who have helped YCF this year and we cannot do our work without your help. Thank you for all the love for the children, for all the encouragement to the staff and for all the gifts and donations to YCF. We are so blessed, and we look forward to entering the new year with big hopes for the children and anticipate a great year ahead. We wish you and your loved ones a great new year ahead too! God bless and keep you in His love always.
September & October 2022
Gone Home