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Earning High Marks in Thailand

August 07, 2014

For the past 15 years, Mercy Christian School has taught the fundamentals of academics and the Christian faith to underprivileged children in Thailand.

Abject poverty and broken homes are an all too common way of life for many children living in the Ubonratchatani Province in northeastern Thailand. Out of necessity, parents leave their offspring in the care of grandparents or other relatives so they can work in distant cities. Some are never heard from again.
Other parents do their best to provide for the basic needs of their children, but all of their income goes toward food and shelter. Education is almost viewed as a luxury.
Banjit* understands the value of education. Raised by a loving but poor family in a Thai village, her prospects for the future appeared dim until her parents enrolled her in Mercy Christian School in Ubonratchatani. Even though her family was Buddhist, they chose Mercy because its academic programs surpassed that of the government schools.
The encouragement of her teachers and her natural eagerness to learn made the transition easy for Banjit. Year after year she excelled in her studies. She also committed her heart to Jesus Christ and grew in her faith while attending the school.
Now Banjit co-leads her church’s youth ministry. The second-year college student is majoring in education, and her parents could not be more thrilled. Banjit already knows where she wants to work when she graduates. She hopes she can combine her two passions—love for children and love for Jesus—to make a lasting impact on future generations of students at Mercy Christian School.

Breaking barriers through education

A majority of the students come from traditional Buddhist families, but many receive Christ while attending the school.

A Thai ministry started the school in 1999 to give children from rural villages the opportunity to receive a quality education and hear the gospel. Twenty children from surrounding villages comprised that first preschool class.
The school added a new grade with each succeeding year and now educates students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The current enrollment exceeds 1,000 students, and there is a waiting list for those who are turned away due to the lack of classroom space.
What is most remarkable, however, is the success of the school in a country where the saying “to be Thai is to be Buddhist” rings true. More than 95 percent of Thailand’s population is Buddhist, and about 80 percent of the students attending Mercy Christian School come from Buddhist families.
“It isn’t a difficult choice, when parents can send their kids to a school like Mercy and see them excel, or have them go to a public school in their village, where they won’t learn very much,” said Stephen van Valkenburg, Christian Aid Mission’s area director for Southeast Asia.
“This makes a big, big difference in reaching people with the gospel. What parent doesn’t want the best for their kids?”
The school is so highly regarded that some of the children travel upwards of two hours each way by bus from their remote villages to Ubonratchatani. Without assistance from the ministry, these children would not be able to pay the bus fees to get to the school.
Students attend chapel services on the sprawling campus, and a study of the Bible is incorporated into their classwork. The ministry estimates about 60 percent of the children become followers of Jesus Christ.
The school has become an outreach for parents too, as the ministry’s gospel workers visit the homes of the students and share the message of Christ’s love and salvation with family members.
A mother, named Tida, sends one of her children to Mercy Christian School. A native of Laos, she fled with her parents and brother during the Indochina War and resettled in Thailand. Her brother later became a Christian, but Tida maintained her Buddhist beliefs.
Her heart changed, however, as she learned more about Christ through special events at the school and from ministry workers. Tida prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior earlier this year. Now her husband is also contemplating this very important decision. The couple is considering enrolling another child at Mercy Christian School.
Following Christ can come at a cost, but that was a price the principal of Mercy’s primary school was willing to pay. The Thai teacher had excellent credentials when she joined the staff of the school. In fact, it was through her leadership that the school obtained accreditation with the Thai Department of Education.
“Despite the dishonor among her Buddhist relatives due to her teaching post in our ministry school, as well as a disadvantage in financial compensation, she has continued to serve as our primary school principal,” said the ministry leader.
“Now Mercy Christian School has become one of the top schools in Ubonratchatani Province. And the principal has received Christ and found eternal life,” he said.

Taking up their banner for the Lord

The ministry is also involved in discipleship training and church planting.

