Participants:
Series Code: NOW
Program Code: NOW019034A
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00:15 This is 3ABN Now with John and Rosemary Malkiewycz.
00:20 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Now. 00:23 You know, it's so good to have you take the time 00:26 to watch these programs. These programs really tell 00:28 the life stories of people: what they've achieved; 00:31 what they've done; and what in actual fact they're doing 00:33 now. And today we have a special guest 00:36 that started out going overseas to help with ICC. 00:41 That was... International Children's Care. Um-hmm. 00:44 And that closed down, and this lady had a burden to help 00:49 those kids over there. And so we have with us 00:52 Althea Mason. Welcome to the program! 00:54 Thank you very much. And we're going to see what 00:56 you've really done with your husband over there in Thailand. 01:00 What God has achieved through you. Um-hmm. 01:02 Yeah... it's going to be good. 01:05 It's a miracle story. 01:07 I know! We relate to that because 01:10 we ourselves have worked as people overseas 01:13 helping other people. And it's kind of contagious, 01:16 isn't it, Althea? You can't get away from it. 01:18 It sort of becomes part of your life... your blood 01:21 that flows in you that you want to continue doing it. 01:24 And it means going away. 01:26 But you know what? God still gives you many more friends 01:28 and many more children, doesn't He? 01:30 He does indeed. Yes. 01:32 And it becomes that sort of thing that... 01:35 that home that you have there and the family that you have 01:40 become just your whole life. 01:43 They're an extension of my life. Yeah. 01:47 Thailand holds a very special place for us 01:50 because we worked there also. 01:52 But we were married in Bangkok, Bukit. Um-hmm! 01:55 We had two weddings, in fact. One in Bangkok 01:57 and five months later one in Bukit. Yes. 02:00 And that was an interesting experience. 02:01 And you know what? It's been terrific. 02:03 As your turn your heart to the Lord and you want to help 02:07 other people, that's exactly what Jesus came and did 02:10 and taught us to do. And it is exciting, isn't it Althea? 02:13 It never stops being exciting. I like that! 02:16 I think when you know you're doing what God wants you to do 02:20 and you're where He wants you to be 02:22 life... the doors just keep opening. 02:26 'Cause I was just wondering and thinking: 02:28 before I get going you have a text that you have chosen. 02:33 And it's a very special one in fact. 02:35 Very special for me. It is found in the book of James. 02:40 And it's chapter 1 and verse 27. 02:44 James wrote: "Pure religion 02:48 and undefiled before God 02:50 and the Father is this: 02:52 to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction 02:57 and to keep himself unspotted from the world. " 03:01 Why did you choose this verse 03:04 out of all the verses in the Bible? 03:07 It's really interesting because when you go to the hill tribes 03:11 where I am I see those children as 03:15 unspotted from the world that we live in. 03:19 And I know when I first started visiting Thailand 03:22 and fell in love with the children 03:24 people would say: "Why don't you adopt them? 03:26 "Why don't you adopt some and bring them back here? " 03:28 And seeing them in their natural environment where they live 03:32 I would say to people: "That would be the worst thing 03:35 I could do to them... bring them back here. 03:37 They have a good life. They don't have all the technology. 03:40 They actually live in nature; they have a healthy diet. 03:43 Why do I want to bring them back here? " 03:45 Umm... that's right. 03:47 A happy peaceful healthy life. 03:50 Yeah, and you know there are so many wars that are being 03:53 fought over religion. But religion shouldn't be 03:57 according to the Bible what people say it is. 03:59 Religion is looking after those less fortunate. 04:03 And that's what we should be about: 04:06 helping those less fortunate. 04:07 "And to keep oneself unspotted from the world. " 04:10 The world is full of selfishness. 04:12 Very much so. Thinking of what I want... 04:15 NO. "Someone should be looking after me" 04:18 instead of: "I should be looking after someone else. " 04:22 And I realize being over there: we have too much. 04:25 We don't need all these things to be happy. 04:27 It's a bit of a cultural shock, isn't it? When you come back 04:29 to... when I say the Western world from where you've been 04:32 from a place where there's just simple things. 04:34 You suddenly see all this I call it "stuff. " 04:38 You go in the big shopping center it's just full of "stuff. " 04:42 I can't stand clutter. 04:43 I want to get rid of all the clutter. 04:45 I just want a few things around and simple. Yeah. 04:49 I remember when we moved to Bangkok from Nepal 04:54 we could only take what we had with us in our suitcases. 04:58 And James and... James was 17. 05:03 And he came to me one day and said: 05:05 "Do you know, Mom, you really don't need a lot of stuff 05:09 to be able to live. " Because we didn't have very much. 05:12 We had what we had taken with us 05:15 and all their school stuff. 05:16 And so we were living with very little 05:20 even though we were in Bangkok, a very Western city. 05:25 For the time that were there we didn't need a lot 05:27 and it was easy. 05:29 So Althea, you are the administrator 05:31 of Adventist Rescued Children's Care. 05:35 Just talk us through a little bit about that. 05:38 OK. Well, five years ago I went to Thailand 05:43 as the administrator of Intl. Children's Care Australia 05:47 in Thailand. Um-hmm. And I was looking after 05:50 the Kirsten Jade Rescue Center. 05:52 And last year on the 9th of May 05:55 Intl. Children's Care Australia closed their doors. 06:00 For us that just happened overnight. 06:03 All of our income just stopped. 06:06 And... Panic! Was it panic? No? 06:10 It was: "What do we do? " 06:12 "What do we do? What do I do? " 06:14 I'm the only Western person over there. 06:17 And I prayed about it, and I just had such a peace 06:20 that I was where God wanted me to be. 06:24 And all of our sponsorship stopped. All the direct debits 06:28 stopped. There was no income. 06:30 And I would have said that them closing their doors 06:35 would be the worst thing that could happen to us. 06:37 But I'm telling you now that it was a blessing - 06:40 um-hmm - that it happened to us because 06:42 we have seen so many miracles happen. 06:47 The children have seen the miracles happen 06:50 and so our faith in God, reliance on God, 06:54 has been... Well, we've had nowhere else to go! 06:57 We've had to rely on God 06:59 and every month we have the money. 07:02 At one stage I had come back to Australia with my parents. 07:05 They had lived there for 4 years and had to come back for health 07:08 reasons. And my manager rang me and said: 07:13 "We don't have any money in the operating budget. " 07:15 And I said: "It's OK. I'm in Australia 07:18 and we will pray about it. " 07:20 And we did. And three days later 07:23 we had $20,000 put into our account. 