Transforming Thailand's Youth Through Jesus and Education
Read time: 1 minuteA key priority we have written about extensively is community transformation as the best way to fight sex trafficking. We have scratched the surface of that a bit in our large, dense neighborhood, with the overall dream always being to grow neighborhood churches.
We have known Addy and Ann for many years, including their dream for education and discipleship for needy children and families. In late 2021 we made a commitment to help them towards that vision, which now is focused on growing a church that can reach folks at the bottom. They then hope to begin a small Christian school connected with the church.
We are currently providing financial support as seed money, and Addy was blessed with a full scholarship for an M.A. at Wheaton Graduate School. He is in a hybrid program, studying online while coming to the U.S. for short intensive classes. His first U.S. visit was last October, and 3 more trips are scheduled for this year.
Here is Addy’s story:
My father was alcoholic and my mother addicted to gambling. My dad drank almost every day, especially on payday, and my mom often frequented gambling houses. They fought a lot so I hung out with friends as much as possible to avoid being home.
At age 12 I learned that I would not be able to attend high school because my parents had not paid my fees at primary school. Mom had spent Dad’s earnings on gambling debts. Not long after that my parents broke up, and I had to move in with my grandparents in a distant area of Bangkok.
My older cousins also lived with them. They were drug dealers who began using me to deliver drugs, and with my pay I would play at the video game shop and hang out with friends. I thought my life would go nowhere, but one day a friend I played soccer with invited me to a Christmas party at his church.
I always remember my first step entering that church. I had a warm feeling, sensing love that I had never known. I wasn’t yet open to Christianity, thinking it was a foreign religion, but my church friends kept inviting me to play soccer. They and other church members treated me in a way that was amazing and wonderful. That made me want to know God more, so I started reading the Bible, and began to see who God is, and how Jesus died for everyone. I decided to become Christian on January 6, 2002.
My friend told me to ask God anything I wanted and He would answer. The first thing I prayed for was to be able to go back to study. A few months later I had a chance encounter with my aunt (which I know for sure was God’s plan), who had learned that I was not studying. She asked if I wanted to go back to school, and I said yes. The following day she went and talked to the headmaster of my old school, and he gave her my diploma. I was so joyful that I cried and had no words.
Tired of my living situation, I asked my pastor to let me stay at the church for two weeks. He said yes, and I ended up staying there five years. The church supported and trained me in the way of God, and funded my high school costs. I can honestly say that without their God- inspired help I would still be a lost person. That is why my life is for Christ.
During my sophomore year in University while studying for an English degree I was doing a report about the problems of Thai teenagers. I wanted a pastor’s perspective on this issue, so a friend at church introduced me to Jim Larson at The Well. When I first heard about what The Well was doing with women at risk I thought, “Is it possible that there could be such a ministry in Thailand?” Jim talked about doing ministry where “love comes first” as Jesus loves us. So I started rereading the Gospels, and saw how Jesus was always with the poor, the broken, the abandoned, the widow, and the orphans.
Later during my senior year, I did a report titled “Educational Inequality Between the Students in Bangkok and the Rural Areas”, and I came to interview women at The Well, and was able to work there as an intern. After I graduated The Well team invited me to join as full-time staff.
I worked with The Well in Bangkok for 4 years, and meanwhile completed a master’s degree in educational administration. My wife, Ann, and I also had the opportunity to work for 18 months in a rural community in northeastern Thailand where we learned a lot about its people and culture, and gained experience developing young people through education and the love of Jesus.
God then opened an unbelievable door for me to teach at Triam Udom Suksa school, the top public school in Thailand. I taught there for four years while also completing my teacher certification requirements. But I wanted to work in a Christian educational ministry, and God led me to work at a Christian university to gain experience in higher education as well.
I believe God has built my life step by step, He has given me such broad experience as preparation to lead an educational ministry that helps poor, broken, and underprivileged kids to touch the love of Jesus in all areas of life, spirit, body, emotion, and social development, and build their lives in His kingdom.
The education center that I envision will be a ministry of a local church, as I believe that the Church is the center for building God’s kingdom. Ann is gifted organizationally as well as working with small kids. She shares this vision, and by God’s grace and power we will work towards it together.
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