Children who excel in their studies at the school find even greater opportunities awaiting them. Through a cultural exchange program, top students at Mercy’s secondary school can go to the United States for a year or more to study at a Christian high school. The experience enables them to become more proficient in English, as they interact with other believers in the classroom, in church, and in homes.
The ministry also makes it possible for some of the brightest young scholars to further their education by going to college. Sam is one of these fortunate students.
Six years ago the ministry challenged its people to answer the call to engage in medical missions. Previously the ministry had relied on short-term mission teams from overseas. Unfortunately, there was no continuity in providing the much-needed medical services to rural communities bordering the Mekong River.
Sam responded to the challenge. A native of Laos, he developed a heart for missions while staying at Mercy Christian School one summer. He is now in his final year of medical school and will intern under a licensed physician for two to three years before he gets his own medical license.
This dedicated young man appreciates the ministry’s willingness to put him through college and medical school. When his training is complete, he plans to join the ministry as a full-time medical missionary.
Thanks to financial assistance from caring Christians, the ministry also sends young believers to its Bible training center so they can become church leaders and missionaries. Christian Aid assists these gospel workers and equips them to plant churches in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia.
In addition, the ministry raises dairy goats and cows on its school property and donates them to poor families as an income-generating opportunity and a source of milk for their children. Vocational training classes and small business ventures are being initiated by the ministry to reach out to the Buddhist community.
“Through Mercy Christian School, our ministry is communicating to the people living in these communities that we are here to provide training and education for their children. In the context of lifting their burdens, the children and their parents are hearing the message of Christ’s love, hope, and salvation,” said the ministry leader.
“Numerous children, parents, and teachers have found new life in Christ, and they are in turn reaching more Thai and Lao Buddhists with the gospel.”
*(name changed)

Use the form below to contribute online. Or call 434-977-5650 to contribute by phone. If you prefer to mail your gift, please mail to Christian Aid, P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Please use Gift Code: 720TSO. Thank you!

A Plea for God’s Mercy in the Time of Ebola

August 07, 2014

Since the first case of Ebola occurred in March in the West African nation of Guinea, more than 1,700 people have contracted the deadly virus and more than 900 of these have died from it.
The disease quickly spread to the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia, some of the poorest countries on earth and the least equipped to handle such an outbreak.
Sierra Leone has declared a state of public emergency. Liberia has closed its schools and quarantined several communities. The government has also ordered that all businesses without hand-washing facilities be shut down, which likely applies to most of them due to the fact that the country has been without water and electricity for the past 20 years.
After three civil wars, Liberia lacks even basic infrastructure, and the majority of the population remains unemployed.
According to James Cuffee, leader of Christian Aid Mission-assisted Christ Evangelical Fellowship Ministries in Liberia, most Liberians have to walk two to three hours to get to the nearest clinic. When a pregnant member of one of the churches he planted went into labor, he and his coworkers had to transport her through the night in a wheelbarrow to the nearest village with a clinic. She gave birth along the way, and when they finally made it to their destination, none of the doctors were willing to get out of bed to attend to her.
This is the type of culture in which the Ebola virus has taken hold. Not only are the clinics in Liberia few and far between, but they lack basic supplies like gloves, masks, and sterile instruments.
On July 27, one of Liberia’s most high-profile doctors died from Ebola. Now fearful of contracting the disease, many hospital workers are refusing to come into work.
“One of my cousins who worked in a local hospital lost his life,” Cuffee wrote to Christian Aid Mission in a recent report. “Families are losing family members. Most people are afraid now.”
For several years Cuffee has been trying to raise enough funds to complete construction on a clinic for poor villagers. It remains unfinished, now, during the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

A Merciless Killer

A painful disease, Ebola progresses rapidly in its victims. People who are infected initially begin having flu-like symptoms like fever, muscle pain, and sore throat. These symptoms quickly escalate to vomiting and diarrhea. At this point, victims usually have only 10 days before capillaries start to disintegrate and extensive internal bleeding, and external bleeding from the mouth and eyes, begins.
Fear has gripped entire communities, as people have watched their friends and family members die in this agonizing way. Villagers are shunning the very people who have come to help them, as rumors have spread that foreign healthcare workers are perpetuating the disease. A community in Guinea threatened to attack a medical team, while police had to break up a riot outside of a hospital in Sierra Leone.
Not understanding that the virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids, like blood and sweat, villagers are taking the sick to local witchdoctors or having their pastors lay hands on them.
Physical contact with the dead bodies of Ebola victims poses an especially high risk of infection, and yet families are continuing to perform traditional Liberian burial rituals, which include washing the bodies before burying them.
To curtail the spread of the disease, Liberia’s president has ordered that the bodies of Ebola victims be cremated. Not being able to honor their deceased family members in the traditional way has only accentuated Liberians’ grief, however, and has proven too difficult for some who have secretly taken the bodies of their loved ones from hospitals where they died.
“The 14 years of civil war in our country took more than 250,000 lives and destroyed millions of dollars of property,” Cuffee wrote. “Now, while we were praising God for the brief moment of peace, here comes this killer disease that’s destroying lives again.”

