Meet Candace Smith...

This is Candace Smith. She is another one of the amazing people I have met since arriving in Thailand. Candace runs one of the children's homes under the Haven Foundation. Her home is called the Alabaster Jar Children's Home.

A pattern is emerging here as you are probably already aware. I have taken Candace's own words to describe what she is doing here in Thailand.

Meet Candace Smith...

In May of 2004, it was my great honor to help bring to life a children's home in the mountains of Thailand. It has long been my dream to have a children's home. Not in a city far from the children's families and culture, but in the mountains themselves so that the children can still be a part of their communities. Children's homes are necessary in the mountains because many villages do not have schools, especially for children after the age of 12. Many Karen families are too poor to feed and clothe their children. Therefore, if they want to have an education or simply enough food to eat, they must leave home and hope to find a place in a children's home. The homes provide education, food, clothes and medicine for the children as well as a healthy environment full of love where they can learn about Jesus. We take the older children with us on the weekends as we travel preaching in the villages to train them to give as well as receive.

In that home we had 35 Karen children from desperately poor families. Some had lost either one or more of their parents. Many were not Christian when they came to us, and our goal was to train them up to be leaders and ministers among their people. There were children from ages 6 to 16 in the home and they changed so much! They were malnourished when they came, and now they are healthy and strong. Many of them only had one or two sets of clothes, but now they have many new things to wear, especially jackets for the cold winters and even a toy that they received for Christmas. They had never seen a Christmas tree or a Christmas present! They love to learn the praise and worship songs that we have translated into the Karen language, and churches from villages all over call and ask for our children to come and sing and teach the people these new songs. They are already leading their people. They are a beautiful gift, and I am so thankful that God gave them to me and continues to provide faithfully for them. They are so precious and truly are the Hope of the Karen Nation.

The first time that I saw Malota, a jungle village in Northern Thailand, I fell in love. In love with the people, in love with the children, in love with the place. God put something in me that has been aching to be born ever since...a longing to belong to these people and to this place that was so overwhelming. I would just cry with frustration wanting to be there, to live and work among these people everyday. And finally, a year later, God granted me the desire of my heart by preparing a place in a mountain village so perfect for me that I knew it unmistakably was Him.

I live in a Karen village high in the mountains, so remote that it is two hours from a paved road and inaccessible at times except by 4 wheel drive. It has no electricity, no hot water, no Starbucks, and is about 6 hours from the mall. But it is surrounded by the most beautiful mountains that I have ever seen and is inhabited by the loveliest, kindest people I have ever known.

My role is to teach the children the Bible and English, to preach in the church and travel to the surrounding villages preaching and teaching the Word of God. I am also in close proximity to my children's home, so I will be able to be also very involved there teaching, educating and taking them with me as we preach the Word in the mountains.

Living here could never be described as easy, but as I look into the eyes of the children that God has given to me in this village (approximately 150), I know that the potential of God is in each one of them and they can change the world if only they have a chance to fulfill the plan God has for them. The smallest, dirtiest, poorest child is worth my life because Jesus died for them. They could be the next Billy Graham or Mother Teresa if only they have a change. My assignment is to impart to them a passion for God, and give them the education that they need. Then I can step back and see the miracles and the healing that only God's love can bring.

Thank you to all you faithful people who are willing to partner with us. Without you none of this is possible!

If you would like to be a part of what God is doing here, you can help us by praying for our work and by helping us financially with a tax deductible contribution:

Make checks payable to: RHEMA Church Missions, PO Box 50126, Tulsa, OK 74150-0126

Memo Line: Rev. Candace Smith

We really believe in what Candace is doing. She is making such an impact on the young people she works with. She is literally winning a generation to Christ in the mountains of Thailand. As Elliott Ministries Inc., we have sown financially into her ministry. We are looking forward to one day getting up to the Alabaster Jar and meeting some of her kids personally, but I can assure you she is an amazing woman. She is not exaggerating when she describes the beauty of the Karen people or the mountains they live in. She is real life hero.

I recently got an e-mail from Candace. She had moved to a new place to live up in the mountains. This one was bigger than her old place, but what she was most excited about was that for the first time she had doorknobs! She said "I know I'm not supposed to care about those things, but since I got them it is really making me happy." She is truly a special person whose heart is dedicated to the children she is called to serve. She was willing to live for years on end without doorknobs. I think that because she didn't have to have them, God made sure she got some! I told her it was awesome that she had door knobs, but they didn't have her.

