Ruth Center and Noi
July 26th, 2008 Posted in Take ActionNoi Suphanee is a missionary that my wife Casey met a few years ago when they were both doing mission work through YWAM in Africa. Noi is Thai and has been working with in a YWAM Thailand children’s sponsorship program for the past few years. This year though, she felt the Lord leading her to start a ministry to the elderly in Bangkok. This new ministry is called Ruth Center. Noi’s life is dedicated to directly fulfilling “pure religion” as defined by scripture in James 1:27…
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Towards the end of this post you can find out one opportunity to help Ruth Center and take part in looking after widows in their distress, but first you can find out more about Ruth center in this article from the Third Quarter YWAM Thailand Newsletter.
Caring For Bangkok’s Elderly
(by Roanna Stevens)
Yay Pad is a 75-year-old widow who has lived in a Bangkik slum for more than 40 years. Since she does not have an ID or a health-care card, she cannot receive any help from the government. Yay Pad’s “home” is really more like a tent with no walls and only some plastic for a roof. If it rains, she gets wet. The blanket se uses at night is not enough to protect her form the rain or from the snakes.
Noi (right) with Yay Pad and another Ruth Center staff member.
Yay Pad is not alone in her troubles. It is estimated that the number of elderly in Thailand will make up approximately 20% of the Thai population in the next 10 years. Many of these men and women will live in slums with little or no income. Recently, a new Ministry of YWAM Thailand and Project L.I.F.E. Foundation, called Ruth Center, was born with the vision of working with local churches to show the love and compassion of Jesus to the more than one million elderly in Bangkok. Ruth Center is committed to: helping the elderly receive their legal rights and life pensions, encouraging the family, community, and the society to care well for the elderly, motivating the elderly to see value in themselves and to take an active role in society, and encouraging the elderly to use their knowledge to earn a living.
Behind this new ministry is a Thai woman named Noi Suphanee. having grown up in a strong Budhist family, she did not become a Christian until university. Later, as she worked with the Child Sponsorship Program under Project L.I.F.E. Foundation, God began to teach her to really look a thte needs of other people and to see His heart for them. God also began to give her a vision to start Ruth Center, although she wondered how she could do it since she was only a small Thai lady! One day as Noi prayed, God gave her a picture of a girl drivin a car on a smooth road and she realized that it was her. then she swaw that she was supposed to turn right even though the road that way was not smooth at all. Noi was challenged to obey God and begin Ruth Center even through the “road” wmight not always be smooth.
And today, the good news is that Ruth Center is up and running, not only for Yay Pad, but for the many other poor elderly of Bangkok as well.
How to Help Ruth Center
This new ministry is just a few months old and is still lacking the funds necessary to keep running effectively. Until recently, Noi has been working a part time job from 6pm to midnight to help support the ministry that she already runs full time. Things are a little better now, but Ruth Center still needs support. Below is an excerpt from an update that Noi sent to her ministry support partners a couple of weeks ago, outlining Ruth Center’s financial needs. (Forgive the grammar errors; English is not Noi’s primary language.)
- Staff support 500 US$ / month- Office supply 375 US$ / month- Elderly support 325 US$ / monthWe only get 400 US$ / month right now. We lack 800 US$ /monthHowever I can say and not shame to say that I was got only 50 US$ / month for my personal needs. I only use 1 US$ / day. I only pay for Lunch. No breakfast. Dinner I cook rice with boil egg. Sometime I have a lot of question in my head. Is God still faithful to me? However I learn so much about missionary’s life. I keep on prayer that nothing can harm me and steal my joy. You are also, Don’t let anything ( problems ) to steal your joy. The world is changing every day. Stand. Stand.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There was no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distruibuted to anyone as he had need.