Where did it come from?

Medical workers in West Africa are ill-equipped to handle the Ebola outbreak

Experts have suggested the Ebola outbreak is linked to the common African practice of eating bushmeat (jungle animals), which includes fruit bats—the virus’ natural hosts.
A fruit bat carrying the virus was likely consumed by the first victim in Guinea. And it likely came from Lofa, a dense jungle overlapping Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which provides hunters from all three of these countries with an abundant source of monkeys, deer, rodents, fruit bats, and other bushmeat to sell in the marketplaces.
West African governments have banned the sale of bushmeat, but that hasn’t stopped markets from selling it and locals from buying it.
For generations Africans have consumed bushmeat without harm. As a young boy, Cuffee regularly accompanied his father on hunting trips to the jungle, where he developed a taste for monkey brains—the best part of the monkey, he asserts.
These jungle delicacies are a main staple of the African diet, and many aren’t willing to give up their favorite foods because of a risk they view as small to nonexistent. Supply and demand remains strong, as hunters continually enter the dark recesses of Lofa, not only the likely source of the current Ebola outbreak, but also the very place that had a large HIV outbreak in the 1980s.

What now?

For nearly 30 years, James Cuffee has shared the gospel with his own people in Liberia. Here he prays with a man who desired to receive Christ as Savior.

More than 70 percent of the epidemic has been occurring at border crossings, which West African governments have now isolated with police and military personnel. Before they did, however, the virus spread to Nigeria when a Liberian man infected with Ebola flew into the country. Before he died in a hospital, he spread the virus to the doctor who treated him.
The leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire met together with the World Health Organization on August 1 to launch a $100 million response plan, part of which involves keeping the disease from spreading outside of their borders.
Containing the virus is the only option available to these nations at this point, as there is no cure for Ebola currently on the market.
Samaritan’s Purse workers, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who contracted the disease while working in Liberia, were given an experimental drug that dramatically improved their conditions. This medication, however, has not yet been approved for human use.

Meanwhile Christians inside the affected countries have joined together to ask for God’s mercy. Cuffee took part in an interdenominational meeting of church leaders in Liberia, who have pledged to fast and pray for their nation August 6 to 8.
“We’ve agreed to stand together,” Cuffee wrote. “We must unite in faith and invoke the Lord’s intervention to heal our land and its people.”
Since 1986, Christ Evangelical Fellowship Ministries, led by James Cuffee, has shared the love and message of Jesus throughout Liberia, planting churches and discipling believers. During this time, when so many are gripped with fear and uncertainty, Cuffee and his missionary coworkers are pointing people to the certainty and hope found only in Christ.

Kanembu of Nigeria

The Kanembu are considered the modern descendants of the Kanem-Borno Empire, which exerted influence over central north Africa for over 1000 years. Their sultans and traditional rulers are still more influential than government authorities. They live in mud brick houses, with their culture and clothing much the same as in ancient times. For centuries they have been Muslim, but traditional African beliefs are mixed with Islam. The Kanembu depend on spiritism to meet daily problems.
Ministry Obstacles
The Kanembu have been Muslim for generations, and their identity is wrapped up in their current belief system.
Outreach Ideas
Scripture portions are available in the Kanumbu language, as are Gospel recordings. Pray for Christians in other tribes to take the message of Christ to the Kanembu people.
Pray for the followers of Christ
There may be a very few followers of Jesus among the Kanembu, but even that is doubtful. Pray for those believers the Lord will soon call to himself from this tribe. Pray they will live holy lives, and will learn to live in the power of God's Spirit.
Pray for the entire people group
Pray this ancient tribe will be privileged to hear accurately who Jesus truly is, the Son of God, deity.
Scripture Focus
"For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations ... says the Lord of hosts." Malachi 1:11

People Name:

Kanembu

Country:

Nigeria

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

1,900

World Population:

649,000

Language:

Kanembu

Primary Religion:

Islam

Bible:

Portions

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level:

