Thailand flood toll tops 600

Baan Sang Khom Childcare Center

Thailand (MNN) ― Thailand is still experiencing flooding in the Bangkok area. The death toll tops 600, and damages are estimated around $10 billion dollars.

According to government reports, 18 provinces are still underwater, including the capital: Bangkok. Waters are receding in 46 other provinces. However, early indicators are that more than 13 million people (or one in five Thais) have been affected.

Tens of thousands of businesses were damaged, putting over a million of employees at the risk of losing their jobs. Nearly a quarter of the crops were also waterlogged.   

AMG Thailand last week reported that they had escaped the high waters. But workers say the Baan Sang Khom Childcare Center has since been flooded. The project is in the middle of the slum. Center director Pramwadee says both the center and the church are located near the sea, so the height of the flooding is determined by sea level.

Unfortunately, that means the streets around the church areas--including the neighboring communities and many of the children's home--are flooded. 

In the wake of evacuation, parents in the area have sent their children to family in less flood-prone areas, especially since the government announced the schools in the flooded areas will remain closed until the waters recede and the land dries out.

AMG has a sponsorship program for 25-30 children at the center where the children get a meal and homework support. On weekends, there is Bible teaching and singing. All the parents are invited on special occasions such as Christmas. Right now, things have been disrupted in the scatter.

To help flood victims, AMG put together survivor packs including rice, noodles, canned fish, oil, fish sauce, tissue, and snacks, which are delivered by local church members.

Pray that many hearts will be softened, and that many people will learn to trust God. Pray too that the ministry will resume soon.

Thailand floods could last into new year

AMG Thailand getting relief
 supplies ready.

Thailand (MNN) ― While the floodwaters in Thailand are finally receding, the Prime Minister warns that the high water may last until next year.

Government reports indicate that the death toll of Thailand's worst flooding in at least five decades was 564. People are slowly coming back after a mandatory evacuation hit 1/3 of Bangkok's districts. The rains put 700,000 people out of work and caused billions in damage.

Thailand has seen about 3.8 million acres of farmland inundated, forcing the government to cut its estimate for this year's main crop by 24%. This week, the United States announced a $10 million aid package to help get the country back on its feet.

The disaster has hit many ministries in the region. AMG Thailandhas two childcare centers in central Thailand: Living Stream and Bright Home. While both stayed dry, survivors in the community need food, medicine, rain boots or similar shoes to protect their feet, and small flat-bottom boats for transportation.

AMG's missionary in Chiang Mai, Ron Hamme, says, "As for our child-care centers in Nan and Museekee (northern Thailand), they are NOT flooded. Earlier flooding in Nan did wipe out the electricity to Camp Joy and the Joy Youth Development Center for about two months, but they are again with power. "

AMG National Director in Thailand, Chowkee Zaw Min, lives in Bangkok and reports: "By the Grace of God, [at] this time, the office, our homes, and all of the AMG childcare centers ARE SAFE. However, the only childcare center in Bangkok (most of the AMG childcare centers in Thailand are in the mountains or highlands in Northern Thailand),  Baan Sang Khom (with 35 AMG-sponsored children), will probably be affected because it is near the sea."

Chowke has been in constant communication with the Baan Sang Khom project director. The ministry not only sent funds but also made plans for evacuation, temporary housing, and emergency supplies for the families." The team also bought several small boats for the center, so people can move around and get help from the government and others that are providing relief. 

The Thailand flooding provided yet another opportunity for AMG to share the compassion of Christ by meeting physical as well as spiritual needs in areas where AMG had already been working for years.

AMG is asking for funding help in order to continue to respond to these needs and to show the love of Christ to people who need recovery assistance.

Uganda has highest school drop-out rate in East Africa

Uganda (MNN) ― A report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) shows that Uganda has the highest school drop-out rate for females in East Africa.

The rate shoots up to claim roughly half the class before the girls finish primary school. The reasons are many: lack of interest, pregnancy, early marriages, hidden costs at school, and family responsibilities have driven thousands out of school.

The future for a girl who doesn't finish school is grim.

