A Little Background

Hello all,

I thought I'd take some time to fill you in on some of the basic information about what the Love and Care Project Foundation is all about and introduce you to some of the key characters, so to speak. Many of you already know most of this, but for those of you who don't it will help what I write make a whole lot more sense.

The Love and Care Foundation is run by a husband and wife: Rodney and Phimpha. Rodney is from Minnesota, and Phimpha is from Thailand. The main purpose of the foundation is basically to show God's love to the Thai people. This is done in countless ways. Probably the most obvious is the children's home that the foundation runs. This home is called the Timothy House, and it is a place for orphaned or unwanted children. Currently there are 19 children, ranging in age from a few weeks old to 16. (We acquired a newborn baby and his mother this past Sunday.) I guess it's not entirely accurate to say that the Timothy House is merely a place for children who have nowhere else to go: we currently have several adults here who also have nowhere else to go. So it is a house for anyone who needs it, primarily children.

In addition to caring for children and the others who find shelter at the Timothy House, Rodney and Phimpha have several other projects going that keep us all rather busy. Phimpha is head of a women's group for church leaders. (She was the head of the group for this area of Thailand--covering seven provinces I think---and then this summer she was elected the head of the organization for all of Thailand!) The Timothy House holds a church service every Sunday morning. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, someone from the Timothy House goes to a nearby school to teach English. (And the director and some teachers from another school came today to ask if we would teach over there every week as well!) Much of Phimpha's time is also spent dealing with the "problemers," as she sometimes calls them. Many people know that if they have a problem, they should just call Phimpha and she will help them. It's hard to write down everything that she does, let alone everything that the foundation does! We've been helping someone build a roof, helped some people from Finland get their internet provider to fix their modem, helped a boy get a birth certificate, picked up ribbon from the store for someone who needed it, and everything in between.

The Timothy House is a pretty small community, so I can tell you a tiny bit about who is here without boring you to death! (I hope!) I won't try to describe all the kids right now, because that would take a looong time. So adults: we have three "ferlongs," or white people here right now: three Americans (Rodney, David, and me,) and a Canadian (Robert). David and Robert have both been in Thailand for a while now, and are volunteers like me. We have two Thai men who live here--Sanook and Loong Cheung. (I am butchering the spelling of everything Thai...) Sanook is here because he is disabled & in a wheelchair and his family could not take care of him. I have not heard all of Loong Cheung's story yet, but he helps a lot with Sanook in addition to general work around the property. Ba Leck is a Thai lady who lives and works here. I guess she is part of the womens' group that Phimpha leads and decided to come help. She does a lot of the cooking and helps a lot with the kids and cleaning. We now have a Cambodian lady living with us--the mother of the newborn baby. They just arrived on Sunday, and I haven't even figured out her name yet! Finally, we have a husband and wife couple who are paid workers and come Monday-Friday to help out.

So all in all we have 29 people as part of the Love and Care Project Foundation. Things around here are always interesting, and I never know what the day will bring!