Wednesday, November 12, 2008
November Update
Hello from Mae Chaem, Thailand. The cold season has come suddenly this year. It was still raining last week and we were worried about the rice harvest because the rain should have stopped middle of October. Then all of the sudden it stopped and got very cold. If it keeps raining after the rice is ready to be harvested then it will start to sprout again and the harvest is ruined. Thank God that didn’t happen and it seems like this year they had a good harvest. The means the difference between a prosperous year for our kid’s families or a year of hardship and hunger.
The kids were gone for much of October for their mid-term break but we are happy to have them back and have been very busy since they arrived. We were blessed to have two ladies from Australia come to minister here with us for 5 days. They taught English and ministered to the kids. They had the kids make these beaded bracelets where each color represented the story of the Gospel for them to wear to school to share with their friends. The next day two of our kids came home so excited because they were able to preach the gospel to their friends who asked about their bracelets. It is wonderful to hear about how they are ministering in their schools through their lives and testimony.
The team also taught them about how to listen to God and we had a time of prayer and quiet worship and then in their journals the kids were asked to write down or draw what they felt God say to them. It was very powerful and you could really feel the presence of God. Some of the kids were crying as they wrote or drew. I saw a few of their books and two of them drew a picture of Jesus holding them in their arms. It was so sweet and so touching. I just cried myself. Because really when you strip it all down that is all I want for these kids, to somehow lead them to Jesus and put them in His arms. I know if they could ever really know what it feels like to be held by Him they would need it all their lives. I am attaching the two drawings to this email. One was done by our girl Julie who is 17 and the other by Masha who 11.
We went to the village and the team bought supplies for a very poor children’s home in the jungle. There are 50 kids without soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes washing powder for their clothes etc.. The team brought all these things along with rice, sardines and noodles. The kids were so excited it was like Christmas. The next day I went down to the river to pray and I saw three of those kids scrubbing like there was no tomorrow. I never saw anyone be so enthusiastic about a bath in my life or take so long to wash their hair. It was so cute. The things we take for granted are astounding –in America we would think we were suffering to have to take a cold bath in a river but they were so thrilled just to have soap.
We are getting ready for Christmas and our Christmas outreaches. I give the children about 12 dollars every year for Christmas which is an immense amount of money for these kids to go to the market and buy whatever they want. Every year we take up an offering for the children on the Burma/Thailand border who are refugees, and every year I have been so impressed. All of the children give from 25 -50 percent of their money to these little refugee children. So this year we plan to take them in December to buy and deliver the Christmas presents themselves so they can see the joy on the little faces of the children they are blessing. This will be a little mission trip for them. It helps them to see people who are so much worse off than they are and learn that they have something to give. For me living here I have a very difficult time feeling sorry for myself when I see those who have so much less and suffer so much more than I do and I want that experience for my kids as well. I want to teach them to be thankful and focus on what they have and what they can give rather than what they don’t have and what they can get.
This month also as part of the outreach to the borderland we are sending money to buy food for 10 families there who are in desperate condition. We are targeting these 10 families to help on an ongoing basis and hope in the next year to also help them find a way to start a business where they can start to generate income for themselves. We have found a local pastor that is leaving a very well paying job because of his burden for these people and so we can start to do more now since we have a trustworthy person there to oversee the project.
So things are going very well. We have been able to minister several times a week to about 50 kids and our Friday Youth Worship usually runs around 100 youth. The kids are doing great and continue to amaze me with their passion for God and the love I feel in our home. It has been a season of prayer for me personally and for the children. Our Thursday night prayer has been awesome and many of the older kids are getting direction for their lives as they prepare to leave us here in the next two years. It is a wretched thought for me and I really can’t bear to think of even one of them graduating and going on to school somewhere else but I know it has to happen. I just take comfort in knowing that God goes with them and I feel confident that they know God and love Him and feel at home in His arms and in the end, no matter what comes in the future, it will be enough for them as it has always been for me. Thank you so much for your love and support. We can’t do this thing with out you. We love and pray for you.
