We are excited to let you know what has transpired during the past two months through God’s leading and your constant prayers.

CHILDREN’S HOME COMES ALIVE AGAIN

The month of May has brought life again in the Children’s Home. The high school students came in May 9 together with some of their guardians. On May 14, the elementary kids came. On both nights our committee met with the guardians and discussed some improvements on the rules in the Home. The past year taught us many lessons on how to run the Home more effectively and we needed the guardian’s understanding and cooperation. Some improved rules are as follows:
1. During the first month, the children are not allowed to go home at all for the reason that they need to adjust to the place and people.
2. After the first month, the children are not encouraged to go home unless it is very necessary or there is an emergency.
3. Only the recognized guardians can take the kids out of the Home for some fun time on Saturday afternoons.
4. The home can provide bed and breakfast to visiting guardians for a reasonable fee.

There are of course rules for the children to follow and strict observation is required. The house parents are not exempted. They too have some rules to follow. Overall, we pray that the Lord will help everyone to make the Home a place where everyone can experience and share God’s love and that the Home can be a shining beacon in the community.

This year, we have accepted two high school and two elementary students, which makes a total of 19 children. One elementary student (nickname Big) is totally an orphan. He lived with his Muslim grandma at one time, and then finally lived with his Buddhist sister. His sister is married and both of them work in a restaurant from four in the afternoon till late at night. This orphan boy bikes three kilometers to school, which is very dangerous. He practically does not see his sister because of their different schedules. He is left on his own and is exposed to temptations, lures of the high tech society.

Because of this situation, which the head teacher and some teachers from the elementary school know about, they requested us to please take this orphan boy into our Home. After prayers and a short study of the situation, we decided to take him in.

The other elementary student is a nine-year old Hmong girl (nickname Mani). When her father died, she became her mother’s right hand in taking care of her eight siblings. Though very young, she became a very responsible, diligent and hard working girl. She displays her good traits in the Home also.

The two high school students are both in their 4th year. The boy (nickname Boy) is the son of one of the house parents and the girl (nickname Gift) is from the Akha tribe in the Chiangrai Mountains.

The children are trained in the Word for 15 to 30 minutes every night before bedtime. Before going to school in the morning at 6:30-6:45 they spend more time in the Word and in praying. The Home holds chapel every Wednesday evening from 8:00-9:00. Bible school interns and our church leaders take turns in leading songs and games and teaching and preaching the Word.

The kids have said that they were happy to be back, and we ourselves are happy to have them back. They truly add color and flavor to the church and the different ministries.

It is our prayer and please pray with us that the Lord will work in their hearts and that the students in turn will open their hearts, let Jesus in and be the Lord of their lives.

“YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD ”

We have all the reason to rejoice for five young people who confessed that Jesus is the “Christ the Son of the living God.” Virgilio baptized them at a man made lake along a highway on June 6, 2004. They are Gift, Joy, another Gift (new member at the Home) and two from Ajarn Jaroen church (Nit & Eiw). We give thanks to the Lord for the increase and to all of you for your prayers in the growth of Dawn of Life Christian Church. Kift and Joy are from Buddhist families. They are now the only Christians in their respective clans. Kift is from an Akha tribe with a Catholic religious background. She stays at Roong Aroon Children’s Home. Parents who were victims of HIV orphan the other two.

Dawn of Life Christian Church gave all newly baptized ones a copy of the Bible each and certificate of baptism. They have now a Bible to take to Church on Sundays and other occasions. Please pray for these new babes in Christ. In July, Virgilio will start a class for these new converts to give them further instructions on Christian living.

MUSICAL HEARTS

At the beginning of June, special lessons in Music and English began for the kids at the Children’s Home. Ever since last school year, several of the kids have been asking to learn different musical instruments since practically all of the junior high and high school students love music and have the heart to study it. Every Saturday James teaches music theory in the morning, and from there the junior high/high school and elementary separate into two groups for English lessons. James teaches the elementary and Nerissa teaches the older kids. After lunch, Hannah teaches drums and percussion, Nerissa teaches guitar, and Esther teaches voice and will soon start teaching keyboard, and one of the older youth at DLCC teaches Bass guitar.

The Children’s Home now has their own music band and now will serve as the praise team for the first Sunday of each month. They all have been very excited to have another role in the ministries of the church. They also are continually taught and reminded that their talents are all from God and they are to use it with humility. Each time before lessons and practice, they pray for wisdom and strength. We praise God for such a musical group of kids who truly have a heart for lifting the Lord’s name with their spiritual gifts. Besides this, the kids are kept in shape with aerobics every Saturday evening. Mrs. Jonglak, the vice-manager at the Children’s Home and one of the leaders at the church, goes straight to the Home after work to lead the kids for some good, healthy exercise. The kids love it, and so do Esther, Virgilio and Hannah who sometimes join in and make the kids laugh.

BIBLE BOWL

After about a month of learning and studying the book of Luke, three girls from the Children’s Home (Pang, Nid, Meow), attended and competed in a Bible Bowl held by Thailand Bible Society on June 19. Participants were all aged from nine to thirteen years old, and there were a total of fifty-one teams who registered for this event. Siriwan, the Children’s Home’s Big Sister tutored the girls several nights a week after they finished their homework. When the big day arrived, the girls felt nervous, excited, and not very ready. But they received a lot of encouragement from all the adults, housemates, and members from the church to do their best and what was important was that this Bowl would be a good experience for them.

The program began at 12:30 p.m. with Dawn of Life Christian Church’s music team acting as the worship team in leading songs. DLCC’s music team has been invited several times by Thailand Bible Society to serve as the worship group, and once again James led the team with Esther on keyboards, Hannah on drums, Nerissa on guitar, and several youth and kids from the Children’s Home played the Bass, Bongo drums, percussion and sang as chorus singers. The big crowd from DLCC also acted as cheerleaders for our three “angels” who represented DLCC.

