Happy New Year from our home to yours… January is birth month for two of our Thai kids. We celebrate Bam, who turned 18 on 9th, as well as Yanee’s 15th birthday, coming up on 22nd. This month we will feature these two precious young ladies. Thanks for standing with us to see these kids through.

Several years ago, Yanee graduated Elementary/Primary school and, due to her disability, it was decided that her best educational options would be to homeschool, so this is what she has done since. Yanee has learned many new skills and we are so very proud of her accomplishments. She is very good at puzzles and other games. She has mastered lots of valuable social skills including grocery and market shopping, managing money by receiving correct change, she enjoys and is good at simple maths. Plus, now Yanee can cook numerous delicious meals by herself but usually she achieves this goal with the help of Supun as they cook the family’s evening meal each weekday. Yanee is a very good cook. The highlight of her week is when she is able to visit sick people in hospital which she enjoys doing with Mum/Penny. She is not fearful of strangers and is very friendly and outgoing in her care of others. We are grateful for Yanee. Yanee has taken on management of our 10 laying hens this past year and cares for them daily, feeding the chickens and collecting eggs, etc.

Bam graduated high school last year and is working in a cafe, as well as looking for more work during her “gap year”. Her goal is to submit a scholarship application to a  Singapore University after March 15th, where she hopes to do general studies for two years, with her final goal being a media/web design degree. She already is passionate and gifted in this area after some short courses, combined with a natural gifting, so we are cheering her on as she makes strides toward this goal to hopefully begin her studies in August this year.

Thanks for supporting our family as we encourage these kiddos through their final months and years toward independence.

ALSO… It is becoming more difficult for international workers/volunteers to obtain visas for Thailand and so we ask that you pray for us in this, if you are interested in helping with our visa situation to enable us to stay in the country, please write back and we can give you more details.

Thanks for praying for our Thai family! Most are young adults, and almost all of them are looking toward the goal of their future independence. 

Thanks for your partnership.

Paul and Penny