God Bless you,
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
Friday, September 12, 2008
September Update
Dear Friends,
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Hello from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Thailand! Some of you have written to me asking if we are being affected by the civil unrest going on now against the government of Thailand. We are fine and far away from the drama going on in Bangkok. However there is much cause for concern as the protesters in Bangkok are trying to overthrow a democratically elected government. They do not like that in Thailand the majority of voters are poor, uneducated farmers like the people here, and thus the government is chosen by these people and the rich, elite do not get to choose the government. They not only want to overthrow this government but to change the constitution to limit the power of the people to choose the government. They do not want western-style democracy. The party that is now in power has traditionally been very foreigner friendly thus making it easy for missionaries to work here and they have also done many good things for the poor people in these mountains. Thailand is the only free democracy in this area and thus important to God’s work in Southeast Asia. It is important that it stays free and open. Please pray about this situation with us.
Here in Mae Chaem we have been doing well. We are so thankful to be so blessed here. There have been many children’s homes that are now struggling because of high food prices. In the last month we have helped buy food for two different children’s home who we heard about not having food. God impressed on me to give the house mother of a children’s home nearby about 150 dollars and she started to cry. Later she got up and testified in church that yesterday the landlord of the house they are renting came for rent money and all she had was about 7 dollars and there was no food for the kids or money to pay the rent. She told no one – only prayed and the next day God gave her the money through me. It was an incredible story. I am always so amazed how we are led in a thousand ways we don’t even know. I am careful who I give money too, we had a man come ask for money to start a children’s home last week and I told him no because I know something about him and I didn’t feel he was trustworthy. The people we help are those we know will be faithful and are trying hard in difficult circumstances to help people. It was an amazing thing though because the morning I sent money to help a children’s home over by Burma who had also ran out of rice, we got a call that Compassion Int’l was going to buy us rice for several months. We have some children that are in Compassion projects in their villages. It was such a blessing because we were also running out of rice and I was not looking forward to buying it because now the price is more than double what it usually is. We got back far more than we gave to others almost immediately. God is fabulous and perfect all the time.
This is also a difficult time for the families in the mountains as the rice from the last harvest starts to run out. Those families with smaller fields cannot produce enough rice to feed their families for a whole year. We usually help these families at this time of year. Some of my staff are in the village this week and they are going to be looking at several poor families situation and we will be helping probably about 7 families buy rice enough to last them until they harvest their crops in November. Last year I gave a young mother 30 dollars to buy rice and she cried she was so thankful. Such a small amount was the difference between her family having enough and starving for two months. I know that they have starved in the past because we have her daughter here and though this little girl is about 14 she looks about 8. Her growth has been severely stunted due to malnutrition as a young child. I brought back good vitamins from America for this particular girl and I had thought they would help her grow some but they really haven’t. We just pray for her that God will heal her. I always tell her that though she may be small in body she is big in the Spirit and she can do big things because she has God in her.
My birthday was in August and to celebrate I went to Chaing Mai and bought real American-style cupcakes. The kids had never had real cake before (Thai cake is disgusting). They were so excited and they loved it. Then last week was my interpreter’s birthday too (we are the same age) and I made them real chocolate chip cookies in my tiny little toaster oven. It took forever and was extremely tricky but they turned out yummy and the kids were thrilled. They had never had real cookies either. It has been kind of a difficult time here as we have been dealing with problems that are just normal teenager stuff but are not fun to deal with. We had three girls who had been ignoring for sometime our rule about not having boyfriends and they had been talked to and their parents told and still they had these boyfriends. So I just felt like finally we have to tell them they have to choose, they can keep the boyfriends but leave our home or get rid of the boyfriends and stay. There is no point having rules if you don’t enforce them. It was a hard decision because two of the girls have been with me four years. But I was so happy because they all broke up with their boyfriends because they know the opportunities they have here with us to learn English, and life skills and especially the word of God are important for their futures. I was so proud of them because most Thai people do not think about the future.