Here is a more recent photo.

Here is her most recent newsletter:

Dear Friends,

Hello everyone! I haven’t sent out a report for a while because the children were on their summer break and I was in America doing fundraising. I have been back since June 6th and things are going very well here. It is the nice, cool but very humid rainy season. I always look forward to rainy season because I forget about the mud. But even mud and mosquitoes are better than the extreme gross hot weather of the hot season. I had a great time in America (mercifully missing the hot season). It was great to meet so many people who care about what God is doing in Thailand , people who give and pray for us. I was really overwhelmed. The children are so excited because now we have the money to buy beds for them thanks to a wonderful generous pastor in Toledo . I also went crazy at a garage sale in our neighborhood and bought tons of new clothes for them as well as having some beautiful clothes donated by one our faithful sponsors. It is so awesome to see the kids looking so cute in their new clothes. Clothes are not expensive here but they are also not very good quality and I will buy clothes for the kids and in a month or so they have holes! Nice thick sweaters are not easy to find either and we need them here in the mountains.

When the new school year started again we accepted 7 new children into our home. It is really amazing how fast they assimilate. When we first started it took forever to get the kids trained and excited about God and excited about the future. Now we have such an atmostsphere here of worship and the presence of God as well as personal responsibility and integrity that the new kids just jump right in and change it seems over night. We have one girl who comes from a non-Christian family deep in the jungle and she came to us because there was no school for her now that she had graduated 6th grade and she so desperately wanted to go to school. A friend from her village came to us and told us that this girl had walked 5 miles one way everyday to school for years – that is 10 miles a day. Her family didn’t care if she went to school and wouldn’t help her so she just went herself. She came to us wearing the bracelets that they believe ward off evil spirits. Usually it is so hard to get them to cut off the bracelets because they are raised with such fear but in a week she cut the things off and became a Christian. She is like a little sponge you can’t believe it. She will just sit and watch whatever you are doing and has a million questions. She really is a remarkable little girl.

There is a new children’s home close by our home and we are teaching there 3 times a week as well as starting a Sunday School at the largest children’s home in the area with 120 kids. Our goal is and has been for several years to teach in every children’s home, every week. We are inching closer and closer to this goal. I estimate now there to be close to 400 children in children’s homes in our town. Pray with me that the doors would open for us to minister to them regularly. We had an awesome service last night with about 100 youth in our weekly Friday night youth meeting and at the end about 20 kids came for prayer, to be born again or just to rededicate their lives to God. When I look at them, especially those fresh from the mountains I feel God’s heart for them. Last night as I stood up to preach, my prepared sermon was suddenly not what I needed to say. I could feel the desperation that God must feel for them to know Him. Not religion, not the tradition in which they were raised but a real and living God, beautiful, powerful and perfect just waiting to help them with every second of their lives. Life is too hard to live without Jesus, especially for them. I told them my own story of my search for God and about the day I stood on a beach and California when I was 24 year old and I said God I don’t care how long it takes or what I have to do or how much it costs me I am going to find You. The real You not religious tradition but You. I don’t want them to spend their lives pushing away with both hands the only One who can make them happy so they can run after something that never will. It was powerful and so we start again. To build something strong in these young people. Something that will stand in the trials and suffering of life and give them hope for tomorrow and strength and grace for today. I believe with all my heart that no matter where they come from or where they started or how bleak things look for them, when God comes into their lives, with all His beauty, power, love and glory, their lives will be glorious. Not easy but wonderful It has been the case for me.

So keep praying for us. Every year we have new children, sometimes it is a challenge to teach at the same time brand new children as well as keep growing those we have had for 4 years who are so advanced. Last night when all those kids came for prayer, I prayed for them but then my older children that are well taught and know God stepped up to pray and minister to them one on one and cry with them. That blesses me more than anything else. They are beautiful examples of God’s love. Thank you to all those who give to make this place possible. You are awesome and we honor and pray for you. We pray God continues to make Himself REAL to you as well. God Bless,

Love,
Candace


PS: You can send a tax deductible donation to Rhema Missions PO Box 50126 Tulsa , OK 74150 Memo Rev Candace Smith 100% goes to the work in Thailand

Meet Pui Asenka...