Pashtun, Northern of Afghanistan

Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, and make up the majority of the Taliban and the current Afghan government. There may be as many as 400 tribes and clans within the Pashtun community. The Pashtun are said to be elegant, colorfully attired, hospitable, considerate, fierce in hatred, and kind in friendship. They are a people who have known frequent warfare. The essence of their culture can be seen in the code of ethics they live by. This unwritten code is called Pushtunwali ("the way of the Pushtun"), and is close to the heart of every Pashtun. The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follows Sunni Islam, and follows it fiercely.
Ministry Obstacles
Pashtuns have been strongly committed to Islam for generations, and they have been a war-like people, as well. Most Taliban are Pashtun.
Outreach Ideas
There is a network of people committed to praying for and reaching out to the Pashtun. Pray they will work together in a unified manner and that God will allow them to experience breakthroughs in reaching this group.
Pray for the followers of Christ
A small handful of Pashtun have come to accept Jesus as Savior. They very much need prayer. Please pray they will live holy lives, and will be filled with all the fruit of God's Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This will honor the Lord before their families and friends.
Pray for the entire people group
Please pray the Lord will place a desire for peace in Pashtun hearts, and that they will increasingly be dissatisfied with anything less than knowing and serving Jesus Christ.
Scripture Focus
"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

People Name:

Pashtun, Northern

Country:

Afghanistan

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

6,287,000

World Population:

42,158,000

Language:

Pashto, Northern

Primary Religion:

Islam

Bible:

Complete

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level:

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I have just received word from China that Noah and Ruth (not their Chinese names), our spiritual son and daughter, are “on the run” due to a security compromise and are appealing for our prayers and help.

After contacting several here in the USA and on the Mainland for their help and counsel, we felt the urgency of sending out this prayer request vigil.

Please forward this message only to those whom you know and trust because we do not want this information to get into the wrong hands for their safety’s sake.

As we know more information, we will forward updates.

His love and blessings,

Dan Hubbell

Tai Nua, Chinese Shan of China

The Tai Nua are historically part of the great Tai race of Asia, which dispersed during the past millennia to now inhabit parts of China, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, and, of course, Thailand. After a Tai Nua wedding ceremony the bridegroom goes to live with his bride's family. Traditionally he must take with him gifts of tea, rice, meat, bananas, four eggs, and two salted fish for his new in-laws. Upon arrival, the village elder takes the packets of tea and rice out to the road and calls on the spirits of heaven and earth to witness the marriage. He then ties a white thread seven times around the wrist of the bride and once around the wrist of the groom to indicate their unbreakable commitment to each other. Although they are nominally Theravada Buddhists, the Tai Nua have many aspects of animism and polytheism mixed into their beliefs.
Ministry Obstacles
Buddhists typically have little awareness of their own sin and their need for forgiveness.
Outreach Ideas
Please pray that some Han Chinese Christians will be given an interest in telling the Tai Nua about the Savior, Jesus Christ. Pray they will commit to seeing real disciples of Christ produced.
Pray for the followers of Christ
There may be a few Christians among the Tai Nua. Please pray these and others who will soon join them will learn to live lives of thanksgiving and praise and will be faithful in prayer.
Pray for the entire people group
Pray the Buddhist and animist Tai Nua tribe will be given a growing desire for a Savior from sin. If they have this desire, learning of Jesus the Savior will be good news indeed.
Scripture Focus
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14

People Name:

Tai Nua, Chinese Shan

Country:

China

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

477,000

World Population:

585,000

Language:

Tai Nua

Primary Religion:

Buddhism

Bible:

Portions

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level:

1.2

Bania, Subarna Banik of India

The name subarna banik is derived from the word sonar bania, meaning traders of gold. They are known for their exquisite craftsmanship in making designs on gold ornaments. Vermilion and bangles of conch-shell and iron are marriage symbols for women. The community has achieved a high literacy rate. Remarriage of widows is not permissible; female divorcee remarriages are allowed. Most of the people are owners of agricultural land. The majority belongs to the Vaishnava sect of the Hindu religion but they worship all the local deities. Dharmaraj and Kali are their village deities. A Brahman priest performs their worship and rituals.
Ministry Obstacles
Spiritual opposition can be expected when Jesus is presented to a person or to a people group. But God is greater than this opposition.
Outreach Ideas
This community has a higher literacy rate than many others in India. Printed scripture and other Gospel messages will be effective, in addition to oral communication.
Pray for the followers of Christ
None of the people in this community have reported themselves as Christians to the Indian census. It's possible there are a few secret believers. Pray for those who will one day come to Jesus as Lord and Savior, that they will live in obedience to Christ and will serve him with a whole heart.
Pray for the entire people group
Pray for an increasing awareness of sin among these people, and for a desire to find forgiveness for that sin. Conviction of sin is a great gift, since it shows us our need.
Scripture Focus
"Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen." Psalm 72:18-19

