Camp in the Jungle

At the end of August, I traveled about five hours into the jungles with the Bible school to help host a camp for children at a school in a rather large village. We were told it was the first time they had allowed a Christian group to come. Normally, they would have a Buddhist monk come in to teach the children. There were over 200 children from ages 6 to 15.
Our students spent three weeks preparing songs, dramas, and lessons for the children. It was so fun to practice and work with them. I taught English for two hours. And with the help of the students, I taught a Bible lesson to each of the four age groups. On Sunday, I shared the gospel with all the children and teachers, and we had over 50 receive Jesus for the first time. One girl told us later that she grew up in a Christian family and so she thought she was a Christian. After our camp she knew that she wasn’t, so she accepted Jesus. It was great to see the children have so much fun and learn so much. Equally thrilling for me was to see what that the students at the Bible school are becoming such wonderful leaders and ministers.

Zoe Guards

After Zoe received some new children in Spring 2010, we all agreed it was time to implement a few security measures. One of the first of those was to establish a guard system.
Gavin and I had to take some time off from teaching in June while our work visas were being processed. After our work permits were complete, we were eager to get back to work. We pulled up to Zoe on a Monday morning and didn’t see the same guard working the day shift. Instead, there was Queue (at left in the photo – that’s one of our new buildings in the background). He was very polite. But, he would not open the gate.
I told him some of the people we knew so he might believe that we were missionaries and we were scheduled to teach that morning. He really didn’t seem convinced. And still, he would not open the gate. Finally, I showed him my class notebook with the Zoe logo on the front. That did it. He was convinced, and he let us pass.
We have visited many guarded communities in Thailand. We get waved in just by rolling down the window and showing our white faces. We are glad that our Zoe guards take their jobs more seriously than that.

Morning Traffic

Last April, Gavin and I moved to a beautiful house in a resort area. We picked the neighborhood based on its proximity to the new Zoe building, and the surprisingly low rent. It’s a 13-minute drive, depending on traffic. So far, we’ve encountered two problems with choosing to live in this lovely spot.
One morning on the way to work, we discovered a mud slide by accident – literally. After skidding on some slick mud, our truck knocked over two cement posts. We still have several dents on the hood of our truck as evidence of Gavin trying to shave one minute off an already short commute.
Most of the missionaries at Zoe are city slickers to some degree. We have representatives from southern California, Hawaii, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Detroit – to name a few. We have all experience headaches from gridlock and road rage. Our new facility is in a very remote area. It’s a beautiful location where the closest village is about 2 miles away. This photo shows what we mean when we speak of morning traffic.

About Zoe Int'l Ministries

When we return to Thailand in May, we will begin working with Zoe International Ministries. There, Candace will be primarily responsible for teaching Bible and theology courses at the two-year adult Bible school. Among other things, the school provides English classes—which is where I’ll spend a lot of my time. Candace will also help with teaching English. The school also offers many business and vocational courses, and music classes. Music and song-writing will be my responsibility at the school also. The Bible school has two classes with 24 students in each. Together, they are 48 enthusiastic and bright students who are eagerly training for a life that will help bring more believers to faith in the one true God.

Zoe also provides a loving home to over 50 orphans, needy children, and rescued children, and makes sure they receive education. Zoe has a rescue mission of children who are threatened with being victims of human trafficking. Many children in Thailand are sold, kidnapped, or deceived into leading a life of prostitution or begging. Candace and I both feel very drawn to that work also. We would appreciate your prayers for us and for the children as we enter this potentially dangerous work. Help Zoe International and us put an end to desperation and hopelessness in the lives of so many Thai children, and bring to them the simple joy of knowing the love of our Father.

