A letter from Barry and Shelly Dawson serving as Regional Liaisons for Southeast Asia, based in Thailand
June 2016
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Dear Friends in Christ,
What would you be doing today if your education had stopped with the 6th grade? What would be your current quality of life, if you never learned the communication skills or critical thinking methods that you have developed after 6th grade? For many students who attend the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) school located along the Thai – Myanmar border those are not hypothetical questions.
A Challenge in Need of a Dream
Numerous students at the Saha Christian Suksa School never receive any secondary education because their school provides education only through the 6th grade. After completing primary school some of the students leave the village of Hoey Malay to attend a Thai public school in the closest city. But others, many of whom are from the Karen and Hmong people groups of northern Thailand, will end their formal education with the 6th grade.
What will the future hold for a Karen teenager with only a primary education? Will it mean trying to scratch out a living by growing a few meager crops on land not even owned by your family? Will that teenager become resigned to a future of hit-and-miss jobs as a day laborer with no steady income or job security? Will such an economically vulnerable female teenager be lured into a sex trafficking scam that promises a job in a restaurant but turns into the prison-like conditions of a brothel?
What kind of dream would make life more abundant for these students who see a big STOP sign planted firmly on their pathways when they finish the 6th grade? That is the burning question that kept troubling the heart of the school’s headmaster, Mr. Supah Yodanont. Some of the 6th grade students can be 15, 16, or 17 years old. These students tell the headmaster they would be embarrassed to continue their studies in a government public school with much younger students. So the headmaster asked them, “Would you continue going to school, if you could stay here?” Their answer? A resounding “Yes!”
A Vision is Born
The indomitable Mr. Supah Yodanont’s vision was to add grades 7, 8 and 9 to Saha Suksa Christian School. This would allow his students to continue their education and increase their future economic power.
Of course, there was the matter of the money. The projected cost of the envisioned school building was 4.66 million Thai Baht (approximately US$130,000). That is a large sum of money! Projected costs take into account that the school is located in a remote area; transportation costs to get building materials to the construction site will be high. This was an audacious dream that would require the prayers and resources of the global Body of Christ.
The Vision Grows
Students joyfully participate in a chapel service
As the vision for an expanded school began to take shape, we continued our periodic visits to the small village of Hoey Malay. Each time we had conversations with headmaster Supah Yodanont we could sense within him a strong commitment to this vision that was undergirded by his deep faith and an almost palpable spirit of hope.
On one of our trips we were pleased to bring with us Frank Dimmock, who serves as Presbyterian World Mission’s Catalyst for Poverty Alleviation. The PC(USA) has identified Poverty Alleviation as one of the Critical Global Initiatives (CGIs) on which our global mission team is focusing attention and resources. The PC(USA) is now in the midst of an ambitious campaign to address poverty by contributing to the education of 1,000,000 children by the year 2020. Thus we were delighted to introduce Frank to the Saha Christian Suksa School and help him catch a glimpse of the headmaster’s vision for adding grades 7, 8, and 9.
A Pivotal Point of Encouragement
In mid-January 2016 we made another visit to the school to receive an update on the building project. After listening to a full school assembly singing joyfully and responding enthusiastically to a Christian message in their chapel program we eagerly awaited the latest news.
The business manager presents plans for the new school building
The headmaster and Mr. Suthichai Ratanabunpotsri, the business manager, gave us a compelling presentation about the strides they had made—despite numerous challenges—in pursuit of their dream. We were filled with joy when they announced that the schools’ board of directors had decided to take the necessary steps to build the new building. What a wonderful moment of shared rejoicing!
But the story continued to unfold. The business manager told us that the school board had agonized for days over the monumental decision to build the new building. They were questioning whether their vision to offer grades 7, 8, and 9 to their students could become a reality. But then they received a message that Presbyterian World Mission had made a grant of $20,000 to the project as part of the Poverty Alleviation Initiative. “When the school board learned of the Presbyterian Church’s big support for the new school building,” the business manager told us, “we believed that this was God’s sign to us that we should go forward in faith and build the new building.” The financial support provided by your generosity through Presbyterian World Mission provided pivotal encouragement to the school board, and enabled them to say, “YES!” to the headmaster’s vision.
The headmaster gives his vision a concrete beginning
As we emerged from our January meeting with the headmaster and business manager our hearts were filled with thanksgiving to our God who had inspired a new vision for the school and also had used us, other World Mission staff, and many Presbyterians to help bring the school to the edge of a new future. Our hearts were filled with joy as we exclaimed, “Now that is how mission in partnership works!”
An Invitation to Partner in Our Mission Work
As we continue to rejoice in the myriad ways that our mission partnerships in Thailand are having a dramatic impact at the Saha Christian Suksa School, we are reminded of how much we cherish our mission partnerships with you and your church. We thank you for your encouragement in our ministry, and we invite you to support us in 2016 with your prayers, your correspondence, and your financial gifts, all of which are critically important to our ongoing participation in God’s mission here in Southeast Asia.
In Partnership with You,
Barry and Shelly
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