People Name:

Bania, Subarna Banik

Country:

India

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

161,000

World Population:

166,000

Language:

Bengali

Primary Religion:

Hinduism

Bible:

Complete

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level:

Convert to Islam, Pay the Tax, Flee–or Die

Imagine waking up one morning to find a red spray-painted symbol on the front of your house, identifying you as a Christian. The Arabic letter for “nun,” meaning “Nazarenes,” was recently painted on homes of Christians in the city of Mosul, Iraq, by an organized terrorist group called IS (Islamic State). Then on July 17, Christians were given a choice: convert to Islam, pay a high tax, flee or die.

VOM workers reported that some recited the shahada (Muslim confession of faith) and converted to Islam. None paid the tax to stay, and most fled the city to save their families’ lives. The believers fled without their belongings, many on foot.

Learn how you can help Christians in Iraq

“Because we have such a well-established in-country work and relationships with the indigenous church in Iraq, we were able to respond immediately. Those who had to leave everything really need our prayers and practical assistance.”

—Cole Richards, VOM’s Vice President of International Ministries

Through VOM’s field workers who have been actively bringing help to persecuted Christians in Iraq for more than 10 years, VOM immediately responded with aid to our displaced persecuted family. We are now providing them with Action Packs, with daily necessities like clothing and toiletries, and food. VOM is currently evaluating the needs of an additional 200 families and plans to bring help to them as soon as possible and is prepared to expand this help as the violence against Christians escalates.

Yes, I would like to help displaced Christians in Iraq

Hani of Vietnam

The Hani are polytheists and have a special adoration toward the spirits of their ancestors. It is common for brothers in the same family to worship their dead parents at the eldest brother's house. They practice rituals venerating different gods, thus obtaining their protection. The religious hierarchy of the Hani is divided into three main personages: the zuima who directs the main celebrations; the beima, responsible for practicing exorcisms and magical rituals; and the nima who takes charge of carrying out predictions and administering medicinal herbs. Dwellings are usually two or three stories high, built with bamboo, mud, stone, and wood.
Ministry Obstacles
Spiritual opposition will surely be encountered as Christ is presented to these people, who are in touch with evil spiritual forces.
Outreach Ideas
Gospel recordings are available in the language of the Hani people. Please pray for workers.
Pray for the followers of Christ
There may be a few followers of Jesus Christ among the Hani of Vietnam. Please pray for them, and for others who will soon join their numbers. Pray they will completely turn away from worshipping false gods, and will turn wholeheartedly to the Creator God.
Pray for the entire people group
Pray the Hani people will soon hear accurately of who Jesus is, and that the message will come to them in ways they understand.
Scripture Focus
"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples." Psalm 108:3

People Name:

Hani

Country:

Vietnam

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

21,000

World Population:

763,000

Language:

Hani

Primary Religion:

Ethnic Religions

Bible:

None

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level:

Akha, Tchitcho of Laos

The Tchitcho Akha are considered one of the most distinct of the Akha groups in Laos. Even though the Pouly Akha are near neighbors, one researcher claims, "They are different classes of ethnic groups. Pouly and Tchitcho have little in common and no contact or affinity with each other." An Akha wedding is marked with great festivities, feasting, and alcohol consumption. Divorce among Akha couples is unfortunately high. For generations they have tilled their fields and gone about their daily tasks, completely unaware of the presence of Christianity or the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Ministry Obstacles
There is much spiritual darkness among the Ahka people, but the light of the Gospel can overcome it.
Outreach Ideas
Pray that indigenous Laotian Christians will be led to the Akha groups and will be successful in planting healthy, vigorous churches among them.
Pray for the followers of Christ
There are probably no followers of Jesus Christ today among the Tchitcho people of Laos. However, please pray for those who will one day come to saving faith. They will need our prayers.
Pray for the entire people group
Pray the Lord will begin to stir the hearts of these people to want to know the creator God, the one who loves them and has provided the way of redemption for them.
Scripture Focus
"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed." Daniel 7:14

People Name:

Akha, Tchitcho

Country:

Laos

10/40 Window:

Yes

Population:

1,400

World Population:

1,400

Language:

Akha

Primary Religion:

Ethnic Religions

Bible:

Complete

Online Audio NT:

Jesus Film:

Audio Recordings:

Christ Followers:

Few, less than 2%

Status:

Progress Level: