Blog

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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

Dear Friends,

Thanks to those who have written and encouraged us since our last letter where we featured Nui and her current internship, as a veterinarian assistant. You will remember that Nui is in the process of reaching this goal as she continues to work long hours. We are more than proud of her as she perseveres at the task. 

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This newsletter we want to feature Foon, who is 18 years old and is doing his final year of high school. Exciting news for Foon is that in the last month he received a letter of acceptance to a university in USA. He wants to study social work. We are so proud of Foon, he is making great life choices and is doing very well with his studies. As you most probably know, Foon came to live with us when he was just two years old, and it has been our absolute joy to help steer this young man and now see him confident and ready to venture out into his adult life. 

Please could you pray that Foon will to be approved to receive the tuition and room & board scholarships needed for him to study in USA. We applied for these scholarships together, and will find out by February, 2020 if our applications were successful. Obviously he will need support in this adventure and we will continue to walk the journey with him. If you want to specifically help Foon reach his goals, please reply to this email and let us know.

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In past years we have produced a wall calendar, however this year as a change we have a 4×6 fridge magnet with our family photo on it as a gift… see photos above. If you would use a fridge magnet, please send your postal address, with your preference of photo 1 or photo 2 and we will post to you. 

Many blessings for the upcoming Christmas Season…
Penny and Paul Wilcox

Many of you have partnered with us since our kids were infants… so over the next year we plan to highlight/share the story of each of our kids, as most of them are in their mid to late teens, giving insight in how you can pray for us and them, as well as how you can support them in meeting their goals.  Our goal has always been to raise world changers. We are so very proud of them all. As we have looked to the future we realise ….. we need some extra support to see these kids through their university years and through to independence… most are so close!

We are more than grateful that you have partnered with us all these years, now more than ever, we invite you to see our kids through their final years of high school education and their university years. Some do not want to study at university but all are in the process of moving toward adulthood and finding their way…

Nui, pictured here, is 17 now. She joined our family when she was just one year old, in 2003. Now Nui has scored herself an internship (she doesn’t receive a wage) with a veterinarian clinic nearby where we live and she loves it. She takes herself on her scooter each day, 5 days a week, 9 hours a day. We are so proud of her. She hopes to continue to work as a vet assistant but a big piece of her heart goes out to vulnerable women and children in Thailand, who are at risk of being trafficked. Yes sadly, human trafficking is huge here… She is asking God about her future. We need you, more than ever, to stand with us to see her through to independence. Nui has a heart of gold, please pray for her and for us as we nurture her.

Our Thai staff partner with us to see our kids through. For example, when we have meetings or we travel to see our family, our precious granddaughters, Supun stays and sleeps in our house as ‘auntie’ caring for the needs of our kids, while mum and dad are away. She is an invaluable family member. She doesn’t usually live in with us but she is available for us, 8-4 Monday to Friday and she helps in a variety of ways from cooking, staying with kids while we attend meetings, shopping, cleaning, running errands, praying, etc. We need help to pay Supun’s wage each month. Our budget is short AUD$500 a month on what we need to pay her. Would you like to partner with us?

This is one way you can help us “see our kids through…”

Our next update, coming soon, will feature Foon, who is currently studying his final year of high school and is preparing for an exciting goal of studying social work as an international student in the USA.

Gifts given via USA (YWAM Montana) or in Australia (Oz Mercy) are tax deductible. Contact Penny for more details on how to give.
Thanks for your partnership.
Paul and Penny