THAILAND FLOODS AND BLESSING HOME
The severe flooding in Bangkok and the central provinces
will be with us for a long time, at least 4 of 5 more weeks. In the meantime, several million refugees
have had to leave their homes and find shelter in the homes of relatives and
friends in other parts of the nation.
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| Father and daughter hang on to back of pickup truck to get through flooded area. |
Blessing Home is located in Chonburi province, which is the
first province east of Bangkok. Our
province has been absorbing the inflow of a massive wave of refugees, most of
whom are the impoverished masses that do not have resources to handle
emergencies. Without employment, they
are dependent upon help from relief organizations and government aid, both of
which are in very limited supply. These refugees will be with us for a long time, because the floods are not expected to go away for another 4-5 weeks.
Food store shelves are pretty empty and what is available is
very expensive. Some of this is because
of supply and demand. The local
population has mushroomed faster than the markets can receive supplies of food
and drinking water. But the problem will
not go away because up to 30% of the rice crops have been destroyed (including
in other rice exporting nations like Vietnam).
This will affect rice prices worldwide.
Pastor Banya and the staff and volunteers at Blessing Home
face great challenges right now. Pastor
Banya has to find and buy food enough for all of the children and staff at
Blessing Home as well as other families in the slums surrounding Life Center
UMC in Pattaya. He has had to go from
market to market with a few volunteers.
Food is many markets is being rationed, so it takes several volunteers
to purchase a good amount of food. They
purchase what they can at one market, and then they move on to the next until
they have enough. Food prices have
skyrocketed, so this is greatly straining our budget as we seek to feed the
children. Prayers are in order and any
donations during this crisis would be greatly appreciated.
Funds can be sent payable to TMM at:
TMM
P.O. Box 56
Mannsville, KY 42758
Or give online at the TMM website: http://thailandmethodist.org/donate.html
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INTERNET VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
On another note: If you have internet at home and can spare
some time helping, we need volunteers to help us on a database project. No skill or special computer knowledge is
needed. If you use the internet, you can
help us. Your volunteer labor on the
internet will make an eternal difference, as more churches and individuals hear
about what the Lord is doing in Thailand.
If you are interested in more information on how you can help by being
an internet volunteer, please send us an email at thailandumc@gmail.com.
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BLESSING HOME BUILDING FUND UPDATE
About $69,000 of the $144,000 needed to purchase a building
for Blessing Home has been received so far.
We hope that all of our supporting churches and individuals will take up
Christmas offerings and remember the children of Blessing Home. The mission is a partnership, and we cannot
do anything without your prayers and financial support.
Please make sure to write “Building Fund” on the memo
section of any checks you send, so we can make sure to designate your gift.