07:26 I don't know who put it there. I know someone who does. 07:31 He knows the someone but I don't know who it was. 07:34 And we have just been blessed like that. 07:36 You know, when we didn't think we could go on God said 07:40 "You're where I want you to be." 07:41 Hmm. That's the sort of way that we end up running here 07:44 many times, isn't it? Yes it is. 07:46 You're saying: "Uh-oh" and then all of a sudden 07:49 God prompts someone. And we were doing in Sabbath School 07:54 over there I was teaching the children the story of Esther. 07:57 And you know, she was there "for such a time as this. " 08:01 And the children said to me: "Mummy, 08:05 you are our Eseter. " Eseter! 08:07 "God brought you here for such a time as this. 08:10 Without Mummy we can't be here. " 08:12 Umm. And it's not without Mummy... it's without God. 08:16 But, you know, they saw me as the bridge 08:18 because there was no other Western person batting for them. 08:21 I want to look at a picture of your family. 08:24 Yeah, there's a few of them. 08:26 This is your family and you're there on the right hand side. 08:32 How many are there? 08:33 Actually, I haven't counted in that picture. 08:36 I think there should be 42 08:38 but sometimes on the weekends I have children back from 08:41 vocational school or university 08:43 so there might be a few more there. 08:45 I have 52 children all up on campus 08:50 with our vocational school and university ones. 08:53 And I have house parents and a social worker and a manager. 08:58 Just tell us your background 09:01 with all of those children that you have. 09:04 What is your actual background as far as children goes? 09:07 Well, I grew up a little girl who always wanted to have 09:11 children. I played with dolls. I had the names picked out, 09:16 and I just wanted to get married and have babies. 09:19 And I grew up and I got married 09:22 and I didn't have babies. 09:25 And I struggled with God with that. 09:28 It's like: "This is what I wanted to do, you know. 09:30 I just wanted to be a mummy. " 09:32 And you know, sometimes God answers our prayers 09:35 but we don't know what the answer is. 09:38 Like for me, I can clearly see that 09:41 God said to me: "Just wait a while... just wait. " 09:44 But I do know that God put a peace in my heart 09:48 to accept that I wasn't having children. 09:51 And 52... no, not 52... I'm 52. 09:58 Thirty years later God's put me in a place where I have 10:01 lots of children. He has given me the desires of my heart. 10:05 And I know that I'm in the right place. 10:09 I'm called Mummy every day. 10:10 You have 52 people that call you Mummy? 10:13 Yes... even the staff. 10:16 Well let's make it more than 52. 10:19 So God granted you your wish but in a different way. 10:23 And you know what? If I'd had children, 10:26 I might not be there. My life would have taken 10:29 a completely different course. I'm sure it would have. Yeah. 10:32 And so sometimes we just have to wait. 10:36 And God has a bigger plan. 10:38 And I think sometimes there's answers to prayer 10:40 that we might not even know on this earth. 10:42 Hmm. And when we get to heaven God will say: 10:45 "That's why I did that. I answered it" - 10:47 hmm - "but you couldn't see it at the time. " 10:49 So for me God has blessed in abundance. 10:53 And, you know, the miracles that have happened, 10:56 the volunteers that have come and helped us with projects, 10:59 we can't do... We haven't had the money to improve things, 11:04 but God has continually sent along people to do that. 11:08 And an example of that 11:10 is the boys house had 30 leaks in the roof. 11:14 The girls house was leaking terribly. 11:16 The ceiling tiles were all moldy. 11:19 And the electrics needed changing. We had a local 11:23 electrician come in and say: 11:26 "All the electrics have to be changed. " 11:28 And this was just after ICC Australia had closed their doors 11:32 we had a government review. Um-hmm. 11:34 And they said we had to have new wiring. 11:36 Had to bring it up to standards. 11:38 Yes... Thai standards. 11:40 And it's like: "How are we going to do that? 11:42 We don't have the money for that. We're just managing 11:44 to operate. " And then Luke Hankinson contacted 11:48 me by e-mail. This is someone in Australia? 11:51 Yes. Pastor Dennis Hankinson is his dad. 11:54 And Luke e-mailed me and he said: "Althea, 11:57 I hear you have a children's home over there 12:00 and I just want to know if you could do with an electrician 12:03 or two. Do you have any work we could do? " 12:06 There! "No! " 12:08 "Yes, please! " 12:09 What an answer to prayer! 12:11 And that's what just keeps happening. 12:13 And I have someone in Germany who paid for the girls 12:17 to have a new roof. Ladies at the church in 12:20 Gippsland in Melbourne, in Victoria. They raised money 12:23 for the roof for the boy's house. 12:25 And God just keeps blessing. 12:27 You know, Althea, I want to say someone out there 12:29 is probably listening to this and thinking 12:31 "Hmm, maybe I could do something. " 12:35 And you really need people out there to do and help you 12:38 because you're actually being very productive in what you do. 12:41 It's not just a matter of raising children and 12:43 feeding them and helping them grow. 12:45 You're actually training them, aren't you? 12:46 Life schools. At the end of the program 12:51 we will give you a chance to write down the contact details, 12:54 so have your pen and paper ready now. 12:56 And you know, it's amazing that I feel sometimes 13:00 God put me there. I'm a nurse by profession. 13:02 And it's like: "God, You put me in this position. 13:07 I'm a nurse. I have a lot of love for children 13:10 but I don't seem to have a whole lot of other skills 13:13 that would be really handy. " And God says: "That's OK... 13:16 I've got lots of people with those skills. " 13:18 Yes. "I'll just send them to you as you need them. " 13:21 Hmm. And that's what He's done. 13:23 You know, I've needed IT help. 13:24 I've needed a lot of building work done. 13:28 So many skills that we don't have. 13:31 And the building work over there is done by Thai people 13:35 and a lot of them know how to do things 13:38 but not to our standards. Um-hmm. 13:40 And not lasting. 13:43 When I have the money to make a difference 13:46 and to change something I might want to spend 13:48 a little bit more money and do a quality job 13:51 that I only have to do once. 13:52 Um-hmm. I don't want to have to revisit it in 6 months' time. 13:56 And my staff are learning... That's a good strategy! 13:59 My staff are learning that they have to ask me first. 14:02 "Can we do it this way? " 14:04 or "Do you have another suggestion? " 14:07 And I'm afraid often there's another way of doing things. 14:10 You mentioned just to us personally that 14:12 you know we go to a place and we try and "Westernize" it. 14:16 By that I mean to have running water and shower 14:20 and things. But you've discovered something different, 14:21 haven't you? A good example of that 14:24 is my last day in the hospital where I was working 14:27 I did a fund raising lunch. 14:29 And one of the things that I was raising money for 14:32 I had written them all up on the board: 14:33 one of the things was hot water for showers. 14:37 But when I went over there 14:39 and I saw these poor kids, you know? 14:41 They shower all the time with cold water. 