Baan Zion Children Prison Ministries A Foundation Zion Child Care Trust Intl. Project PO Box 256, Chiangrai 57000, Thailand T. +66(0)871001356 E. reverend.smit@gmail.com FB www.facebook.com/baanzion The house of the righteous contains great treasure Proverbs 15:6a News Flash January 2016 Dear friends, First of all we want to thank you for the many holiday greetings, gifts and a special holiday donation for our girls, that we have received during the Christmas holiday season and that enabled us to have a great time. The unexpectedly long 3 week school holiday was a real blessing. We had lots of fun with games and activities in and around the house. We went to the hot Springs for swimming, went on pick nicks, and could buy new clothes and shoes for the girls. And we even could go to the Chiangrai flower show and fair. We really had a fantastic Christmas and New Year celebration in the house and were also given stuffed animals for all of our girls and staff as a Christmas present by some local people.
And for us very important, we apart from our own activities were able to be a blessing to many during our Christmas out reaches in some of the surrounding Hill Tribe villages. (See our December News Flash). We even got invited by a Buddhist school on the edge of Chiangrai. At this school we could share the Gospel, sing, do dance and drama and handed out books, fruit and candy for the 250 children. But school has started again on January 4 and the coming months will be a period of studying hard and making lots of tests for our girls. This in order to be promoted to the next Grade after the summer holidays that will start in March. For Wan and Ruth it means hard work to finish their High School education and extra working hard on their entrance exams for University. All is well in Baan Zion with our girls and also with our staff team. We are a really very close family and absolutely blessed with all these girls that we cherish as our own daughters and for whom we do have the privilege to care and that consider us as their mom and dad. Some of the girls meantime live with us for as long as ten years. And it is amazing how fast time is going if you see that they came in as a little girl and now Fa and Naree are studying at University.
But over the years many came but also left again. Some already after a couple of years and some after being with us for many years. When mothers are released from prison and they are able and willing to care, girls sometimes go home again. It is always difficult to see them leave but on the other hand a good thing when you see that they are successfully reunited with their mother and we can tribute to the start of a new and better life with a future for these girls with their mother. This is why we for one up to two years accompany this process. Also last year some of our girls were successfully reunited with their mothers and they are doing very well. And this month Chompoo left us and went back to her family. When her father and mother were in prison, Chompoo her mother passed away in prison. On date of release the father wanted to take up the care for Chompoo, but was not really able to do so and going home was not an option. Now the father has his life in order, he has a house and a steady income and Chompoo really wanted to go. Most of our staff are already serving with us for 10 years and for them Baan Zion is their second home. These women are highly motivated to play a positive role in the lives of our girls. Rain or shine, they are always there, no matter what. Even though having families of their own, they on Christmas and the New Year celebrations made the choice to be with us in Baan Zion. We are thankful for their dedication and without them we could not do it. We are grateful to all that pray for us, financially support us or contribute in any way to our Ministry. God bless you abundantly dear friends. Yours in the service of His children, Rev. Dr. Jan and Ps. Ellen Smit
Thanking points Our girls Our staff Our sponsors Prayer points The school results of our girls The University tests for Wan and Ruth The needed mopeds The needed laptop computers Our internet connection Our family How to donate to our Ministry For donations directly towards Thailand Bank: Bangkok Bank Swift code: BKKBTHBK Account number: 537-0-35592-6 In the name of: Foundation Zion Child Care Trust Intl. Chiangrai 57000, Thailand For donations in the US In the US, Baan Zion is in a blessed partnership with Commission To Every Nation, a 501c3 missions organization. You can send your tax-deductible donation to them by mail at: CTEN PO Box 291307 Kerrville, TX 78029-1307 {Please include a note with Baan Zion on it} Donate online at http://www.cten.org/baanzion/ Click the donate button. For further assistance call the CTEN Finance Dept. at 800-872-5404. Thank you for your prayerful consideration to partner with us. And we are blessed to be in partnership with Emerge Children s Ministry USA. If you feel that God is leading you to partner up with us please use the following donation link https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift2/?giftid=e15b7c93d4f240d