We will send you our mailing address when we get a post office in our new neighborhood. Thank you so much for your love, prayers, and support. - Gavin

July Update

Dear Friends,
I am home recuperating from my second surgery in eight months. They removed a cyst from my ovary and my ovary too, as it had been destroyed by the cyst. I also had a very large grapefruit-sized tumor removed from uterus. We are very thankful both things turned out to be benign. In Thailand this is a fairly major surgery and because of the large incision they have to make. My recovery time is longer than it would be in the States. I think there they can remove these things without such an invasive surgery. Anyway, I am doing better and I hope to go back to work in the mornings next week. I am anxious to get back to teaching. Gavin has been teaching my classes, and he already had a full schedule. He has been teaching five hours a day as well as having to take care of me.
Before all this happened with my health, I had been very much enjoying teaching and getting to know our students. I can see God’s plan so clearly in bringing us here. I have worked for nine years in children’s homes and now I have two fiery young women who are at our school preparing to open children’s homes when they are finished. I can see how God is calling me to teach what He has taught me. Though I no longer have day to day work with children, I am training people to be able to do what I have done for so long. It is very satisfying to know that in this way I am impacting more children than I ever could have before.
I can see God answering so many of the dreams and prayers I have prayed, through these beautiful students. I had the opportunity to talk with one very shy young man who is about 20. He was having financial difficulties and so we met with him and I prayed with him. I found out that he was from a village near where I used to live, when I lived deep in the jungle several years ago. I asked him what he wanted to do when he finished school. His face just lit up as he talked about going back to his village to start a church. I just started to cry because his passion was so real and beautiful, and you could see and hear the call of God on his life. It was unmistakable. And in that moment God reminded me of all the prayers I prayed for the people in those poor villages – my beautiful Karen people that I so desperately wanted to reach. I felt God was showing me He had answered my prayers for them with this young man. I told this man through my tears that I had wanted to reach his people, but I couldn’t because I was too different from them. I told him that he was the answer to my prayers and God was sending him to do what I could not do. And I get to be a part of it by teaching this young man everything I know and by praying for him and helping him anyway I can. By the end of our meeting we were all crying, the young man, me, and the interpreter. What is amazing is that we have 40 students in our school and each one of them has a vision and a call from God. It is such an honor to be allowed to teach them and help them become who God has called them to be.
It has been an interesting first two months working at Zoe. We got there at the time they call the great exodus. It is the time when the international school has its summer vacation and all the missionaries with children go back to the States. We have about 12 missionaries working for Zoe, and we were down to five starting in June. In the interim we were placed in charge of the ministry school. It was a great vote of confidence from them but a little daunting for us. However, I think we have gotten the hang of things pretty well and have implemented some improvements on the administration side of things. Gavin shares my fondness for Excel worksheets. Gavin has impressed me very much with being not only an excellent teacher but a very strict, but kind and fair disciplinarian. The students both love and fear him. The first year needed a firm hand for the first month or so until they understood the rules and got used to the schedule. They have changed so much just in the two months they have been there. I was amazed, at first, to be standing and teaching the Bible to them and see them start to change before my eyes. You could see the light coming on in their minds and hearts as God spoke to them through the classes. It is unimaginably cool.
Thanks to all those who support us here. You are amazing! Some of you have expressed some confusion about where to send the money now that we have changed organizations. At the end of July Rhema will no longer accept our support – they have still been doing it for us while we made the transition. All support must be sent to:
Zoe International Ministries
Po Box 221510
Santa Clarita, CA 91322
Att: Brailsford #1400

Or you can give by credit card on their website which is gozoe.org – Donate page - for the benefit of the Brailsford Family. Many people like this because they can set it up to do recurring donations monthly and get frequent flyer miles from their credit cards.

Thank you to all those who prayed for me during my surgery. I don’t really understand why I had to go through this again, and to lose one of my ovaries is especially hard as it would be for any woman who dreams of having a baby. The treatment to keep the cysts from returning for now is birth control pills. But I know God is good and I love and trust Him when I understand and I love and trust Him when I don’t. I have been using this time to read and to pray and to spend extra time with God. It is a blessing because I have such a busy schedule when I am working. We love you all and pray for you and thank God for you daily. God Bless You all.

Love much,
Candace (and Gavin)


In accordance with IRS guidelines, tax-deductible contributions
designated for missionary support are requested with the understanding
that the organization has complete administrative control over the
use of the donated funds. The organization will make every effort to
honor contributions to support particular missionaries.

