When You Have to Move But You Don't Really Want To

 

Morning breaks or sun is setting, either way the sky over Hot Springs covers a place of healing and peace.  We are out a little ways from the big city, down a road that has built up over the years, but would still be considered "out of the way."

A long driveway sets us back from the road.  Behind all the buildings is a steep hill covered in trees.  A decent path off to the right of the kitchen takes us past a well cultivated garden to the goat pen beyond.

We're talking about 10 acres of space for kids to run and learn and live and love.

This is the property on Hot Springs Korean Methodist Church is situated, and where Pastors Suradet and Yupa have, for the past 15 years, welcomed at risk and orphaned children into a now rather larger, and always loving family.  They were at-risk themselves as children.  When they realized what God had given them in the property assigned to their new church plant, opening their arms to the children just seemed like the right thing to do.

Fast forward to today and...we're moving.

Why would we ever want to leave this place?  

We don't.  

But we have to.

Here's why.

With the onset of military rule in 2014 new requirements for children’s welfare came into play.  Rightfully so.  Previously the loose and unregulated 'understandings' around the care of at-risk and orphan children left room for far too much that would not actually be in the best interests these small vulnerable human beings.  So it was due time to tighten up the requirements.  Among these requirements was that of having children’s homes established on ‘deeded property’.  

The property on which Hot Springs currently sits is ‘crown land’, and while it is legal to build a variety of structures on it, for example a church, it is not deeded, and therefore does not fall under compliance.  

Also, there's the fact that the Hot Springs property is owned not by Pastors Suradet and Yupa or even their local church, but by the Korean Methodist Church of Thailand, as I've already said.  

It is therefore necessary that we strive to relocate the children as soon as we can.  We do have a buffer.  Since we are in active process of becoming compliant, and also because we have a legally registered office address on deeded property, the children’s home we currently have is in no immediate danger of being shut down.  Plus the entire country, like the entire world, has had so many things put on 'pause' that it is not seen as a delay when not much has been done during the years of COVID.

But at any given time we could be served notice.  So we're moving.

That's why the development of our new property is so important.  And that's why, during this current visit to Canada, we wanted to let Suradet and Yupa speak for themselves about it all.

Saturday, October 14, 2023

7:00 to 8:30

Music, Mini-Market and Dessert

295 Highview Drive KIT ON N2N 2K7

We would love to have you join us for a mini concert upstairs, a mini market downstairs, and an opportunity to partner with us in these excited next steps for New Family Foundation.

“The mission of New Family Foundation is to provide a loving home for at-risk and orphaned children in in Northern Thailand to help them achieve their best potential in education, vocation and service to society.”