It was so nice to celebrate my birthday with the kids. They all went around and told what I had done for them and how much they loved me. Several of them said “I know you love everyone but I think you love me the most.” That really touched my heart. They are precious and I am so glad I get to spend my life loving them and making a home for them and helping them have a limitless future. On my 37th birthday it is the best gift of all to look at my life and have no regrets just a heart full of wonder at what God has done. Thank you to all those love us and pray for us and the sponsors who support us and are our miracle everyday. We love you.
God Bless,
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
Saturday, August 2, 2008
July Update
I can't believe it is already August. Time goes so fast. Things have been going really well here and so many good things have been happening with the children. Last night we had our usual Friday night youth night where we have 5 or so children's homes all come together for worship and teaching. I looked around during the worship and it was so incredible to see the kids - not just my kids but other kids too - worshipping God with all their hearts and passion. I wonder sometimes how all this happened and I am amazed at how God's word can change a life and how if Jesus in all His love and beauty can just be seen, people will be capitvated. I have been recruiting some of my kids to teach the little ones at church and I told them, it is the most awesome thing in the world to teach someone to love Jesus. If you do that you have given them all they will ever need. I truly believe that.
We have been seeing real breakthrough also with our kids in their English. We have been teaching them for years but finally it was like it all clicked and now some of them speak fairly well. We changed to teaching them two times a week instead of just one and they seem to really get it and they love it. Which is more than I can say for myself with the Thai language. I have started studying Thai again and it is excruciating. I have very broken Thai and trying to fix it now is no joke. But I am doing better and improving my vocabulary so I understand a lot more now even if I don't speak it perfectly.
It has been exciting for the kids because we are getting the beds we ordered. I had no idea they would be so thrilled. They never had beds before and it is a big deal for them. I am attaching pictures of them on their new beds. We also started our new Video Bible school. It is a wonderful video program translated into Thai with teachers like Joyce Meyers, TL Osbourne, Marilyn Hickey and John Bevere teaching various subjects. We just finished our mid terms. The teaching has been excellent an I have been learning a lot myself. We have 5 students plus me. Some other people are interested in starting when we start the next term in September.
A new children's home opened next door to us and through some bad circumstances lost their sponsor so we have been trying to help them as much as we can. They have been believing God just for food . They are committed to doing a good job with these kids and always come when we have a worship service or teaching at our children's home. I am always so glad to have new kids to teach and am happy to be able to help them financially until they can find a new sponsor. They have one little girl who touches my heart so much. In the mountains it gets cold in the winter so people boil hot water for baths. The problem is that it is very common to have accidents with the water. I remember myself when I lived in the village - I boiled hot water for a bath and then forgot to mix it with cold water and dumped scalding hot water on myself - anyway this is what happened to this little girl when she was a baby. She is horribly horribly burned and scarred. So much that her little ear did not form right. Her face is perfect but the rest of her is a big scar and she just had another surgery. I was sitting with her and they were telling me about her most recent surgery and as those of you who know me can attest, my face gives away almost every emotion I feel. But I felt the Holy Spirit check me and tell me Do not look horrified. So I just smiled at the little girl and took her little face in my hands and told her "You are beautiful'. She was just sitting there in an old, ragged, inexpertly mended jacket but when she smiled, it was one of the most heartstoppi ng, breathtaking smiles I have ever seen. We are getting her a new jacket on Monday. The world is such a miserable horrible place without God. It really is and sometimes the devil's work is more than I can stand. But then in all the suffering and loss God's love shines through - in that little girls smile, in a thousand ways everyday showing me that God is still God, His love is still way more than enough and it will be okay, better than okay in fact.
Please keep praying for us here. I had the awesome opportunity a few weeks ago to speak to more than 400 people and we are believing God for more and more opportunities to minister Jesus' powerful love to people and give them hope. God is doing great things and I see my kids really growing and reaching out to others. Thank you to all those who give so faithfully. We are so glad we have enough and some left over to be a blessing to those around us who are in need. You are our blessing. I am attaching pictures of our new beds and new kids. I hope you enjoy them! God Bless you!
