Leaving Chiang Mai

Ron is finishing up his work in Chiang Mai.    The training of the house parents has been completed to the best of his ability using a cellphone to translate.   They have much to learn but it will be an on-the-job learning experience.   

Ron will be leaving on Friday to go to Mukdahan to visit the safe house we built there two years ago.    

When he leaves there in early February, he will try to go to Vientiane, Laos to visit  our workers there.   It is too hard for him to attempt trips to Nepal and the Philippines.   He hopes to return home by the end of February.  

I will post more as I have details of his travels to the other locations.

Have a good week, everyone and may God bless you.

January 16, 2022

Today, we are half-way through January, 2022.   The U.S.  has a major winter storm covering a large portion of the country today.   This storm brought a lot of snow to the southern U.S.  It has been raining and snowing off and on all day today with very strong winds.    We have no accumulation of snow in Woodstock, GA but many areas have been affected with power outages.   We have trees leaning from the strong wind.  The wind is not so strong now so the trees  may stand until Ron gets back home from Thailand and can get them cut down.    

The good news is they look like they will fall between the shed and the RV and are not leaning the other direction toward our neighbor's fence.   

My motto is to look for the good in every situation.  It will cost us to have the trees cut but it could be much worse.   We have big oak trees at the back of the house near the deck and  it is always a concern that they will fall on the house.  At least the bedrooms are at the other side of the house and there are no trees that could fall on these rooms while we are sleeping.  

Good news from Thailand.    Ron, Patinya (the church of Christ minister from Bangkok) and our house father met with the Thai government to get approval for the safe house in Chiang Mei.   The operation of the safe house is approved and we can begin to bring in girls to live at the new home.    

The little girl mentioned in the last post will not be coming.   An aunt stepped in the situation and will not let her relocate to live at the house.  It happens many times that a relative who never cares for a child, decides to come forward and object.   She doesn't really care for the little girl or she would have already been helping her.   Sometimes, the people are ignorant and do not understand why anyone would help a little girl without some strings attached.   They even think people might want to sell her.  Maybe in time, she will learn about the home and let her come later.   I think they have identified five other girls who need a home  Three of them are sisters without parents.   I don't know the particulars but I will post about them when I have more information. 

More good news on this day.   Three souls were baptized and added to the church in Nepal.   I don't think they are girls we sponsor but local ministers taught and baptized two girls and a boy this Sunday.   

This looks like a man-made baptistry rather than just a stream but I'm not sure.   I do know it is cold in Nepal and this young girl must be very cold with a wet dress.   How many Americans could we convert to being baptized on a cold day, in a cold, dirty stream?   It amazes me that the faith of these people is so strong they are unconcerned about the discomfort of the season and place but are committed to putting their Lord on in baptism without hesitation.

Ronald and Gigi have cleaned up most everything at the orphanage in the Philippines since Typhoon Odette hit on December 17, one month ago.   They are now replacing the front gates, the road to the property, the wall and tent structure.    The children are all doing well and very happy.   They know they are blessed.

We are all blessed.   I hope everyone will remain in good health and miss being sick (or at least very sick) due to Omicron.   On a lighter note, here's a test for COVID that might bring a smile to your face.

God bless my faithful readers of this blog!

It is downhill now

Ron thinks his time away from home is more than half-way completed.    He is living in the house with the house parents.   Ron is in the bedroom downstairs and there are five bedrooms upstairs.   He gave the house parents money to buy food on Monday when they moved in.   He eats simple but different meals from the house parents, although the house mother has offered to prepare his meals.  The main food for any Asian is rice and Ron does not want to eat rice unless he has to as he feels it has no nutritional value but high caloric content.

Ron says the house parents have no real work experience but they are very loving and kind-hearted and eager to learn to do the work with girls.    He feels they are grasping a basic understanding very well and they will grow with the work and do well, caring for the girls.

The first girl, Mee, eleven years old, is supposed to arrive on Friday of this week.   I understand her parents are in prison and she lives with an old grandmother who is an alcoholic.   She has to sleep with an older brother so she needs a safe environment and better living conditions.  The house parents know Mee so that will give her more security coming to the safe house to live.   

Ron will review the procedure for adding new girls and show them how to complete the forms we need  to assign Mee a sponsor.   Our translator, Phet, in Vientiane, Laos knows Thai so she will help with the translating.  There is one member of the church that knows English well and the house parents can consult with her for help also.  They know only a little English.   Ron is using his phone to translate as he instructs them on how to establish house rules and operate an orderly safe house for girls.

