April 2006 Update

Time sure does have a way of passing by quickly. It’s hard to believe Paul and Ann are coming to the end of their first year of school. The school year in Thailand begins in May and ends in March. They’ve enjoyed the time they’ve had with their teachers and friends. Here you see Paul and Ann dancing on stage at school with some of their friends. It was a special presentation for parents. Peter sees Ann and Paul doing homework every day and constantly asks me if he can go to school too. With only a week left to this school year, the time has come for us to enroll Paul, Ann and now Peter for next year. Because of donations we’ve had toward children’s expenses such as milk and medical bills we are able to use the sponsorship money we receive for Paul, Ann, and Peter toward school fees.

I want to thank those of you who are sponsoring our children. It’s a great relief to know their education is provided for at least another year. We often tell the children they have sponsors. When Ann was told of her sponsor, she smiled one of her precious little smiles as much as to say that really makes me feel special. She was also quite concerned when she heard 3 of her brothers don’t have sponsors yet. She’s told me we need to look for more. We are praying God will lead 3 more families to us who would like to sponsor Gong, Am, and Om. If you are interested, please let me know and I’ll send you information about our sponsorship program.

Gong	Om & Am

Just one more note about education fees. Nim, one of our child care workers has a 4 year old son named Michael. The school has told Nim that Michael is ready to enter first grade. Nim is excited to see her son do so well in school and is eager to see him go on. Nim has worked really hard for our ministry working from 8 in the morning until 8 at night five days a week taking care of our children while her husband is planting a church and taking care of their son. Nim receives the same amount of support as our other live in staff even though she travels back and forth to our home each day. She never complains about her small income but, I know that she has many financial needs.

We would like to bless Nim (see left in the middle wearing the yellow shirt) in a special way by providing the tuition for her son as well. The cost per child per year for tuition is $250, school uniforms $20, and books is $30. While God has so graciously provided the school fees for our children, would you consider blessing our staff with a special financial gift toward her son’s education?

There are several areas of concern for which I’d like to ask for special prayer.

The first is for Ann, the only girl we have at our home right now. It seems in school she is not progressing as she should be. We are talking with her teachers about whether or not we will keep her back next year. I will be taking her to get her eyes tested this week. I’ve also just been told of a special Thai doctor who diagnoses children with learning disabilities and provides therapy for them. We would like to see Ann be all that God has created her to be. Would you pray for wisdom for me as I make decisions that will affect her future?

The second concern I have is that for over a year now there have been items in our home that have turned up missing. One of our staff believes she knows who the culprit is. We would like to see God work on this person’s heart to bring them to a place of repentance. Would you pray that this person would listen to God and come and repent of what they are doing?

The third prayer request is for a permanent home for our children. The home we now rent is deteriorating and costing us more money than it should. A few weeks ago our bathroom ceiling fell down because of a water leak We also have a water leak in the walls of our home.. It’s costing us 4 times what it should for water. Our landlord is unwilling to fix the problems. Due to this our home is filled with mold and mildew which I believe is contributing to our children being sick a lot. It certainly is not good for Mark, our youngest who has had lung problems since birth. We’ve also had a problem with snakes which will increase once the rainy season begins.

For these reasons I am looking for a new home. We are praying whether God would have us buy a home or build. In either case we have found the cost will be at least $270,000 US. Please pray with us that God will lead us to just the right place? Please also pray God would send supporters to help finance this project? If you or someone you know would like to invest in a large project, please let me know. I feel like this is a faith stretching time for me. What I want most to see happen is that through the process of finding a new home, our staff and children would truly experience our God who speaks, leads, and does miracles on our behalf.

With love and blessings to you, Kathleen

Send financial support for Home of Joy to:
YWAM Honolulu
Attn.: Accounting Dept.
P.O. Box 61700
Honolulu, HI
96839, USA

(Please include a note designating it for
Home of Joy (or Kathleen's personal support
or tell them what your gift is for.)