MNET

Water For Covid Patients (April 23, 2021)

Last night Awn had a dream that kids were dying of Covid. We then learned that there were 16 local kids testing positive for Covid. They are 2 to 6 years old. Housed in a makeshift Covid Field hospital specifically for kids, so that the parents can be there too. One big room of beds.

(DoiSaket Day Care Covid Cluster)

Then we got a call today from Somboon. "I have an idea." 

If you have been following our projects you know we help People at Risk. The best help we can offer is alternate sources of income.

One of those sources is online sales. I get very involved there, you know of my computer skills.

But we also help people pursue their dreams. One such effort is coffee. Another passion of mine.

When launching a business we focus on local investments in order to "keep it real." We do not use "soft money" (your gifts) to help launch a business. Why? Because it takes a way a degree of responsibility, a burden that can ultimately fuel success.

We help in many ways but not with money. The business needs to be viable without an influx of free cash. So we help with building the business plans, building the marketing stradegy and business education.

One such effort is c de caf. And here is Somboon's idea.

"c de caf is struggling because Covid has caused them to close many times. The ladies working their are struggling. There is a Quarantine facility that is housing in a stadium 100s of people. They have issued a need for Tissues and Water. We can run a small campaign to buy water from c de caf and send it to the quarantine facility.

1. We help c de cafe get rid of backed up stock it cannot sell due to current shop closures.

2. We help the c de caf employees with work and money (they do the packaging and shipping).

3. The bottles are branded, so c-de caf get exposure.

3. We use it as a time to pull neghborhoods together to do it together. And we do it as a witness to Christ.

Plan, find people in your neighborhood who want to participate. Then c de caf ships water to their homes (helps with transparency and community). Then the quarantine authorities come to the one neighborhood and collect for distribution 1000s of gallons of drinking water.

So here we are, several neighborhoods now, with a stack like this at their front doors to be collected later today.

Awn's dream and having discovered the kids means tomorrow will be Milk and Pampers.

For our King, George and Awn

Update of the Jek and Nong Sapai (March 10, 2021)

 Pictured here to the left are Eak and his family. I thought I said this was an Update on Jek and Nong Sapai???

Well, it is. I provided your help to them and they used it to finance an "on the road show.

Each week they would take the products produced by their extenssive network of "cottage sewers" and sell them in a wholesale market in Bangkok. That market served multi nationals who would ship the products home to Europe, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. 

That market has been closed and there isnow no outlet for their products.

But as I said, Jek and Nong Sapai took it on the road. Driving thoughout Thailand selling direct to Thai people. They did well. My wife Awn is the one who actually "hatched" the idea. That is another long story but suffice it to say it worked. 

Though they lost their house they are relocated, and working. Also they are able to keep about 30% of their cottage network busy as well, so you help went beyond JEk and Nong Sapia. But it gets better.

Because they used your gifts to get back on their feet, at a profit, they decided to pass your gifts on to Eak and his family. Eak is in the tourist industrywhich has been shut down completely. He has only been able to get a few Day jobs here and there. He was unable to pay last months utility bills and Jek and Nong Sapai paid them. 

They do not even know Eak, but Awn was asking our network to pray for Eak and his family. Jek comes up to us and says, we would like to domore then pray... We want to say thank you by passing the help we received on to them.

So I want to say thank you to you for what you made possible.

For our King, George and Awn

Jek and Nong Sapia Lost their House

Last night we ate dinner at Jek's house. He recently moved into a new place. This is Nong Sapai, Jek's Wife.

Anyone who visits us here in Chiang Mai has almost certainly met Jek and Nong Sapai. They are a great couple, sociable, gregarious and fun. They cannot speak English but that does not get in the way. Years ago a bunch of Japanese students visited and we went out with Jek and some others. Our Thai friends could not speak English or Japanese. The students could not speak Thai or English (very well). But it was for many the best night of the whole trip.

They are like that.

Well, they have been jobless since the start of Covid. They ran a "ring of ladies" all who sewed products primarily for export. Each Monday Jek would buy all the raw materials at the market and with Nong Sapai would distribute the work/orders to all the ladies. On Thursday they would collect all the results, travel by bus 10 hours and provide it to international buyers at a wholesale market in Bangkok.

They were experiencing increasing debt. In the early months of Covid, hoping to keep their business going until things returned to normal they financed the business through debt on their house. With the Covid economy dragging on their vehicle and cost of living debt increased. They did not live beyond their means until there were no means. 

They are in their early 50s and had to sell their home. They have an adult son and a highschooler. It has been very tough. Walking with them through these days has been very hard. Awn and I are not experienced in this type of ministry. But the Holy Spirit, who guides us, is. 

Pease pray for this family as they settle into their rented house. And for us, that we might be an encouragement and counsel them well. 

For our King, George and Awn