14:44 What I realized was 14:46 that when they would need the hot water 14:48 that's the dry season. 14:50 Um-hmm. It's when we are trying to save water. 14:52 So we don't want them standing under showers 14:55 or using up the water. 14:58 And then the fact is that cold water never killed anyone 15:01 having a cold shower. And to be honest, 15:03 except for a few months the cold water is really not cold. 15:07 But I went over there and the poor kids, they had these 15:10 taps in the bathroom and they'd stand under taps. 15:13 Or they'd use a bucket to fill it up and put it over them. 15:16 So we went through and we put shower heads 15:20 on all of these taps. 15:22 And then slowly as I would walk around 15:24 over the next 6 months or so 15:26 the shower heads would be broken off 15:28 or there'd just be the shower tubing with nothing. 15:31 Now why do they break everything? 15:33 They don't like the showers. It's cold... cold water coming 15:37 out. They just like to "bucket" it over them. 15:40 So we have tried a few different things. 15:42 And now we've made a stainless steel trough 15:47 that we fill with water and we have scoops 15:50 and that's what they want to do. 15:51 They just want to scoop the water over them. 15:53 We had to do that, didn't we Rosemary? 15:55 We had to do that in a few places in Thailand and Cambodia. 15:58 But what I found was that 16:00 to have a big container of water 16:02 and to have your dipper and throw it over yourself 16:06 is a shock at first 16:08 but then it's refreshing when the weather's hot. 16:11 And even when it's not quite that hot 16:13 it's still refreshing, and so you get used to it 16:17 very quickly and find that it's actually not so bad. 16:21 But when you've gotta get into a cold shower 16:24 in goes one arm, and you try to get that arm used to the water. 16:28 And in goes the other arm or the leg or something 16:31 and slowly you have to get your body in. 16:34 And you're wasting all that water 16:36 while you're trying to get yourself acclimatized 16:39 to this hot spray... to this cold spraying water. 16:42 So having the dipper and throwing it over yourself is 16:45 a bit of a shock to start with but then you get used to it. 16:48 It's a very good example to me 16:51 of how people go to foreign countries 16:55 and we think we know what they want 16:58 and we think they should have it this way. 17:00 That's right. Whereas you need to be there a while and find out 17:03 this is the way they like it. It's like their toilets... 17:06 stand-over toilets. We need to update the bathrooms. 17:10 They really need fixing. And we really do need to do 17:12 something with the bathrooms... they're pretty terrible. 17:15 And so I asked the children: "What toilets do you like? 17:18 Do you like the ones you sit on? Or do you like the ones 17:21 you stand over? " Squat on! "Oh, don't like the ones 17:23 you sit on. They're like Mummy's toilet. " 17:26 I remember the first time I saw a squat toilet was 17:29 in Kuala Lumpur Airport. 17:32 And I walked in there and I saw this toilet 17:35 and I thought: "Do you mean I can't go to the toilet 17:39 for the next two weeks? What am I going to do? " 17:43 I thought: "I can't use one of those! " 17:46 You know, I got to the hotel and they had normal Western toilets 17:48 so I was fine. But then I act- ually found later down the track 17:52 living over there that those toilets aren't that bad. 17:54 They're pretty good, actually. 17:56 You know, it's actually probably healthier. Yes. 17:58 A healthier thing, but... Being a nurse you would know... 18:03 That's not what you sort of think about when you first 18:06 see them. They're good and you're thinking: "Oh, no! " 18:09 Terror! So Althea, what? You've got all these children. 18:14 How about your husband? How does he fit into all this? 18:16 Umm... well, he has his own ministry. Uh-huh. 18:19 He gives out Great Controversies to foreigners. 18:24 He finds that people when they're on holiday 18:26 are very accepting of listening or even going 18:29 and sitting down and having a "cuppa" and talking. 18:31 And he has a lot of good stories and he meets a lot of people. 18:35 Hmm. That's what he enjoys doing. 18:37 That sounds really good. Yeah. 18:40 So as we go now to look a little bit about what you're actually 18:44 doing there and how the children survive 18:46 and how you survive I guess 18:49 because I'm sure there are people listening out there 18:51 that would want to be involved. I really do, because 18:54 it is a very commendable work and it's something that Jesus 18:57 encouraged us... because these children: do they have parents? 19:01 No. Some of them have parents. 19:03 Um-hmm. We've got children who both parents are in jail 19:07 for 25 years. They might have one parent 19:10 and that parent's an alcoholic and a drug addict. 19:15 So if they have a parent it's not sustainable for them 19:18 to live with that parent. What would normally happen 19:20 to those children? They'd be on the streets. 19:24 Going down the same lifestyle, I presume? 19:27 They would be neglected... totally neglected. 19:29 We've got some children who were there earlier on. 19:34 They wouldn't survive if they hadn't come to us. 19:37 Very malnourished; very poor. They get into crime and things 19:40 too to try and survive? 19:42 Yes. In fact, we've got three siblings and both 19:44 parents are in jail for drugs. 19:47 The oldest boy - he's 15- he was actually born in jail 19:51 the first time his mother was in there. 19:54 And he and his sister and brother are so happy to be with us 19:59 now because he was being groomed to go down that track. 20:04 Yes. And he was being asked to carry things 20:06 and he didn't want to. So for him to be out of that scene 20:10 he's really happy and he's happy for his little brother & sister. 20:13 What's the age of the youngest one that you have there? 20:16 The youngest I have now is 6 20:18 and the oldest is almost 20. 20:20 She graduates from year 12 this year. 20:23 All of our four "kindie" chil- dren started grade 1 this year. 20:27 We don't have anyone in kindergarten. 20:29 Hmm! The first time for a very long time! 20:32 Excellent! I've got... Talking about you being a "Mummy" 20:36 as we were before, we've got one more photo of some of your 20:39 little kids. We do. I love that photo! 20:42 There you be "Mummy. " How old are those boys? 20:46 Actually the little one looking in your face looks real young. 20:49 He is five in that photo. 20:51 And you've got a dog in your hands! I know, because my dog's 20:55 just over a year old and he's a big dog now. 20:58 Really big. And I've had two dogs over there. 21:01 Rescued dogs... and they both died. 21:05 One while I was away so I don't really know what happened. 21:09 The other one: he was very sick and I had him at the vet 21:12 but he ended up passing away and I was really sad. 21:15 And we had some volunteers there and they found this little puppy 21:17 in the village and brought him for me. 21:20 Ohh. And he's the best dog. 21:22 He's a BIG dog now. 21:25 He's a good guard dog. He's very good with the children. 21:27 He's very very patient and it's been lovely for them 21:30 to have a puppy and watch him grow up. 21:33 Now Althea, one of the things I really appreciate 21:36 about what you are doing is you are not just relying on 21:39 donors to send money to sponsor children. 