Thailand Update - May

Dear Friends,
Hello everyone! We have been back in Thailand since May 10th. It seems like longer with all that we have accomplished. We came back to the end of one of the hottest summers they have had here in 40 years. And in Thailand that is really no joke. When we had rented our house they had said this area is so cool you won’t need air conditioning because it is built into a mountain in a very wooded, mountainous area. We had considered giving away our air-conditioner, but when we came back we promptly called someone to install it ASAP! Fortunately last week it started to rain and that cooled things down a lot. We LOVE our new home - that is about 30 minutes from Chaing Mai. It is the nicest place I have lived since I left America 9 years ago and the rent is only $170 per month! I feel so blessed and so thankful.
Since we returned, we have been so busy. We had less than a week to move from Mae Chaem to Chiang Mai, and Gavin and I both started teaching the following Monday. My first class was “Life of Faith” and I just finished it last week. The students are a joy to teach, and I have never had such a fun job in my life. Teaching the Bible three hours a day is hard because I have to study about 1 hour for every hour I teach, but I love it. Two of the girls who graduated from high school in March are from our children’s home in the mountains. Since they are now in our bible school, I am so thrilled to be able to be with them two more years! They are doing so great. One of them has been my girl since she was 12 years old and now she is a gorgeous, very feisty 19-year-old. I have to say I am very proud of them. I am also teaching an advanced English class twice a week. Gavin is my boss since he is head of the English Department.

It also has been great to see some of the children we had when I first worked at Zoe five years ago. Of course they are very grown up now and so changed. It is also wonderful to meet all the other little children they have. They have over 50! I met a very sweet little girl who is so affectionate with me. She won my heart immediately. She is nine years old and was being forced to beg by people who had bought her. She is from Burma. The police caught them and brought them to Zoe. After fighting for custody in court, Zoe was awarded custody by the state. She is a charmer and has already gained weight since I saw her when she first came in January. Because of the sensitive nature of what we do at Zoe, we are unable to use names or show pictures of the children except as a group. Last month three boys were brought to Zoe when the police raided a brothel. They are ages 18, 16, and 14. It was a unique situation because Zoe wanted to keep them but could not put them with the other children because they had been repeatedly raped for years and they might be a danger to the other children. So separate facilities were found for them and extra staff called on to watch them and minister to them. Since being at Zoe, the oldest one has gotten saved and the youngest one who was the most angry and resistant asked if he could go to church this week. Time and God’s love heals better than anything we could ever hope to do. Bringing in these last children brought further complications with security because they are witnesses in a court case against their abusers so security has been tightened.

God has opened so many doors for Zoe to get children like this. They are well known and respected by the government and other organizations fighting human trafficking , who are bringing the children to Zoe now. Hopefully, Zoe will be moving to our new, much larger facility in a few weeks, and we expect to have even more children as we increase our capacity to care for them. A home like this is so much different than the children’s homes I have worked in before. There are issues we never dreamed of like protecting children from each other, education – some children who are 14 are in 2nd grade because they never had the opportunity to go school -security, court cases to fight, immigration issues with children mostly from Burma and on and on it goes. There is so much to learn and so much to do. But Zoe is doing really wonderful things. When you watch the children laugh and play, being well-fed, loved and safe, it is VERY hard to imagine the horror many of them have come from. I was reading some of their stories and I had to stop reading. It literally made me feel sick to my stomach. It is hard to imagine such evil. But thank God He has saved them!

Gavin and I are having our first anniversary in a few weeks. Our first year brought as much change for both of us as you can imagine. We both changed jobs, Gavin sold everything he owned and left his country indefinitely, both of us had major surgery, we have moved three times now and that is on top of being newly married. It has been some roller coaster ride, but God has been with us and finally brought us to the place where we belong. We are hoping the time of transition is over so we can settle in and do this precious work and continue to grow together, and especially to grow closer to God. It is a turbulent time for Thailand – we had curfews and violence here in Chiang Mai in the last few weeks, but God kept us safe as He always does. God is doing something here - the current government is doing something at least in a small way to rescue children who are slaves, and more and more people are coming to be trained to spread the gospel to their nation. It is an awesome honor to be one of those who are allowed to be a part of what God is doing here in Thailand. I love, love, love teaching these beautiful young adults who have such a passion to lead their people to Jesus. Thank you so much all those who give to Gavin and I so that we can be here. We appreciate you more than words can say. God Bless You!