Ron expects to be there about two more weeks.   After that, he will travel to Mukdahan, Thailand.  

He built this two-story safe house there in 2020 but we had to leave before it was totally finished.  They completed one section of it for the girls we already had but when the pandemic hit Asia, the work did not continue.   The house parents and 9 girls live there but they have not been able to add more girls.   Portions of the house are not finished.  Ron will spend a week there to determine what more needs to be done to complete the building.  

The new Omicron virus has only begun to appear in Asia.   There are a few cases in Thailand, detected as tourists have arrived from other countries.   At this time, borders between Thailand and Laos are open but that could change any day as this virus spreads.  

Ron hopes to leave Mukdahan by the end of January and travel to Vientiane, Laos to meet with workers there.    

He will begin to seek airline reservations for returning home.   If this is possible, he may be back in the U.S. before the end of February.    

The work is going extremely well.   Ron is very pleased with the new safe house and eager to visit the other locations and return home.    Well, almost eager.   He is eager to get home but does not look forward to cold weather when he arrives in February or early March.   He has soaked up the warm weather and enjoyed it very much.    

Thank you for your continued interest in our work, for your prayers and support.   Have a very blessed New Year.  

A New Year has begun

We are thankful to God for the hope a new year brings.   Without HIM, there would be hope without His providential care and we know that is great.   We are thankful for life and health and all the many blessings we have enjoyed in 2021, even though there have been some very hard times.   

The typhoon in the Philippines gave us much anxiety but with lives saved and donations coming in for the restoration process, we are overwhelmed and very thankful.

The damages to the orphanage will add up even though a lot of the restoration process is just hard work for the workers.   The front entrance gate will have to be replaced and the concrete wall that broke down rebuilt to provide security for the children.    

Front entrance gates to Casa

The road to the property is being rebuilt by workers.  The drainage ditches need work to prevent future flooding.   The orchard needs work to prop up and save some of the trees.   The garden area has to be cleaned up before vegetables can be grown again.  The work that needs to be done everywhere is extensive but I know they are up to the task.  

Ronald and Gigi are thankful for the saving of lives, the ability they have to do this work and help those in their community.   They used some of their church donations to give food to the poor village near them to teach the children that Christians must share with others in need.    That are thankful for the donations that are coming in to pay for the cost of materials to restore the gate, the tent and other structures that were damaged.

Ron will close on the house purchase in Thailand soon.   The new house parents will begin work tomorrow and start training under Ron to understand their responsibilities as they assume the oversight of girls.   A girl in their congregation is being interviewed tomorrow by Ron and the house parents will see the procedure for accepting girls into our program.   He said the girl is 11 years old but she has to sleep with a brother who is grown up so this is not a good situation.    She needs another place to live where she is safe. 

Thanks to everyone for the many concerns, love, prayers and support in 2021.   We wish everyone a very blessed and happy New Year.

 

The orphanage workers and children are cleaning up!

Life is precious and God is good!    We are very thankful life has been spared and everyone at Casa Esperanza of Angels is safe.    

We are saddened by the destruction Typhoon Rai (Odette) caused at the orphanage and all over the islands that were in the storm’s path.   It began as a Category 1 storm and quickly strengthened to a Category 5 by the time it hit the islands.   As the orphanage was directly in its path, sustained winds were over 100 mph for one entire night.  As Rai traveled west, it ripped down homes, trees and power cables, bringing with it heavy rain, widespread flooding and landslides.  Communities and villages were destroyed and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.  Over 4 million people were affected by Rai.  The death toll is reported to be 375 but many people are still missing.  

It is too soon for Ronald to estimate the cost of the damage.   The public road to the orphanage from the main highway has been washed out and cannot be traveled by vehicles.   It is not owned by the orphanage.   

Some areas have power but it has been almost two weeks since the storm and the orphanage still does not have electricity.   

The houses were flooded but their have finished the clean up inside.   The construction was good and the houses are not damaged.  The roofs held strongly.   The two vehicles are O.K. as they were parked on the highest part of the campus away from trees.  

The tent used for worship was torn apart.   The frame still stands and perhaps the canvas tent can be restored.    They had worship services there on Sunday and Bible class on Wednesday night.   During the week, it was used for school classes.  Due to the pandemic, public schools have been closed for two years.

The orchard that was producing a lot of fruit for the children was badly damaged.  

Their garden was destroyed. 

Part of the concrete block wall was blown down.  