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
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Missing Home
Friday, June 27, 2008
New House
I wanted to show you all my beautiful new house in Thailand. It is such a blessing from God. I got it for half the price as the house I was living in before that was falling apart. It is close to the children's home and the market so I don't even need to drive now - just walk. I love it, it is perfect and back in the valley with the beautiful Thailand mountains surrounding. I am so thankful and happy. I have real doorknobs which I haven't had for more than 3 years and a fully enclosed house as well as a hot water heater that works well. A girl can hardly ask for more than that. I am thankful and happy. Praise God. He knows how to give us good things.
June Update 2008
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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 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />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 withabout 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
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
March Update
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Jaw Cree
When we received Jaw Cree into our home he was so swollen and malnourished. He comes from a family living deep in the jungles of Northern Thailand, so poor they can not feed their three children properly. These very young parents had three children before they were 20 and before JawCree was five he was in charge of taking care of his two younger brothers while his parents worked all day. He came to our children’s home because his father unselfishly saw this was no life for a little boy and wanted better for him though it has meant great sacrifice for this family. Now Jaw Cree is going to school, has plenty to eat, new clothes and the chance to be a little boy, something he never would have had in his home. He is now a healthy, strong and growing and has become one of my great joys. He is beautiful and his heart continually teaches me about true giving and unselfish love.
One day I came to the home and Jaw Cree ran up to me and said in perfect English “I miss you!” and gave me a big hug. I was so touched – he had been practicing all afternoon the English words- I immediately opened my purse and gave him all my change – 50 cents in all. This is not much to me and not much to you but to JawCree I just gave him a thousand dollars. This is a little boy who knows more about starvation than about having money to buy treats. Later he came to me and said his friend David didn’t have any money and could he give him some of his? I said sure and watched with a lump in my throat as Jaw Cree gave this other little boy half his money. Half! I couldn’t believe it. And happily they ran off to buy some treats for the afternoon.
The next day he was looking for our dog who is very spoiled by the way. He had saved his milk from school to give to Cookie who loves milk. I sat him on my lap and said “Jaw Cree I want you to drink your milk” and he said “I want Cookie to be big BIG!” And I said “But I want JawCree to be big BIG!” but I saw he was going to be so disappointed if he couldn’t give his milk to Cookie so he did and they both were happy.
The years of caring for his little brothers have made Jaw Cree a little dad at 7 years old. He takes care of all the little children at the home who are all older than him. He will not eat something without sharing, he will not receive anything without making sure everyone has one and is okay. I pray for this little one as he sits often on my lap and tells me he loves me. I pray for Him that he mayknow God because if he doesn’t he will try to carry the world on his little shoulders and the burden of taking care of everyone will be too much for him. But I also know he will always be blessed because he hasn’t a selfish bone in his body and gives not out of his abundance like I often do, but out of his need. One day I came in and he said he needed money to buy a treat so of course I gave him a little and he went and bought – not something for himself but a he bought for me my favorite lemon shake. He kept nothing for himself. I cried as I kissed him and thanked him. I came here to Thailand to teach but everyday I learn. Jaw Cree has taught me and touched my heart the way we must touch God’s when we give so freely and unselfishly to others and to Him.
In Memory of our Choke Chai
One of our boys was killed in a motorcycle accident on the Friday after Thanksgiving. He died instantly when he was hit by a drunk driver. He was 18 years old. When he came to us two years ago he had been kicked out of another children homes because he drank and skipped rarely went to school. But when he came to us he fell in love with Jesus and his life was totally transformed. He stopped drinking and became and excellent student. Many of his friends come to church now because they were so amazed at the change in him. He led his friends to the Lord and his family was so grateful that God changed his life. We were planning to send him to study at a special school to learn to build houses next year. But he was promoted early and we know for sure he is worshipping Jesus face to face