21:42 You are devising ways to have some 21:47 industry or something happening that you can 21:51 actually support some of the work you're doing yourself 21:55 and at the same time you're teaching the kids 21:58 resourcefulness. You're teaching them 22:00 how to do growing of vegetables. You have HUGE vegetable patch. 22:04 We do! And what do you do with veggies? 22:08 Well, all the children go to the Chang Mai Adventist Academy 22:11 next door. They can walk there to school. 22:13 They walk home for lunch. Um-hmm. 22:15 The school has over a thousand students. 22:17 A thousand students? And at least 600 boarding students. 22:21 So they are happy to buy any vegetables we will sell them. 22:25 But they don't just want 5 or 10 kilos of something. 22:28 When they want to buy it's 70 kilos of something! 22:32 That's only probably one meal, isn't it? 22:33 It is! That's one meal! That's right. 22:35 So even in the wet season which it is now - 22:39 rainy season - the greens grow so quickly. 22:42 And so we do... we grow a lot of greens for the school. 22:45 But we've also started a mushroom house. 22:48 Um-hmm. Right! And we're really happy to have 22:51 this mushroom house because it started 22:56 a new skill for the children. It just looks like a whole bunch 22:58 of bags. Well it looks like a wall - a prison wall - 23:01 or something. Someone said it looks like a whole lot of skulls 23:04 that someone has lined up there and tied the end of the bag 23:08 and just... But look! They are blooming mushrooms! 23:12 They ARE blooming mushrooms! 23:13 And you know there's a lot of technical skill 23:16 to it. You have to use alcohol on the end of a spoon - 23:20 to bathe the spoon handle - to go around the edge 23:22 and to actually break off the mushrooms. 23:24 You don't want to get bacteria in there. 23:26 Is that right? The bags are filled with 23:29 coconut fiber and sawdust and mushroom spores 23:33 and other things... I don't know. 23:35 But we've sent children and staff to a major university 23:38 to learn all about growing mushrooms. 23:41 And we used to buy those bags. We call them pods. 23:44 Um-hmm. Now we make our own. Excellent! 23:48 So the children have learned what goes into them. 23:50 How you actually make the bags and how you harvest them. 23:54 And now we're teaching the children you've gotta weigh them, 23:57 you've gotta write that down, and then sell them. 24:00 They go to the teachers, to the school. 24:02 The lady down the road: she buys them for her little shop. 24:06 So they're learning so many skills. Yes! 24:08 And not only that but learning how to do these 24:12 the vegetables or even these mushrooms 24:16 that's giving them a life skill where they have something 24:19 that they will know how to do to earn some money when they 24:21 get older. And actually to survive also. 24:24 Teach them how to grow vegetables. 24:25 And Thailand is very unique and very blessed for the opportunity 24:30 of growing multiple things. 24:31 They can live on it... they have food for their family! 24:35 These children can go into the bush 24:37 and they'll know what to eat. 24:40 You know, if we go for a walk somewhere: "Mummy, 24:42 this one you can eat. This one is good if you have 24:44 headache. This one is good for a tummy ache. " 24:47 "Don't eat this one... you die! " 24:50 You know, they've learned all these skills. 24:53 And we have life skill sessions. On Sunday afternoons we try to 24:58 make the time and we teach them weaving and sewing 25:02 and care of motorbike mechanics. 25:05 They learn crafts and music and all different things. 25:08 And when we have volunteers there with a specific skill 25:12 then we get them to teach a group of children. 25:15 So the more we can add to their skill set 25:18 it's going to be better for them later in life. 25:20 How happy the kids must be! 25:22 That's right. They love having life skills. 25:24 All different things that they're learning. 25:25 They do! They really really enjoy it. 25:27 And what other things do you do to try and 25:30 do income to teach the children different things? 25:35 What else are you doing? 25:37 OK. So we've had the children weaving. 25:40 They make bags and when I come back here 25:44 I sell the bags. The children make cards and we sell them 25:49 in our little shop that we have. Um-hmm. 25:51 And we also have a book that we've done, and I'll... 25:53 we'll talk about that a little bit later. 25:55 There are so many different fundraising things we can do 25:58 to help them as well with things that they give us 26:03 like the effort they put into the book. 26:07 When I come back here and sell some of the things 26:10 the girls have made - just little things even dolls clothes 26:14 really intricate dolls clothes - 26:16 when I say: "You know my kids made these" 26:19 people "Ah, let me have a look. I'd like to buy them. " 26:21 But the reason I want us to be more self-sustainable 26:24 is our income stopped overnight. 26:28 Yes. If there was a huge economic crash 26:32 a lot of people would stop spon- soring and a lot of our income 26:36 would stop again. We want to be in a position 26:40 where we can help ourselves more. 26:42 This is very very important. 26:44 It's very important. And you know, I have a dream 26:48 of having a food van one day. 26:50 And having good Western food for the tourists. 26:55 Just something like that. 26:56 And that would also teach the children skills 26:59 managing business. 27:02 Lots of ideas. I can't do it all myself. 27:05 There's something to do with recycling? 27:08 Oh yes there is! 27:10 We've just had a new worker start, and he knows 27:15 a lot of things about many things. 27:17 And one of them is waste management. 27:19 Now, one of our big problems over there 27:22 is our waste. There's no rubbish trucks 27:26 to come and pick it up. 27:27 There's no skips that you can order to put all your junk into. 27:31 There's no hard rubbish on the side of the road. 27:34 So we have to get rid of all of it ourselves. 27:37 And in the past they've dug huge pits. 27:40 The kids have dug them... ENORMOUS pits. 27:42 And when I first went there it's like: "This is ridiculous. 27:46 They are just throwing everything into these pits. 27:48 When they get relatively full we put a lot of dirt over the top. 27:52 and there's so much plastic in there it's terrible. " 27:55 So I made three recycling areas around our campus 28:00 just for bottles and cardboard and tin... one of them' s 28:05 tin and glass. It took a lot of effort 28:08 to actually get the children to learn 28:11 that this is what you do... this is where you put it. 28:15 But they started to learn 28:17 that when one of those bins is full 28:21 we can put it all in a sack and we can sell it. 28:23 Hmm! Now we don't get a lot for it 28:26 but we get SOMETHING For it 28:27 and it's not filling up the ground. 28:30 And now this new guy has come in, and our 28:34 area where we've been putting rubbish is full. 28:38 It's time to dig another one 28:40 and I said: "We're not going to dig another one... 28:42 we're not doing it. " You're going to recycle. 