The Ugandan Education System won't allow a girl who drops out in primary school to return. Boys can come back and continue, but for a girl, once she leaves, she has missed her opportunity for an education. As a result, sexual exploitation and abuse is the most common scenario, but sometimes it includes far worse.

The "what" factor is keeping the girls in school. It's the "how" that gets complicated with limited resources. Although AMG International has sponsorship programs, Child Development Centers, and many other programs geared for the children in Uganda, there was something missing in the family structure itself. Florence Musiime established a ministry to teenage girls called the Dorcas Ministry, an AMG mentoring program.

Why "Dorcas?" Musiime explains, "In Acts 9:36, there was a lady who was called Dorcas. She had a ministry for orphans and widows, and that's how I came to the name: to be there for the girls."

AMG's Stephanie Pickard works with the child sponsorship program.  She explains that the vision grew from the seed of hope and the $10 that started it.  "They started with the ladies, the teachers, and got the teachers together and were able to help counsel the girls, help keep them in school and provide for some of their basic needs."

However, at-risk teenage girls need more than just a program. They need a friend. Pickard says, "This ministry is helping bridge that gap between not having a mother figure in their lives to being able to raise them up in the power and the knowledge of Christ."

Every girl aged 13 or older who is enrolled in an AMG CDC or sponsorship program is a part of the Dorcas Ministry. Every female staff member is, too. "There are approximately 430 girls in the program. It's even extended to their mothers and their grandmothers," Pickard notes. "The program specifically has extended to a discipleship program. It isn't simply providing for their physical needs, but also there's an emphasis on their spiritual growth and questions they have as they grow into women."

As the girls age out of secondary school sponsorship, there are still questions about their future. Some take on vocational training; others become mothers. There are a select few who have more opportunities.  Pickard explains, "The Dorcas ministry is actually sponsoring two girls who have qualified for university. Through their own faith and their own initiative, they're putting them through school. In the future, a lot more girls will be look for that opportunity."

Many times, sponsored students who graduate from college also return to the organization that helped them achieve their potential.
  
Most importantly, Pickard shares, "The girls have gained self-confidence. They've learned how they're supposed to grow up, that they have worth and value in God's eyes. That confidence brings them to a point that they're able to stay pure in their relationship with Christ."

Scripture notes Dorcas as a disciple of God. She is not only seen as a compassionate woman, but also as an evangelist.

Like its namesake, the Dorcas Ministry shares the love of Christ with more than 500 girls who are part of this AMG outreach. Because of its rapid growth, there are financial challenges. Click here for more ways you can help.

Funding issues threaten a ministry's answer to malaria in Uganda

Hope Medical Center patient (Photo
 courtesy AMG Uganda)

Uganda (MNN) ― Uganda has the third-highest number of deaths from malaria in Africa. The disease kills more children in the country than HIV/AIDS or war, according to reports from the Uganda Ministry of Health.

  

It is also a country where one person out of every two lives in severe poverty. One out of every four suffers from severe malnutrition. Combined with a poor infrastructure and immense rural poverty, getting help once infected has been very difficult. Due to the growing demand for medical services, AMG Uganda launched the Bethany Medical Center in Igamba and the Hope Medical Center in Bugongi.

AIDS and malaria plague the residents of Igamba and Iganga, including children who are part of the AMG childcare program in Igamba. The Bethany Center is the only medical facility in the area where the poor can receive treatment. It has been gratefully accepted by the community, which allows it also to be a lighthouse for giving out the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In Bugongi, the Hope Medical Center provides midwife services and maternity care--the only medical care available for miles around. Since both clinics are staffed and resourced, they provide more than the government clinics. In fact, Bethany took a recent donation of medical equipment this month which will help the team respond to even more needs.

  

However, both facilities operate at a loss of about $350 USD a month. It's clear that closing them is not an option with people's lives at stake, but operating at a deficit drains the resources of other work in the country. For AMG Uganda, the clinics are an integral part of demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ to the communities by providing education, medical care, and spiritual development.

This need is becoming more urgent as the bite of food shortages takes hold in the Horn of Africa. AMG is asking for financial help through outright gifts or through the sponsorship of one of the 270 children being served. Click here for details.