Love,
Candace
As a reminder - OUR DONATION INFORMATION HAS CHANGED Please now make checks payable to:
Zoe International Ministries PO Box 221510, Santa Clarita, CA 91322 Memo line #1400
or give by credit card at their website gozoe.org for the benefit of The Brailsford Family

In accordance with IRS guidelines, tax-deductible contributions designated for missionary support are requested with the understanding
that the organization has complete administrative control over the use of the donated funds. The organization will make every effort to
honor contributions to support particular missionaries.

Website

gozoe.org

Big Changes!!

Dear Friends,

Our last six months in Thailand have been full of change and
excitement and expanding vision. Our dream came true as we spent six
months working with our beautiful children in the mountains of
northern Thailand. However after being away for six months, we came
back to see how very well they could do without us. It was a
humbling, but also a deeply gratifying, experience to see my staff
full of vision and purpose and knowing they had the faith to do
whatever God called them to do. In short, it was clear that they
did not need us to be there every day, but simply needed our financial
support and advice. Gavin and I sought the Lord about what He wanted
us to do as it had become very clear His incredible grace to be there
had left us. He showed me that if a child can walk and you don’t
allow them to, then you cripple that child, and that is not love. So
with an aching heart, we turned over the day-to-day management of our
children’s home to our staff, with a promise to continue to support
them financially until they can fully support themselves. God will
be faithful to them as He has always been to us. We were then free to
increase our ministry, and God opened a door for us to finally do the
thing we came Thailand to do—rescue children from human trafficking.
Friends I have known for years have been able to make real progress in
rescuing children in Thailand and they have asked us to join their
ministry. Working with their wonderful organization, I will be able
to do the two things I love to do the most - help some of the most
desperate children in the world and teach the word of God to the
future leaders of Thailand.

When we return in May we will be working with Zoe International
Ministries. Their ultimate goal is to preach the gospel and they do it
two ways. First they have a children's home that provides a loving
home to about 50
children who were at high-risk of being trafficked, children who have
been rescued from human trafficking and orphans. They have a team
that is actively seeking and rescuing children from human trafficking.

Secondly they have a training school that trains Thai and tribal
people in the Bible, Business and Language. They are teaching the
nationals to preach the gospel, combat child trafficking and be
leaders in their nation. Gavin and I will both be on the child
rescue team helping them locate and rescue children in danger. I am
also going to be administrator and teacher in the Bible School. Gavin
has been asked to take over the English language school. We are very
excited about this opportunity. This sort of work has been the desire
of my heart for a long time and finally God has given us the opportunity to do
something so wonderful. It is a dream come true for both of us.

We still are committed financially to our 35 children in the
mountains and still have to raise our own support for our living
expenses.. If you are currently sponsoring a child, the money you
send will still go to that child. With the expansion of our ministry
comes new expenses. The move to the city of Chiang Mai means our
living expenses will increase as well. Our monthly budget is $3500.
Thank you to all those who give to us and pray for us. We appreciate
you more than we can say. God Bless you!!


OUR DONATION INFORMATION HAD CHANGED
All donations are 100% tax deductible

Make checks payable to:
Zoe International Ministries
PO Box 221510
Santa Clarita, CA 91322
Memo line #1400

(please do not put our name on the check,
the #1400 ID number will direct the funds to us)

or give by credit card at their website
gozoe.org
for the benefit of The Brailsford Family


love,
Candace


In accordance with IRS guidelines, tax-deductible contributions
designated for missionary support are requested with the understanding
that the organization has complete administrative control over the
use of the donated funds. The organization will make every effort to
honor contributions to support particular missionaries

