Baan Tawai Business

It's been really sad to see how the whole economic crisis is also effecting our Thai friends over here, especially down at Baan Tawai at the moment. What was once a thriving handicrafts village, is dead as. If a tourist bus comes during the day, it's a good day. But even then, the busses aren't even full. It's really hard to watch as many of our friends are struggling to find enough work and have had to make decisions to lay off staff. But not only that, some of them are also going through lots of personal struggles with one lady who has now separated from her husband, just as their child who has been living with his grandparents for the past 9 years, has finally come to live with them. And now the husband is wanting to move to another district to live and work there. That would make it hard for your average person, but when you are disabled and in a wheelchair, even traveling out of the area is hard as you have to ask friends who have a car/vehicle that can take a wheelchair to take you. It's heart breaking to hear the situation that the husband wants to move away, she'd have to stay with the child, but how to help the child be able to go visit his dad is another story. Unfortunately there's not a huge amount that can be done for them practically at the moment, except to try and be there as a listening ear and to pray for them. At the end of the day, the most important thing for them is to know Jesus. Then worries of this world will hopefully be put into perspective. And hopefully it might be the thing that will change their lives to help their marriage get back on the right track again too.

But on the business side of things, it's been exciting in the past week to have some guys from America who run business as mission come and want to order products from the disabled workshop. Just last weekend, Ken and i got to play guide and translator for theses guys, as we discussed the products, designs an quality that these guys are wanting. In the big scheme of things, it's not a huge order as such, but it's exciting to see how businesses overseas are wanting to support local business here, and ministries that missionaries are working with. Please pray that this business opportunity will be able to go ahead.