28:45 "We're going to recycle everything. " 28:46 And so this... That's daring! 28:50 This pastor... He's a 68-year- old. He was a pastor 28:55 and he's actually had donated to us - 28:58 I haven't seen it yet - donated to us something from 29:01 the army: a plant that turns... Not a plant as in something 29:06 you grow... a machinery plant that turns your waste into 29:10 cooking gas. OK. All right. 29:12 So whereas we do have compost 29:15 and we do feed food to the chickens and the ducks that we 29:19 have we're going to be using a lot of it to make 29:22 our cooking gas and everything else is going to be recycled - 29:26 hmm - and sold. 29:28 Very good. So it's a big plan. 29:31 I don't know how we're going to go with it. 29:33 I'm sure you're going to do very well. 29:37 But I think the end result is that the children will see 29:39 they don't have to dig holes for rubbish 29:41 and we don't have layers and layers of plastic. 29:44 And you know, Thailand still has a love affair with plastic. 29:48 You buy something in a plastic bag and they put it 29:51 in another plastic bag to give it to you. 29:53 And they are learning, though. 29:55 People are starting - especially tourists - 29:57 tourists are starting to say "No thank you" to the plastic bags. 30:01 It's something they are learning. 30:03 Actually we've got a photo of that pastor. 30:07 Yes. So the one with the white shirt 30:12 yes, he's the new pastor: Pastor Phanom. 30:15 And he's very good at welding and agriculture, 30:19 organic gardening. And who's the other man in the black? 30:21 This is my manager Anon. 30:24 Anon grew up as an ICC kid. 30:27 And he actually has a very interesting story. 30:30 He came to us, you see, just before he was 15- 30:34 um-hmm - and he says to me... 30:37 he said to me he was "a bad boy, 30:41 a very bad boy. " 30:43 And he has had a pretty tragic life. 30:46 He said: "God brought me here and He has changed my life. 30:50 He had a plan for me. " 30:52 And Anon has gone on and done a degree in teaching 30:56 and he is now my Thai manager. 30:59 He was teaching the "kindie" children. 31:01 We don't have any this year. 31:04 But his job was too big 31:09 and he was actually looking and talking. He talked to 31:13 five other people about coming and working for us. 31:16 Now coming and working for us: for me I think it's a really 31:19 rewarding job - um-hmm - but in Thailand it's not 31:22 rewarding financially - 31:24 um-hmm - and people want to do better. 31:26 They want to eat. That's right. They want to have a good life 31:30 with lots of money! They haven't learned 31:32 that that doesn't bring happiness yet. 31:35 And so Anon had been talking to all these people 31:38 and they were "No, no, no. " And he was quite discouraged 31:41 because his workload was too much. 31:44 He was doing too much and he wasn't coping too well. 31:47 And the children took a church service at San Sai Church 31:50 one Sabbath, and Anon was talking to this gentleman 31:53 a long time while we had lunch. 31:56 And afterwards he came to me and he said: 31:58 "You know, I talked to this pas- tor and he would be interested 32:02 in coming and working for us. " 32:04 I said: "Really? " 32:06 "Did you tell him that there wouldn't be much money? " 32:08 He said: "Yes, I told him. He would be happy to. " 32:11 He said, calls me Mummy: "Mummy, what do you think? " 32:14 I said: "Well Anon, that's really good if he wants to come, 32:17 It sounds like he is very skilled and he would be 32:20 perfect. " He's worked as a pastor, a chaplain. 32:23 He's worked in health education at Mission Hospital. 32:26 He's done a lot of things. 32:28 I said: "But Anon, we have to pay him. Where's that going to 32:30 come from? " He just looked at me. 32:33 I said: "Anon, we have to pray about it. 32:35 You know, if God has found him to work here, God will provide 32:39 the funds to pay for him. " 32:41 So we prayed about it and I e-mailed someone over here 32:44 that I know and I said: "You know, 32:46 this is what we need. We really need another worker. 32:50 We need help but we can't pay him. 32:53 Do you think you could talk to your friends and see if maybe 32:56 someone or a group of people could sponsor his wage? " 32:59 Three days later I had an e-mail: 33:01 "Help is on the way. " And someone has given the money. 33:06 They'll give money this year and next year 33:08 that will pay his wage for four years. 33:10 I know that he's supposed to be working with us. 33:14 Yes, you do. That's an important thing. 33:17 It reassures you, doesn't it? It's really reassuring. 33:20 And he's just so willing to help and he has so many... 33:23 He's got a lot of skills that he can give to the children. 33:26 And we really felt that spiritually... We're always 33:30 so busy, We have worship morning and evening with the children 33:34 but we needed to spend more time with them 33:38 and be able to do some Bible studies with some of them 33:40 and this man is a chaplain. 33:43 It's like: "That's your job! " 33:45 Yes! He's got a lot of jobs, a lot of hats to wear. 33:47 I can tell. You know, Althea, when we think about 33:51 sponsoring a child... You know, I'm sure the viewers 33:54 are wondering how much does it cost to sponsor a child 33:57 a month, for a year. Tell us a little bit about it. 34:01 $48.00 a month. How much? $48.00. 34:04 Forty-eight dollars. Yes! And what does that actually cover? 34:08 What does that cover? It covers everything. 34:11 It covers their education, their schooling, 34:13 the operations of the campus. 34:16 Forty-eight dollars for how much? A month? 34:19 A month. Are you real serious? 34:21 OK. So that probably doesn't sound enough. Is that right? 34:24 No it doesn't! OK, so this is how it works. 34:27 It actually costs $200 or thereabouts. 34:30 $200 a month per child which is $6.30 per day. 34:34 Um-hmm. But if I wanted to go and get sponsors 34:37 and I said: "You know, it's only $200 a month" 34:39 there's not many people that can pay $200 a month. 34:42 So we've broken it down so that each child actually needs 34:46 four sponsors, but a sponsor is $48 a month. 34:51 OK... I'm sure the viewers will understand that. 34:55 But it's a worthwhile project because 34:58 the pictures tell a lot of that story, don't they? 35:01 Of the children smiling and being happy 35:04 and enjoying their time growing up in this way. 35:09 So it's a very worthwhile cause. I want to encourage you 35:12 like I said, get that pen ready because you'll have an address 35:15 roll and Althea will be able to... You can probably 35:19 contact her direct and share with her what God has put on 35:23 your heart to do in this case. 35:25 So... The lovely thing about sponsors 35:27 is I've encouraged sponsors who can 35:30 to come and visit the children. So they can come and visit? 35:33 They can come and visit the children. Of course there are 35:35 criteria. We have to have a working with children card 35:38 or a police check, but we have groups of people that come 35:42 and they will do a project. They will fundraise 35:44 for a project and come and meet their child. 35:47 Or the people who come and do a project and don't sponsor 35:50 a child sometimes they leave sponsoring a child - 35:52 OK - because they fall in love with them. 35:54 But for the child... I welcome volunteers for all of them. 35:58 because it adds to their development. 