The Nativity, by The Children of Hot Springs

Everyone says...

สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส!

"Sooksan wan Christmas!"

Merry Christmas!

With joy we send greetings to celebrate the wondrous story of the Incarnation.  

God with us!

I write these words following yet another round of tragic news globally.  Another religiously targeted attack, this time on a beach in Australia.  Another school shooting in the US.  Resurging border skirmishes between Thailand and Cambodia.  And wars with no end as fragile ceasefires seem unable to hold back the hate. 

 

Puts me in mind of the carol set to words written by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Johnny Reid)   In the third verse there is a similar lament that is perhaps on the hearts of many this season.

And in despair I bowed my head

"There is no peace on earth," I said

For hate is strong, and mocks the song of

Peace on Earth, good will to men."

And if we stopped there, we'd have to agree.  We might shrink back and lower our gaze to the mess.  But I like what television personality and outspoken Catholic Christian Steven Colbert has to say about this.  "Everyone has the obligation to push back on the temptation to despair"  (emphasis added).

Longfellow likewise.  He ends the poem-turned-carol with words that lift us up and out to focus on a hope bigger than ourselves.

Then peeled the bells more loud and deep

"God is not dead nor doth He sleep

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

With peace on Earth, good will to men!"

The irony is not lost on me.  The very fact that each of you, in some way, have participated in bringing the peace of God to bear against the despair of poverty- vulnerable children is indeed an enormous part of putting these words into measurable action.  The wrong is indeed failing in the lives of our kids who now have a chance to rise above what would otherwise have mocked their possibilities.  

And for this we earnestly pray for God's prevailing blessing on your own lives, whatever it is that may be tempting you to despair right now.  May you experience a Christmas season full of kindness, grace, redemption, and peace, and a New Year that rings out loud and deep with hope.

Gratefully, and always, glad to partner with you.

Ruth Anne

Click here for a full video of the Hot Springs Christmas Pageant.

Rev. Ruth Anne Breithaupt, MDiv.

Canadian Representative/Missionary in Residence

New Family Foundation/Highview Community Church

The mission of New Family Foundation is to

provide a loving home for at-risk and 

orphaned children in Northern Thailand to

help them achieve their best potential in 

education, vocation and service to society.

New Family Foundation

                                            

     https://www.hcckw.ca                                                                    https://www.adventive.ca

 

Mini Christmas Market

Clearance Sale

Sundays, December 14 and 21

at 

Highview Community Church

295 Highview Drive KIT ON N2N 2K7

(following morning service)

Coffee...Pashminas....Bags and Purses

plus much more

all priced to go

(making room for new stock to be brought back to Canada in the New Year)

Also

Gift Certificates

$20.00

donations towards School Fees.

Makes a great stocking stuffer for those who appreciate 

the meaning of gifts like this.

All proceeds towards general operations of New Family Foundation.

Interact available.

 

Rev. Ruth Anne Breithaupt, MDiv.

Canadian Representative/Missionary in Residence

New Family Foundation/Highview Community Church

The mission of New Family Foundation is to

provide a loving home for at-risk and 

orphaned children in Northern Thailand to

help them achieve their best potential in 

education, vocation and service to society.

New Family Foundation

                                            

     https://www.hcckw.ca                                                                    https://www.adventive.ca

The Why of It - Moving Forward on Property Development

Anyone who's visited Hot Springs will tell you it's a place of beauty.

Gardens are generous.  

Sunrises mystical.  

Flowers exuberant.  

We have goats and chickens too.

We even have peacocks now!  Not our own exactly, just a sauntering little flock of four wild birds that grace us with their stunning display as they calmly forage on the grounds.

Our little space is nestled away from the road where it's relatively quiet. There's a decent outdoor kitchen and eating space.  A large meeting room.  Kids can play and grow, safe and happy.

So why move?

We are currently situated on un-deeded land which is not technically in compliance with Thai law regarding children’s welfare homes.  This is the land where the Korean Methodist denomination planted a church about twenty years ago.  At that time, Suradet and Yupa, the founding pastors, soon discovered a match between some of the space they now had on the property and the pressing requests of Hill Tribe families to help them care for their children.

Today we are a registered Foundation with the Thai government who is aware of our situation and has allowed us to remain on our current property...for now.  There is the expectation that we will continue to work toward compliance.  Which is exactly what we are doing.

And then there's the indoor spaces.

The boys' bunks.  Clean, with fans and added ventilation.

But small and low, with only one window.

Concrete walls make it hard to hang pictures or otherwise decorate.

White ceiling, tile floor, and fresh coat of paint all helps.

This room was originally meant for basement storage.

True, most of life happens outdoors when you live in a place that's perpetually summer, more or less.  But we do have to sleep somewhere, and study somewhere.  And it's in the indoor spaces that we are most aware of how much the existing buildings on the current property have been 'retrofitted.'

We can do better for our children.

Over the next little while we will be busy bringing our cite plan and building blueprints up to standard so that we can both present them to Thai contractors, and show them to all of you!  It's a tedious, careful process requiring interpretation necessary both in language and construction stipulations.  A trip is in the works for January so Ken and I can both be there to sit down and map this out in real time right there on the new property, with all the pertinent people present.  

This open space is ready, excavated in anticipation of our next steps,

thanks to some of you who have already joined in the vision.

We invite you to dream with us.

While construction costs, like everything right now, are somewhat fluid, we estimate that we will need a total of $500,000.00 to complete all components of our New Home.  We have retained a decent amount of seed money raised in the fall of 2023 which will help propel our efforts forward.  Professional fundraising consultation is in the works.  It's all coming together.

More pictures and exciting possibilities to follow.

For now, if you are so inclined, it's not too soon to make your investment in our future home.

Donate at donations@hcckw.ca marked "Property" Or

Contact me at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca for more information.

 Rev. Ruth Anne Breithaupt, MDiv.

Canadian Representative/Missionary in Residence

New Family Foundation/Highview Community Church

The mission of New Family Foundation is to

provide a loving home for at-risk and 

orphaned children in Northern Thailand to

help them achieve their best potential in 

education, vocation and service to society.

New Family Foundation

                                            

     https://www.hcckw.ca                                                                    https://www.adventive.ca