The Bible Bowl was based on stories, verses, questions, and picture guessing on the book of Luke. We all sat on the edge of our seats as our team passed the first round, second round, and finally into the final round in which 5 teams, including ours, had to compete for third place. The teams had to look at the screen as a picture unfolded piece by piece. Each team raised their hands and guessed and guessed what story the picture could be. Finally, after several shots of guesses as they tried to figure out the picture, Nid quickly raised her hand and loudly answered that it was the story of the lady at the well. To her surprise, the answer was correct and the three girls jumped into the air as our cheering group sitting towards the side of the big room jumped up and down cheering excitedly. Astonished, the girls couldn’t believe they won third place.

This event really made the girls see how awesome God is in how He had given them wisdom and strength to do their best even if they were very sure of themselves. All three teams, first, second, and third places, representing the northern region, will go to Bangkok to compete for the “national” Bible Bowl on July 31st. On June… we celebrated by taking out all nineteen kids from the Children’s Home, the church committee, and the music team to a steak buffet dinner at the cost of 59 Baht per person ($1.50) for all you can eat pork, beef, chicken and fish steak, salad, spaghetti, sausages, bread, fruit, and French fries. It was the first time for 95 percent of the kids to ever eat like this and it was the first time for them to learn to eat using a fork and knife. We all had a great time, and praise God for always giving the kids new experiences.

A GARBAGE BOY FINDS HIS PLACE

Dawn of Life Christian Church is situated on one of the main roads of Chiangmai. It is very accessible to everybody. A young man, Ooan, collects garbage through this road and passes our church everyday. Curiosity got into him and went into the church building, one Sunday, garbed in his usual attire. He was caught by surprise when he was introduced and was welcomed with applause. After the worship service he was invited to lunch and warm fellowship. That first experience in church impacted him deeply. The church people were warm and loving. They did not show any partiality in spite of his dirty and smelly appearance. Knowing himself, he would sit at the back row because he would be coming from doing his daily routine.

Since that first time, he would attend every Sunday. He had developed a good friendly relationship with the young people, then with the adults. Everybody would greet and talk to him, until he felt at ease.

After many months of coming to church in his usual attire he showed up one Sunday clean and dressed well. Everybody showed appreciation in his attempt to improve himself. He gained more confidence since and joined the young people’s activity. During our afternoon activity of songs and games before the afternoon Bible study, he surprised us by playing the bongo drums! Then later, the tambourine. From then on, he was responsible with the mentioned instruments and he is happy with what he can do and be a part of the church family. It is our prayer that he will recognize a need of accepting Jesus to be his Lord.

YOUTH NEWS (news from Hannah)

The beginning of May has also been a new beginning for the youth at DLCC. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, our youth minister, Jarin, had gone to finish his studies at a Bible school, and God has been good in allowing me to take his place in taking care of the youth ministries. (The youth here include teens to college-aged or young adults) During the month of April, the youth committee and I met together to plan out the activities for the upcoming months; we discussed problems and challenges that the youth were facing, which included why the number of youth was slightly decreasing, and we prayed together asking for God’s help and guidance in working together to keep the youth as a stronghold in the church. Throughout May and June, we have began music practices two-three times a week, we’ve have sold orange juice and Thai snacks for several weeks (made by the youth committee) in order to raise money for the youth budget.

On May 16, we arranged a sports and games activity welcoming the beginning of the new school year and return of the kids from the Children’s Home and youth who were away for the summer break. One Sunday afternoon, the youth walked to the main bus station of Chiangmai to pass out Bible tracts. It was the first time for half of about the 30 people who went to ever pass out tracts. One awesome thing that happened was that before we were about to leave the church to go on our “journey”, the devil was trying to stop us. Rain began to pour down, and many of the younger youth were beginning to get a little discouraged. But older youth and I encouraged them by saying that nothing can get in the way of doing the Lord’s work so we stood in a big circle and prayed. When we opened our eyes, the rain had practically stopped! This excited us and made us all see God’s mightiness.

Things have been going well for the youth, and at the start of July the youth committee has plans of starting a weekly cell group and a visitation group in order to follow up and encourage the youth who are not coming to church. Every week is a busy week for me but also very enjoyable. I also have been able to help the church by updating and decorating the boards in the church to keep the members continually informed of church events and happenings. This is where I’m able to use what I’ve learned in university. I’ve also been given the responsibility in doing the designs and layouts for the poster, handouts, and booklet for the upcoming Churches of Christ/Christian Churches convention in October. I also am one of the drivers for the Children’s Home by picking up the kids from school every day. These all have been opportunities from God to serve God, and I thank Him for the privilege and honor of choosing me and giving me wisdom and strength in serving Him with the different ministries here.

LADIES BAZAAR

On June 26, the ladies and youth of the church joined together to raise funds for the Children’s Home. The ladies hold the bazaar twice a year- June and November. Homemade bread, cakes, cookies, fried chicken, Thai spicy salad and dinner items were the most saleable. Second hand clothes, shoes, kitchen items and other articles were also sold. The children of the Home showed appreciation by helping cook, sell, clean and receive visitors and put things in order after the event. $163.75 was raised within 6 hours of “business”. We thank God that the children saw that whenever we commit any undertaking to Him, He blesses!

Thank you very much for your continued supports, Supports which are emerging from your caring hearts;
The work of God in Thailand bears fruitful results,
To the glory and honor of the Lord for your parts.

Yours in His service,

Virgilio & Esther de los Santos