36:01 They learn about the careers these people do. 36:04 I get... When people come in to volunteer 36:07 I tell them I want photos that we can put up in the chapel 36:10 and show them where they live, what sort of work they do. 36:13 Tell us all about you. 36:15 There are careers the children don't even know exist. 36:17 OK. There are careers I don't know exist. 36:20 That's right. Really we're in a fairly sheltered world 36:24 so the more I can show them... 36:26 And we've had people come, a family come, 5 yrs. in a row 36:32 to paint different pictures. OK. 36:34 And this year he painted a map of the world 36:38 in the cafeteria and it's a fun picture 36:42 of the world with animals and everything. 36:45 But I've actually had printed and put in the houses 36:47 a map of the world. The children didn't know where Australia was. 36:52 A lot of them didn't know where Thailand was. 36:54 Um-hmm. They now ALL know since we do it in worship. 36:59 In chapel I go: "What's the seven continents of the world? " 37:02 "What's the five oceans? Where is Thailand? 37:05 What countries are around it? " 37:06 And when the volunteers come we've had from Germany 37:09 and Canada and America and Australia 37:12 they know where they're from. 37:14 Little things like that. I had no idea 37:17 that they had no idea about the world. Hmm. 37:20 So it's all the educational things 37:22 that we want to teach them. There's something interesting 37:25 I saw on your website and that was how one of your students 37:32 he became a pastor - yes - when he'd grown up. 37:36 But I think he was there for a long long time. 37:40 And one thing he wanted to do was go to visit... 37:44 Well, he went to the ocean. He'd never seen so much water. 37:49 And so he wanted to take all the other children that 37:52 they could have the experience he had 37:54 in seeing the ocean for the first time or the water. 37:57 It was actually probably the Gulf of Thailand 37:59 which isn't an ocean... it's a gulf. 38:02 But to them it was something they had never seen 38:06 or really understood. 38:07 And we had the same experience in Nepal. 38:10 They only had one lake that I'm aware of in the whole country. 38:13 They do not understand the concept of the ocean. 38:17 So you actually took the children down to the water 38:22 from all the way up in Chiang Mai. 38:23 And they had a wonderful time and what a learning experience 38:27 to be able to go the water 38:30 which before that was just some concept they couldn't really 38:33 grasp. When Choompon, his name was Choompon 38:36 and he grew up there with his brothers. He's an orphan. 38:41 He has a degree in theology and a Master's in counseling. 38:44 And he gave back to us by staying and working there 38:47 for five years. And when he was leaving... 38:52 Before he had left he said to me: "One day 38:55 I would love to take these children to the beach. " 38:58 And when he told me that in 6 mos. he was going to leave 39:01 oh, I'd love to make his dream come true, you know? 39:05 He loved the beach so much 39:07 and he'd grown up with these children. 39:09 He wants them to see the beach. 39:11 So I alerted a few people over here 39:13 and we had some very generous donations 39:16 and fundraising events. 39:19 And it actually cost, and I think it was reasonable, 39:22 $100 per head to take the children on a 19 hr. bus trip. 39:28 I was told it was 12 hours by some folks. 39:31 We've both had those experiences. It became 19. 39:33 Nineteen hour bus trip... we traveled overnight. 39:36 We had 3 days at the beach and we traveled back overnight. 39:40 And we even had enough money left over 39:43 for 20 rounds on the biscuit - 39:45 you know, the floats behind the boat - 39:47 and 20 rounds on the banana. 39:49 So they had a wild time. They talk about it. 39:53 "Mummy, can we go back? Can we go back? " 39:55 They had never experienced waves. 39:57 They'd never had their feet in sand 40:01 and had the water go out. You know, how your feet - 40:04 yes - are in the sand. 40:05 They'd never seen the crabs. 40:08 You know, when you walk at sunset on the beach 40:09 all the crabs. So many firsts for them. 40:14 And to their credit, this place where we stayed 40:17 it was nothing flash. It was probably where they mostly had 40:19 school groups. And you couldn't take your own food. 40:23 You had to have the food they supplied. 40:25 There was one little scoop of rice with some 40:28 fish and vegetables or chicken and vegetables. 40:31 And that was their meal. 40:33 My children ate a lot more than that. 40:36 They have piles of rice. 40:38 You know, no one complained. 40:41 And even on the bus 19 hours it was only the last hour 40:45 "Are we there yet? " when we decided it was getting a bit... 40:48 "How much longer, Mummy? " 40:50 It's such an experience and it's an education. 40:55 When people talk about the seaside, the beach, 40:58 sunset on the beach... walking in the sand 41:00 now they understand. Even... I've got the poster up 41:03 Footprints in the Sand. 41:04 They understand... they can relate to it. 41:07 And they have to learn about life. 41:10 I don't want them just to leave one day and not know anything 41:13 about life. They need to know about the world 41:15 outside - that's right. So I do... I do like to 41:20 have donations to take them out. 41:22 You know, when people say "What do you want to do? " 41:25 "Can I give something to treat the children? " 41:27 It's like: well transport. You know we need four vehicles 41:30 to take them out. Just to be able to take them somewhere 41:33 different. Take them to a museum; 41:35 take them to the art gallery. 41:36 They've never been to those places. 41:39 We'd have a waterfall if they're free. 41:41 Yes, yes... that's right. 41:43 One of the other things that you have done 41:45 over there not too long ago - 41:47 just recently - was you had to do some renovations. 41:53 There were things that HAD to be done in the office, etc. 41:57 And we've got a couple of photos just to show people. 41:59 This is a back room 42:02 where you said everything just got dumped. 42:05 Yes, this room... Actually we'd already taken a lot of 42:08 things out of this room. This is a room 42:10 right at the back of the office. 42:11 So you can walk through the office into this back room. 42:15 And it was just full of junk... 23 years of junk 42:18 and cobwebs and lice. We have jumping lice out there. Ooh! 42:23 How horrible! It was an awful room. 42:26 And if we ever had to go and look for anything 42:28 it was like... Nobody wanted to go, did they? 42:30 No one wanted to go there. 42:32 But we had some wonderful build- ers come from Langaster church. 42:35 And I haven't got the photos here, but they... 42:38 they gave our office a total new look. 42:41 And my manager, when he walks inside now 42:43 he goes: "Oh, Mummy! 42:45 I used to dream about having a nice office 42:48 and now we have it! " 42:50 And to me it's a miracle that these three builders 42:53 and an electrician all came over - 42:55 two electricians - all came over and worked for us. 42:59 And the amazing thing is 43:01 that when these people came 43:04 I had groups ringing me and booking in for times to come 43:08 and do a project. 