This is Pui Asenka. She is a Thai missionary to Tibet. Like the sweetheart she is, she calls it China because it technically is. The reality is she goes in and out of what is known to most of the world as Tibet. Right now Pui is stuck here in Thailand because things have gotten very dicey where she was living since the world stage focused on China because of the olympics. The very street she lived on has become a popular place for activists to find housing and Pui's entire ministry depends on her not being noticed. If she goes back right now there is a chance she will draw unwanted attention just because she lives on that street.

As with the other entries in my "meet" them series I have asked Pui to put something down in her own words. She has done an excellent Job. I want to keep the integrity of every word, but for the purposes of your understanding I have had to do some slight editing. I know she doesn't mind.

So without further ado.... Meet Pui Asenka in her own words.

Who am I?

In a small village up in the hills of Thailand, a girl was born into a Buddhist family. This family obeyed evil spirits and ghosts living in fear of them and servitude to them. That had been the heritage among her people since the ancestors.

That little girl was me. When I was young, I had to get up every morning and help my Grandmother prepare food for the monks. Every religious holiday, my Grandmother took me out to temple to make merits. This was my childhood.

At this time, I was very young and I did not know who is Jesus Christ because nobody ever evangelized me and told me about Him.

How God brings me to the truth through a hard life:

At the age of 15 years old, I had my first chance to hear about Jesus Christ. My Mother and me moved into the downtown of the city called Chiang Mai. My Mother was facing a very hard time because she was very ill. We thought she was ill by serious mental disorder and we took her to many hospitals. The diagnosis from all of those doctors indicated that she was absolutely normal.

We knew that she was not. It seemed that she must be affected by very, very evil spirits.

Our last solution was to take her to see many spirituals and mediums as well as abbots in many temples. None of them could help her in this very difficult time. Furthermore, some of them ran away from the evil spirits that insisted on staying in my mother’s life forever. It had been 8 years in total that my Mother had suffered from these spirits.

This continued until the day that our family decided to trust in Jesus Christ. We did this after we were told by a Christian that God can help us and can solve all our problems. Since then, my Mother has been continually healed by The Christ and she is now completely free from those devils. Praise The Lord!!!

I had thought that my Mother was going to die and that nobody could ever help her!! I am so thankful to God. He is so good to my family and me. If I had never known about The Christ, then I and my mother would have died by that black power. THANK GOD!!!

God's Mission In Me:

I'm a missionary at the border of China-Tibet (in China ).When I first knew that God called me to serve Him in China, I was so shocked and very scared of it. God is so good to me though and He encouraged me by His verse in “Psalms 91: 1-16.” Knowing this was true for me set me free from the fear and made me be willing to go out to China. When I went there, it reminded me of my former religious life before I became a Christian. The Tibetans have had faith in Buddhism and spirits.

My Duty:

My duty in China is to be in disguise. We are a tourist company, and I’m a tourist guide that will bring the foreign tourists travelling to each specified area. In fact, all those tourists are missionaries that I take out to evangelize the local people in villages. Our purpose is that we will bring Tibetans to The Christ, we are seeking the ones that can be a CEO in Christ. Those people will then take care of the believers that we have already evangelized, and they will keep them in their spiritual ways as leaders. Then when they have heads or shepherds of The Christ we don’t have to be worried about the believers after we have left the evangelized areas.

Finally:

I just want to thank you so much. Thank you for all of your prayers and supports. I hope that we can serve The Lord together. Thank you everybody that you become one of our team that serve God together here!


OK. I didn't correct that last paragraph at all because she is so sweet and so stinking sincere I just couldn't change it. Pui is a Hero of the highest order. She has taken up the cross and laid down her life in a culture that is less than 1 percent Christian. She has dedicated her life to serving Him, and in no way worries about what it means to her. She confided in me that she is just like all the other women in the world and struggled with feelings of self consciousness about her weight because Thai women are usually stick thin. Then when she moved to Tibet and lived in a climate that is so much colder than her native one, she discovered that He made her just perfect! I think so too.

We have made it our business to make a donation to Pui's ministry by personally giving her money. If you support us, you have supported her. I would like that happen again. If you were moved by her at all please send in a gift and designate it for her. Anything that can be done to help will make her better able to do a vital work reaching a very difficult place in the world. Please consider joinging with her. Thanks.