January Thailand Update

Dear Friends,
Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. We had a great Christmas here – our first as a married couple. It was the first time I had been here for the whole Christmas season. We had fun and Gavin ran a half marathon (13 miles) in Chaing Mai. It was interesting to see how the Thai’s do the marathons. They had boiled rice soup afterwards for the runners compared to America where often they have pizza! They had some kind of funny little Thai band playing traditional instruments as they began their race and it was definitely Thai style. But it was fun and Gavin was very happy with his time. I was very happy to go to Starbucks and wait for him to finish.
I am attaching a photo album with pictures from all our Christmas activities. It was a busy time with the children. We had a Christmas outreach where we invited all our friends and neighbors to our children’s home for a Christmas program. We had food and presents for them. Gavin and I wrote a Christmas drama that the children preformed explaining the meaning of Christmas and a team from Chaing Mai came and preached the gospel. Many people heard the gospel for the first time that night. Almost 150 people came. It was a great success and some of the other churches in the area decided to do the same thing in their neighborhoods because ours went so well.
For Christmas the children made decorations for the Christmas tree and our Christmas tree turned out beautiful. It was so beautiful people kept wanting to borrow it for their Christmas programs. The children also competed in a sports competition with the other children’s homes in the area. Our girls won one volleyball match but then lost in the next round. Our boys won the tournament in a game we don’t have in America called in Thai “da claw”. It is a mix between hackey sack and volleyball where they kick a ball made from bamboo over a net somewhat lower than a volleyball net. They love this game and play all the time.
The children received their Christmas presents on Dec 13th – I always give them money and take them shopping afterwards we had a Thai style barbeque. We also took up our yearly offering for the team going to the Burma border. Every child gave at least 25 percent of their Christmas money to help buy supplies for the refugees. This year, whatever they gave we gave back to them in their Christmas money, so they got the full amount they started with. One boy gave 75 percent of his money, and to him Gavin and I gave double what he had given for the refugees. I love to see the heart they have to give. They are so inspiring because they give not out of their abundance, but out of their need. With the money, we bought towels and food and clothes and small toys for the children. A team of about 15 from our home went to minister in the refugee camps and orphanages by Burma.
Gavin’s music classes are going extremely well and the kids love them. They have been learning how to read music and he has been teaching them to write songs. A team from New Zealand came that was mainly teenagers and young adults and they shared how they write songs as well and the kids really got a passion for it. God sent this team at the perfect time to reinforce what Gavin was doing. They have been writing their own worship songs for about two weeks now and some of them are really incredible. One boy played his new song during the worship service last Sunday morning and I cried the whole time it was so beautiful.
Our kids and the team from New Zealand went to a nearby village that is non-Christian and together they prayed for the sick and saw many people healed. One lady had had a headache for 5 years and she was instantly healed. She got saved and was at church last week with her family. It is awesome to see the kids ministering and preaching themselves. It was also fun to see our older girls serving as English interpreters for the team. They are really very good and I am proud of them.
We have 5 girls graduating the end of February. These girls have been with me for 6 years. I HATE this part!!! I don’t like it when they leave. But they have to go. We prepare them for years for this moment when they can stand by themselves. We do our best to give them what they need and especially that they know God, and now can continue and be successful because they know the God who is always with them and so willing to help them because He loves them so desperately. They will be fine. I know this for sure because I see how much they love God. Anyway, we have one girl named Julie from a very poor family. Her father died and her mother never remarried. They have several children and Julie has never had money for even the most basic things. She wants to study to be a nurse and we need a sponsor for her. It is a 6 month program where she will become a nurse’s aide. After that her plan is to work and continue her education until she is a registered nurse. The six month program is $1100. If you would like to sponsor her, please let me know. She has to pay the money by the middle of March.
Thank you so much to all who give. We love and pray for you often. God Bless You!!
Love,
Candace and Gavin


PS: You can send a tax deductible donation to Rhema Missions PO Box 50126 Tulsa, OK 74150 Memo Rev Candace Brailsford 100% goes to our ministry.



I'd like to share these photos with you.

December 09 16 photos

Link to view these photos:
http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A8DADF23927F?source=pw980