43:10 And I said: "Yes, we'll have this and we'll have that. " 43:12 But I didn't really understand the skill sets 43:15 that I was getting them to do or the projects... 43:19 And only God orchestrated it because the builders 43:23 came and did the building work. 43:25 Yes. The next group of people that came 43:28 they did the tiling and the painting. 43:31 Then the next group of people came did the artistry work. 43:34 And then another group of people came and did 43:37 some finishing off outside. 43:38 And it was all in the right sequence. 43:41 Um-hmm. To the point that on one occasion 43:45 I dropped one group off at the airport 43:48 and as I left them my phone rang 43:52 and the next group had just arrived and were waiting 43:55 at a point. I did a drive around 43:56 to pick up the next group. It was like... 43:58 God is good! They're coming from Australia 44:01 and I couldn't have orchestrated that myself. No. 44:04 And it's not like the airport is necessarily close by. 44:06 No... it's a hour's drive away. Yes. 44:09 So the photo you had was this awful looking room. 44:12 And the builders came, and we had one man there 44:16 named Jayden Love. And he in the end 44:19 said: "I can only look at this room piece by piece. " 44:22 "I can't look at everything. " 44:24 And he started taking everything out, working out 44:27 was it junk, was it recyclable. Could we use it somewhere? 44:31 Where would we put it? 44:32 And in the end we have a beautiful room. 44:36 And let's look. Look at that! 44:37 And last night on video 44:39 I saw a sofa down the end and a table for a board meeting. 44:43 And we've got some cupboards going in there. 44:46 This will be a room used for staff meetings, 44:49 staff worship in the morning, 44:50 staff meetings, board meetings, 44:52 when government officials come, 44:54 when relatives come to talk about children. 44:56 We've got a nice room! 44:58 Somewhere nice to take them. 45:00 Instead of some place where lice are jumping. 45:03 To me it's a miracle room. 45:04 I just look at it and you know what? 45:06 I actually took a sermon and I likened that room 45:09 to our lives. Before Jesus comes into our lives 45:12 we're a mess. Full of junk! We're full of junk. 45:15 And Jesus comes in and He makes us as white as snow! 45:18 And then He starts to fill us with Himself. 45:21 With the couch; with the table; with the things that are good. 45:24 Beautiful! Useful. 45:26 In His eyes we're beautiful. 45:27 So do you need more buildings out there, Althea? 45:29 We do need more buildings. 45:31 What sort of buildings are we talking about? 45:33 Dormitories or sleeping rooms or what is it? 45:37 We need a computer room. 45:38 OK. We've actually got someone who wants to help 45:41 set us up with computer education for the children. 45:47 My children are not doing so well at school 45:49 with computers. We don't have enough access to them. 45:52 We don't have the right software. 45:56 You know, we need to protect them on the computers. 45:58 But they have to learn. It's a technology-driven world. 46:01 Hmm. Hmm. We also want to supply 46:04 the children... We have some really smart children. 46:07 They need extended education. 46:09 Some of my young children when they've got no homework... 46:13 We hand homework to them every night. 46:14 so when they don't have any homework 46:16 I'd love for them to have some sort of English program 46:20 where it's a learning program or a math program. 46:23 You know, they have games. 46:25 It's almost like a game but you're actually learning. 46:27 Um-hmm. And there's so much more that we could do 46:31 but we need to have a room set up with computers. 46:35 So how much land is associated with your property? 46:38 Is there room for expanding and building and development? 46:40 There's room. Yes, we have room. Yeah. 46:42 We've got about 10 acres. 46:46 Well that's a sizeable bit of land. With all the gardens, yes. 46:50 So I was just talking to Jayden Love. He's still over there 46:54 and he said: "You know what? They're going to be using 46:56 this space for the waste management thing. " 47:00 He said: "Now we're taking this out of this shed 47:03 and that out of that shed. You need another big shed 47:05 for all these other machines. 47:06 There's another thing you're going to have to be building 47:08 soon and you've got the computer room and... " 47:10 And later this year we're starting to build a duplex 47:14 for the two men: Anon and the pastor. 47:18 So they've got their own place. They're both living in a room. 47:20 You know, Anon is 32 years old. He's going to want to get 47:23 married soon. He doesn't just want to be in one room. 47:26 So we've been making our own blocks out of dirt and sand 47:30 and cement. We've got a block maker. Um-hmm. 47:32 And we've got over 7,000 blocks 47:35 and we have a group from Brisbane coming to start 47:38 that process. That's excellent! 47:40 Very blessed. You were talking before about 47:44 the family that would come and do painting and things. 47:47 Yes. And they did the map of the world. 47:49 Now we've got a photo of one of the things 47:52 I presume that they painted. Yes they did! 47:54 And it says: "I was hungry and you gave me food. " 48:00 And this is on the wall of the cafeteria. 48:02 Hmm. So that's a really beautiful reminder 48:06 of what the orphanage is doing and what God does for us. 48:12 That's right. And Andy Collis, he was 48:15 head of the art department at Avondale College for 20 years. 48:18 So it's he and his family that come out. 48:21 They painted the tree house that my husband built 48:24 along with Kempsey School. 48:25 They painted... We looked at that last time they came. 48:28 They painted the kindergarten room which is beautiful 48:31 that we still use as a homework room so it's still used. 48:35 They painted the sign last year. 48:38 The Kirsten Jade Rescue Centre sign 48:40 and artwork in the girls' dormitory. They've done a lot of 48:44 different things, and this year it was the cafeteria. 48:47 Hmm. And so the family that came before them 48:50 painted all the walls of the cafeteria 48:53 so by the time that they came it was a clean canvas ready to go. 48:56 Very very special. I bet ya the kids like when Mr. Colkes 48:59 comes and does his special art work. 49:02 They love it, and they love watching it grow. 49:04 Yes. I especially liked the tree house with the animals 49:08 and things in amongst the branches and all that. 49:11 It would have been fantastic to watch. 49:13 And it's lovely that they get to experience 49:17 something beautiful in their home, and it's made every... 49:20 You know, the art work has made it so much more colorful. 49:22 Hmm. When I first went there I found it very bland. 49:27 And I think I mentioned the last time I talked with you 49:32 when I left the hospital - I had that fundraising lunch 49:35 on the last day - one of the anesthetists wrote me a check 49:39 for $10,000. 49:41 And he said: "This won't make any difference 49:44 in my life but I hope it makes a difference in the life 49:47 of your children. " That money started us off with so many 49:48 That money started us off with so many improvements 49:52 that needed to be made. 49:54 Things like clean drinking water. 