NLV has remitted the money that you so generously contributed to relief the plight of some 600 villagers. When making the appeal, we didn’t expect to receive many responses. But what a blessing it has been to receive your emails, your SMSes, and to witness the generosity of your spirit. We am humbled that God allowed us to be used as an instrument of His grace.

When we did not think it was possible, He amazed us by bringing about an abundant return – and we were able to raise MORE THAN what we had hoped for, MORE THAN what was requested.

We thank you all and bless you all for the bigness of your heart!

“But my God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.

NLV provided a love gift to Vineyard Indonesia during Yusak’s recent visit, and we are thrilled to hear from him that that it went toward 200 food packs that were distributed to 4 villages in Boyolali, situated near the Gunung Merapi.

Fred Thomas, from the Inland Vineyard Christian Fellowship in California, who visited NLV in November,
is seen below helping with the distribution.

Some members of NLV went to Chiangmai earlier this year to visit the student hostel, called Faith Garden that we helped set up. We’ve been going regularly there now for about 3 years, since we have started this mercy works together with a lovely Thai-Christian couple, to enable youths aged from 13 – 18 to have a place to stay while they study secondary school in Chiangmai City.

These children are from the hill tribes (Hmong or Karen people amongst others) and come from the mountainous areas in Northern Thailand. Faith Garden was set up for these kids to have a place to stay while in the city, to keep them from mixing with potentially bad company. At the same time, they worship the Lord every night, play with each other, study with one another and most importantly, they still have a sense of family and bonding while they are away from their home. This is what we experience every time we visited and stayed with them.

On this same trip, a visit was made to the Thai-Burma Refugee Camp to see where many of these kids came from. From the account we received, it was an eye-opening experience. The camp is vast, accommodating some 160,000 people, and a sense of claustrophobia can grip you, arising from seeing that many people confined in a small strip of land. You will also be affected by their shared hope of one day being able to return home and immensely touched by their strength in making the arduous journey to this camp from Burma. The camp has been around for so many years, that some of the teenagers you meet will have been born and raised in the camp, and have never set foot out of it. But they are grateful, because at least they are safe. In this way, the news headlines that one often quickly dismisses become real flesh and blood.

If you wish to read more news on the plight of the Burmese people, click here and here. There are many more articles.

During this trip, contact was made with a committed Christian Karen, who having made the journey out from Burma himself, he feels deeply for those Karen people who are still in Burma. We learnt from him recently, that he had been back to his father’s village, earlier this year, to distribute warm clothes, blankets and mosquito nets. In the process, he came across two nearby villages, which together have a population of 600 people.

The area the villagers are in faces a problem with malaria. The villagers cannot afford to meet needs, like mosquito nets, blankets and clothes. They struggle to get food to eat. The area also has the problem of land mines.

The villagers have asked for help. Some of the needs are for: (a) 600 blankets; (b) 600 mosquito nets; and (c) 600 sweaters.

Initially, we were a little bit overwhelmed by their needs, which amount to several thousand dollars. But we have decided to take up this cause, and share about this need to people we know personally. We rest in the assurance of the bigness of our Lord – that He is the ultimate provider of all needs.

We are glad for the prompting to give in regard to the recent flood disaster in Pakistan. NLV contributed $200, while on the spot collection was $120. We decided to channel the $320 through Mercy Relief.

Faith Garden Hostel, the name of the hostel in Chiangmai that we are serving currently has 18 children. Almost all of the families of the students currently cared for by our partners cannot afford the full expense of school fees, related expenses of living away from their village. Their families contribute what they can by way of cash and produce like rice. The couple supplements this with sundry income from weaving, and growing food in their garden.

We have a report from a visit to our partners in February, that on average, monthly overall expenses for the Faith Garden Hostel in past year was about S$2000. After deducting receipts from the students and the sundry income earned by the couple, the shortfall per month was about S$1,100 per month in the initial months. For the last 4 months, however, the shortfall per month has dropped as the student’s parents were able to increase their contribution, and the foreseeable cash shortfall now stands at about S$600 per month.

Sponsorship
A sponsorship program has been requested by our partners that will support and enable them to continue the good work they are doing with the Karen students. Our partners hope that each sponsor will commit to give an amount equivalent to one month’s cash shortfall needed to run the Faith Garden Hostel, or S$600.

The sponsorship program allows concerned parties to give according to their preference. A sponsor can elect and indicate in the sponsorship form to give S$600 in a lump sum or in installments over a one-year period or less. (For instance, you may decide to give S$50/month for a year, S$300 upfront and S$300 six months later, or the full S$600 upfront.)

A sponsor may also elect to give toward the direct sponsorship of a student. Alternatively, a sponsor may choose to give toward the overall running of the hostel. In both cases, sponsorship monies will all go to our local partners to pay for the maintenance of the hostel/school fees and expenses for the students. In the event you choose to give toward the direct sponsorship of a student, our partners will “match” a specific student to the sponsor, and provide the name and photo of the student to the sponsor. To the extent possible, subject to practical limitations, our partners will facilitate the provision of information regarding the student to the sponsor for the latter to know the student’s general progress and development. In either case, you will receive an acknowledgement of your sponsorship from our partners.