My name is Faa Sumitra Choemue. I was born in a small village on the northern mountains of Thailand. When I lived there as a little girl, there were no hospitals, electricity or running water. I am from the Akha tribe, an ethnic minority in Thailand and I am the youngest of 12 children. Five of my siblings passed away before I was born.Because my family was very poor, soon after my mother died I was sent to a Christian Children Home in Chiang Rai. My father had become abusive and beat me repeatedly. I had to flee my home. At the Christian Home I learned about Christ for the first time and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I was 15. I have great memories of that Home. It was there that I memorized my first Bible verses in Thai and to this day I still consider the Christian Children Home as “my home.”
Because I graduated from school, I had to leave the Christian Home. I had no money and no place to go, but I had one main goal in mind – I wanted to go to college. I was so determined and God placed people along the way who helped me. I worked hard and by God's Grace I got a Bachelors degree in Business Marketing from The Far Eastern University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I was the first and only from my family to ever graduate from the University.
During my college years, I heard a lot about street children who are victims of the sex trade industry in Thailand. I felt like I needed to do something to help them. I began to spend time with these children and every time I did that I cried and cried. I couldn’t stop crying even when my eyes were open. My heart was broken for them because their story was very much like my story. I started asking God to help me to know how I could help. I wanted so much for them to stay in a safe place. I couldn’t stop thinking about this. I thought that eventually I was going to do be able to do something to help the children.
Then something happened that convinced me that my time had come. One day I went to one of the worst neighborhoods in Chiang Mai to meet children. While there, I met a little, homeless orphan who was forced to work selling flowers to tourists at the street corners. He was six years old, very small and thin, no shorts, only a long dirty t-shirt on. His body bore the markings of many beatings from bamboo sticks. He was truly a modern-day slave. I looked at him and thought he was only three. Because he spoke my language, he opened his heart to me and with many tears told me how much he wanted to go to school but was not able to because of his miserable situation.
From that time on I prayed more earnestly and asked God to help me learn whatever I could to be able to help the street children. And God did answer my prayer! By God’s grace, even though I had little money to support myself and my family on the mountains, I was able to support four children while I was in college. (Today, this boy lives in a Christian Home and he loves the Lord!).
While working with street children, my heart was broken for them and I saw the need to provide them with a safe place to live, a home where I could take care of them and invest my life in their lives as a normal family would do. I prayed that God would let me start a home for some Akha children who were at risk. I wanted to start with Akha children because I am familiar with their language and culture and can relate to their story.
God answered my prayers and gave me and my sister our first two children. I felt that God was confirming my calling to provide help and support for these children, as well as a safe place for them to learn, grow, and be introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ. Though I am still far from realizing my dream, I keep jumping out and trusting God to provide. It is very difficult to help the children without any kind of support from anywhere and that’s why I am asking my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world to help me reach these children with the love of God.
My sister and I, by faith and trust in God alone, started a home in Chiang Mai with the specific purpose of rescuing children and youth who are at risk. We now have 3 girls and 2 boys living with us. I would like to have separate homes for girls and boys and my goal is to convert our first home into a home for girls, ages 5 to 9, right away. I would like for the children to know about Christ like I do and I would like to see them become good Christian leaders and be able to help others when they get older.
In order to do that, I need your help. You can help us by praying and also by giving financially to this ministry. While we are in the process of incorporating G.R.O.W. in the U.S., you can start contributing right away. It takes resources to combat the evils that child prostitution has wrought in my country, but I believe that God’s people are already rising to the occasion and making a difference. Checks can be made out to G.R.O.W. and mailed to P.O. Box 1862. Wooster, OH 44691.
Thank you for your interest in the ministry of G.R.O.W. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. Please know that my commitment to this ministry has roots that go deep inside my soul. Even if everything around me changes, I want you to know that my dream about helping these children will never die. As God enables me, I will do everything within my power to help these children find hope in Christ and hope for the future.
Should you have any questions, please call Pastor Ivanildo at 330-466-8055 or e-mail him at itrindade@woostergrace.org.
Thank you!
Your sister in Christ,
Faa Sumitra Choemue
sumitrafaa@gmail.com
P.O. Box 1862. Wooster, OH 44691
P.O. 254 Muang Chiang Mai 50000, Thailand
No comments:
Post a Comment