49:57 And now we've got a filtered drinking fountain now 49:59 and it's cold. Nice cold water that they can drink. 50:02 It's really refreshing in a really hot climate - 50:05 that's right - to have some cold water. 50:07 But I thank God for that because I just imagine if I'd 50:10 gone there with no money and seen all these things 50:14 that needed to happen and no money. 50:17 So God provided it. He always provides the essentials 50:20 and then He also provides some of the wants. 50:23 Yes. Which is really lovely. 50:26 My niece in England... she's been there once 50:30 and she's coming back with her mom and dad and sister 50:32 in October. She's 10! 50:34 She did a project all about the children's home 50:39 and she made cookies and sold them to raise money 50:43 for the children to have bicycles. 50:46 Now there were some very generous people I believe 50:49 who paid 50 pounds for a cookie. 50:51 Oh no! But she raised I think it was 1,650 pounds 50:57 for bicycles. So that means I have two children's villages 51:01 and a refugee camp... they're going to get new bicycles. 51:05 My children are going to get new bicycles. 51:07 And we're going to make a concrete bicycle path 51:10 so there's somewhere they can ride them in the rainy season. 51:13 But even little people can do something to make a difference. 51:17 Certainly. That's a fantastic testimony! 51:19 That really is. And you know, there may be other children 51:22 out there that are looking thinking: "Well, you know it is 51:25 more blessed to give than to receive. " Isn't that true? 51:27 It is, because I know volunteers come to give - 51:30 um-hmm - and they take away more than they gave because 51:33 they just get such a blessing from being around the children. 51:36 Hmm. That's right. 51:38 We've got a picture I just want to look at 51:41 about a couple of girls. Now 51:44 just tell me the significance of this picture. 51:46 I took this picture because I think it highlights 51:50 what we don't need that we think we need. 51:54 These kids were having a picnic and we needed a table. 51:58 We haven't got any picnic blankets or anything. 52:01 And it's like: "Mummy, no problem, no problem. " 52:04 They just pick the banana fronds and they sit on them. 52:07 And that was our tablecloth. And they just looked at me 52:10 and said: "See? " It looks really good. 52:13 It looks really good and oh, we have to have all these things. 52:17 Maybe we don't have banana trees the same over here. 52:19 But it was just the simplicity of it 52:22 and I just thought that was so beautiful. 52:24 Hmm. It just shows you don't have to have all 52:28 the trappings. You can use something very simple from 52:30 nature and it can do just the same job. 52:34 That's right... that's right. 52:35 Well we're going to go to that address roll that we mentioned 52:38 before, and so have your pen and paper in your hand. 52:41 And these are the details to contact Althea: 52:50 If you would like to contact Althea 52:52 to find out more about Kirsten Jade Rescue Centre, 52:54 or send a tax-deductible donation 52:57 please write to her at: 53:42 Contact her today. 53:46 This is a well-worth cause, and if you didn't have those 53:51 details or didn't get enough time to write them down 53:53 contact us at 3abnaustralia and we'd like to share with you. 53:56 We're talking with Althea Mason. She's the administrator 53:59 of Adventist Rescued Children's Care in Thailand 54:02 in Chiang Mai. Is that right? 54:04 Just outside of Chiang Mai. A. Mae Taeng 54:07 A. Mae Taeng - yes - where Chiang Mai Academy is. 54:10 Yeah, so now you told us 54:13 the way you were raising money. 54:17 And there are a lot of projects you are involved with 54:18 because you mentioned a few. 54:20 But there's one fairly recent one that people can get 54:23 involved in. Just tell us a little bit about the book 54:25 we spoke of earlier on. 54:26 Absolutely. We had a lady Janina from Germany. 54:30 and she wanted to do a book project with the children. 54:33 And so she came over and they chose the Bible story 54:37 that they wanted the book to be about. 54:39 And they chose the story of Jonah. 54:42 Um-hmm. And then they were given texts to read. 54:46 She put the children into groups. 54:49 and - the older children - and gave them the texts 54:53 that they had to read and re-write in their own words. 54:56 OK. So the book is written 55:00 by the children. Every picture is drawn 55:03 by the children and next to the picture it's got the name 55:06 and the age of the child. 55:08 And some of them are very very good. 55:11 One of my older boys and his friend 55:13 wrote a Jonah song, and the music is in the book. 55:17 OK. And if you go to our website 55:20 and look under Jonah you can see the children singing the song. 55:24 But this book... But it's in Thai? 55:27 The song's in Thai but in the book it's written in English. 55:31 There's a picture of the cover of the book. 55:33 And the kids have drawn those pictures? Yes! 55:35 Excellent! That looks like a mean and angry fish. 55:40 There are some very very good pictures in the book. 55:44 The song is a fantastic song and it talks about 55:47 we can't run away from God. 55:49 That He will always find us 55:51 and He has a purpose for us. 55:54 And you know Jonah's time... "For such a time as this. " 55:57 God wanted him right there in Nineveh to give a message. 56:01 Yes. And this book... you can buy it. 56:04 That's right. So if you buy one of these books 56:07 or buy one for your grand- children or your children. 56:10 Part of that money goes to you out there 56:13 in your center there. That's right. 56:16 So it's available in the ABC shop in Cooranbong. 56:20 The Adventist Book Center. 56:22 Sorry. Adventist Book Center in Cooranbong 56:24 and the Adventist Book Center in Brisbane and in Melbourne. 56:29 And I haven't got it into Sydney yet. 56:33 I haven't been able to visit them. 56:34 But it's also on our website. 56:39 How many languages? How many languages is it? 56:41 It's a very special book. OK. 56:44 It's the only book that you can buy 56:46 that is written in German, English, and Thai. 56:50 So it's tri-lingual? That's excellent, you know? 56:53 You know, Althea, it's really good to have you on the program. 56:56 I know you're a lady with a passion for 56:59 taking care of children. It just flows, oozes from you. 57:02 And you can see the children, being happy. 57:05 The fact that they call you "Mummy" 57:07 is a really significant thing because you're acting like 57:10 a mother to them and that's very special. 57:13 You know, I just want the viewers to realize 57:16 there's an opportunity to help these children. 57:18 You know, Jesus really wants us to take care of 57:21 our children and to bring them up in love 57:24 and be caring and be responsible. 57:27 And this is a way that you can actually do it 57:29 and help you do that. It's really great! 57:31 Make a difference in someone's life. 57:33 That's it. That's what it's all about. 57:35 So I want to thank you for coming on the program. 57:38 And I KNOW you ARE making a difference. 57:39 And we'd like you to make a difference. 57:41 So contact Althea. May God bless you till next time. |
Revised 2020-11-04