Rivers Baptist Church - Christ alone - and Him crucified

Hi All,

Sorry we haven't emailed you all. We have been so busy and this is the only chance that we have had to get to emailing you all. I hope that you are all well. Brad and I have been well so far except for yesterday we were both bed bound. Brad had food poisoning and I had a bug. Today we both seem to feel better. Thank you God.

Dear Friends,

We appreciate your support during 2007, we pray that you have a wonderful Christmas Season and that 2008 will be your best year!

Blessings
Rob, Jean, Sharon & John

Here are a few photos from Brad and Mel’s trip to Thailand...

Brad and Mel 03Brad and Mel 06Brad and Mel 05

Hi Everyone,

We are heading over to Thailand again with the Genesis team. We have been blessed and our travel is covered but we are asking the church if it could help out the kids that we are visiting.

Donating of money, toys, school items (such as pencils, pens, notebooks, colouring in books etc) or buying our chocolate or the cards the kids made would be most appreciated. The chocolates are only $1 and the packs of cards are $10 for 5. We have some that we can sell individually at $2.

June – July 2007

Dear Friends

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for Pam at Ban Meata Khon Kaen. Pam arrived home to us today and while she is weak and lisless (she has lost one third of her body weight while in hospital over the past month)she is doing much better - still on treatment but pain free and demanding snacks to eat - a good sign I believe! Nok, Sai and Kaanit are also all back at home again and doing well.

Praise God for his goodness and faithfulness for the children in our care. Thank you to each of you who stood praying beside us over the last month and to those of you who were able and willing to offer practical assistance - your efforts were greatly appreciated!

Pam is doing a little better she is still not recovering satisfactorily - please keep praying for her. We also have another boy Kaanit (12 years old) in hospital now with a blood infection stemming from an abscess in his mouth as well as two kids ( Nok and Sai both 6 years old) in isolation with contagious skin infections.

Unfortunately when our kids get even seemingly menial infections they just don't have normally functioning immune systems so their fighting and healing capacity is remarkably impaired.

We have to staff the children in hospital and isolation independently so we are really stretched right now with many of us working 24 hour shifts at home and at the hospital, and basically we are feeling whacked physically and emotionally. Spiritually we are standing firm in God's promises for our kids - so please stand beside us and continue praying.

Thailand Trip 2: 6 December – 24 December

After returning from our trip in July, we were touched by the kids, the volunteers, the country, the huge need for help and to spread God’s news. With this in our hearts, we felt God was calling us to go back in December.

We prayed about it and things just fell into place. We found cheaper tickets and it also meant we could spend a couple more days over there.

We are returning to see the kids again at the orphanages, to see our Thai friends from the university at Lop Buri and to be obedient and grow closer to God. One big thing for us as well is to have faith in Him. When we last went over to Thailand, the trip was like a tour: everything was planned and organised in advance. This time we have to organise our own transport, find our own accommodation and find our way through Thailand on our own.

Brad and Mel recently went to Thailand on a short term missions trip. Rivers Baptist Church gave them $1000 to take with them. Here is what it was used for.

Meata Chanupatham School exists to help disadvantaged children reach their highest potential in this life - and the next!

Some things that Ban Meata are after:

A fridge and 11 wall fans [B61 000 AU $2095]
Another 2 door fridge [B29 000 AU$997]
Tables and benches for the dinning rooms B3000 AU $104 / set (1 set = 1 table to seat approx. 12 kids and bench seats.)
Of the money that the church has given to us $1000 is going to Mercy International.