 

Thank you for your support for this orphanage.   They are very grateful for the financial support but, most of all, for your prayers.  

Philippines, Thailand and Nepal News

The Philippines endured a super typhoon this week named Rai (aka Odette in the Philippines).  Today, I read where 169 lives have been lost in this Category 5 typhoon that hit on Thursday.   It started out as a Cat. 1 and increased to a Cat. 5 when it began to make landfall in the islands.   It was a direct hit for Casa Esperanza of Angels' orphanage.   

We had our first news from Gigi this morning saying they are all safe.  It has been hard to wait for news from them but we knew their power would be out.  A short video posted on Facebook shows water all around the houses.  There was flooding and much damage but I don't have a breakdown of what they lost at this time.    They are still without power as this island had some of the worst destruction.   We are thankful they are safe.    The last pictures I saw on the Facebook page before the short video shows Ronald meeting with the 25 children in the two houses to explain about the storm coming and giving instructions.    We are so relieved that everyone is safe.   Everything else can be replaced even though they have a long road ahead cleaning up and trying to restore everything. I will post pictures whenever I receive them.  Thank you for your prayers for their safety.  

Ranjit returned home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago but he is still not doing very well.   He has had a fever the last three days so they were taking him to the hospital today.   He is sitting down in the picture giving some clothing to one of the girls.    Please continue to pray for Ranjit.

 

  

This is the back entrance to the house.   You can see the nice neighborhood with expensive houses surrounding our safe house.    Just down the street is a nice resort.   The location is safe and an ideal place for the girls to enjoy.  The kitchen is small but I think girls can take turns cooking and  two can work together without difficulty. 

Ron has set up the office in the dry bar area so this is good utilization of this space.    

Ron has located a couple who wish to be the house parents for the new safe house in Chiang Mei.  He has been working as one of the ministers at a church of Christ about an hour away from the new house.  They have one son in college.   Neither speak much English but they are willing to study and learn.  Ron is having some basic English lessons with the minister.    I hope they will work out to be SAS's new house parents.    

He should be able to close on the purchase of the house soon.   Once that has been accomplished, house parents can move in and determine what other furnishing are needed.   Ron can begin to work with them to find girls and spend time instructing and training them.    I expect this process to take most of January.  

The border to Laos has recently opened and if Omicron does not spread to Asia quickly, Ron hopes to travel to Vientiane, Laos to meet with workers Hong and Phet who oversee the five safe houses in Laos.

Thank you again for following our work and for your support and prayers.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Progress Made

December is half over and Ron has been gone 43 days.    Even though it was difficult for both of us to be in separate places, we are managing to accomplish our goals.   Ron has moved into the safe house pictured in the previous posting.    He is still waiting for the closing due to the governor signing off on the purchase.   The lady that owns the house told Ron to go ahead and move in all the things he has purchased and gave him permission to stay in the house.   He does not have internet service at the house so I am receiving only short emails sent from his phone.    He said he has gotten the kitchen in order and he is now cooking for himself.    He was happy to leave the hotel for several reasons.   He only had a small fridge and it was limited what food he could buy.   He didn't like the hotel restaurant but he found a Chinese restaurant where he had some good meals.    When he arrived, no one else was in the hotel but now tourists are arriving and the hotel is noisy.     

Ron will send me pictures to post of the inside of the house when he get the internet connected.

Ronald and Gigi have moved into the family cottage they have been constructing.   

Gigi spent her own money on the decorations so it looks festive for the upcoming holidays. They are really happy to be there to enjoy the house for the holidays.   This cottage has two bedrooms.  They have their office in the second bedroom.   Now they are complying with the government regulations to have the office for the foundation in a separate building from the children.

They will eventually build 2-3 more family cottages in the future to accommodate other staff members or visitors as the work grows in future years.    The complete plan includes a separate administration building, a multi-purpose building to serve as a place of worship and a school for the children.  They are presently using a tent for worship, schooling and other activities.   It serves their needs very well but it is not durable to last indefinitely and would certainly not survive a hurricane.

Laundry house on left.

Inside of the laundry house below.

The one room, laundry house has been their home for more than two years to allow space for the children.  You can see how small that space is by looking at the picture of Ronald sitting at the table with Brenda, Gigi's mom.   

Good news from Nepal.    Ranjit, our worker who has been so sick with COVID is finally at home.   I don't know what complications he has or how he is feeling but we are pleased that he is able to go home.

Wishing our family, friends and supporter/sponsors a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!