The Other Thailand

A letter from Barry and Shelly Dawson serving as Regional Liaisons for Southeast Asia, based in Thailand

September 2015

Dear Partners in Mission,

Often when people hear the word “Thailand,” their imaginations immediately leap to colorful images on international travel brochures, scenes of pristine beaches, emerald waters, and Facebook posts of delectable dishes of native cuisine.  But there is another Thailand, where parents struggle daily to feed their children, where children often drop out of school by age 13 to help the family earn extra income, where families are so desperate to survive one more day that they sell their own children to human traffickers.

In Klong Toey multiple family members crowd together in a one-room home covered with a rusting tin roof. The pungent smell of raw sewage hangs low in the air. Parents rise early in the morning to walk with robotic motion to their jobs as housemaids or day laborers.
Yet, as the first burnt orange rays of the sun’s light sneak above the horizon, 70 young children in Klong Toey rise to receive the gifts of learning, care, and hope at a Christian preschool.

The Church of Christ in Thailand serves the poor in the heart of Bankok’s Klong Toey slum area.

Dao* is a 5-year-old Thai girl who gladly receives those precious gifts from her teacher each week. A few months ago when we first saw Daositting at her preschool desk, we instantly were impressed with her passion for learning. With pencil in hand, her eyes were focused intently as she worked on the school lesson on her desk.  However, the most astonishing fact was that her preschool classes already had ended for the day!  Most of the students had left the classroom and were walking back to their simple, wooden rooms that they share with numerous family members. The teachers also were getting ready to head home after a long day of non-stop engagement with 70 energy-filled students.  But Dao was not in a hurry to leave, and her inner motivation to learn was an image of hope we shall not soon forget.

Causes for Rejoicing and Concern
As we reflect on the steely determination in Dao’s eyes and her post-school, over-achiever actions, our hearts are filled with joy. We rejoice that more than 30 years ago our global mission partner, the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT), had the vision, courage, and compassion to plant a preschool deep in the heart of Bangkok’s Klong Toey slum area. We rejoice that, in a place where hope is often in short supply, the CCT’s preschool is a field of dreams where all are treated with the dignity and respect that is due to every person who is lovingly created in the image of God. We rejoice that, as seeds of new life are planted in children who are among the poorest of the poor, in some small ways God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Children at the CCT preschool receive gifts of learning, compassion, and hope.

Yet we also have concerns for the CCT preschool in Klong Toey since one of its major funding sources has been reduced significantly in recent months. So now the preschool is in need of additional partners, both churches and individuals, in order to continue its ministry, which has been uninterrupted for more than three decades.  For that reason we have been working with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission to establish a special Extra Commitment Opportunity (ECO) account to receive designated gifts for this mission project in Bangkok. If you or your church is interested in contributing to the “CCT Preschool in Klong Toey” project [E052182], please contact us for detailed information.

Poverty Alleviation through Early Childhood Education
The CCT Preschool in Klong Toey is one specific example of how we are working with our mission partners in Southeast Asia to provide fresh hope and new opportunities for persons who are caught in the web of poverty. In fact, the Klong Toey Preschool is a mission project that is in perfect alignment with the Presbyterian Church’s Critical Global Initiative of “Poverty Alleviation through Early Childhood Education,” an denominationwide initiative that has the global challenge goal of contributing toward the education of 1 million children by the year 2020.  While many students in Klong Toey drop out of school after 6^th grade, those who develop a love of learning—like petite Daowhose eyes were riveted to the work on her desk even after school was finished for the day—will have a greater chance of obtaining better jobs and higher incomes that will facilitate their escape from the vicious cycle of poverty.

Back in Southeast Asia after Completing Our Mission Interpretation Visits
For the past four months we have been privileged to preach, attend professional development conferences, and make mission interpretation presentations about our service in Southeast Asia. We traveled to more than 20 states and participated in more than 50 scheduled, joyful interactions with mission committees, pastors, worshipping congregations, presbyteries, and mission-conscious individuals, all in an effort to give people a window into the challenges and triumphs being experienced by their sisters and brothers in Christ in Southeast Asia.  We are deeply grateful for the gracious hospitality, acts of generosity, engaging conversations, warm fellowship, and expressions of mission solidarity that were so freely given to us as we witnessed to the mighty ways that Christ’s kingdom is advancing in Southeast Asia.

Invitation to Partner with Us
During the past four months we have been humbled and deeply encouraged by churches, presbyteries, and individual Christians who have expressed a strong desire to partner with us in our mission and to provide financial support for our work.  If you have already made a direct contribution to our mission work in 2015, we extend our deep gratitude to you.  If you would like to partner with us in the remaining months of this calendar year, we encourage you to do so.  We invite you to pray for us, learn about the joys and challenges facing Christians in this region, and give generously to help us raise the financial support that is needed to fund the mission work to which we have been called in Southeast Asia. Please know that you are in our hearts and in our prayers as we join together with you to impact the world with the love of Christ.

Yours in Christ’s Service,
Barry and Shelly

*Dao is not the girl’s real name. Her name has been changed for reasons of safety and security.

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 235
Read more about Barry and Shelly Dawson’s ministry