EARTH MISSION MAY MERCY, PEACE AND LOVE BE MULTIPLIED BY YOU. MAY 2017 EARTH MISSION NOTE During May, I have had the pleasure of Caryl s company in the EM office here in Siloam Springs. It has been good to have some face-to-face time with her. Please pray she will have a problem-free return to Thailand. Also, Dan will be in the USA during June & July, so please pray for his travel preparations, safe flights, and productive meetings while he is here. One of the blessings of working with this ministry is that I enjoy working with, and hearing the stories of, the people of Earth Mission. PRAYERS I think you will find the same to be true for you as you learn more about the EMA staff & students, the EM Board members (USA), and OnetoAnother s leadership & projects. All God s people here send their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - 2 Corinthians 13:13-14 NIV Laura Hesselink Earth Mission Director of Operations COMING SOON ONETOANOTHER: Pray for funds needed to open Victoria Memorial Hospital. Pray for the UK funds to come through on the water filtration project. Pray for Shani s visa to Australia, that it would be granted quickly. Thankful for the small business loan project- very encouraging! EARTH MISSION ASIA: Pray for continued interactions with the KNU (Karen National Union) for policy and the KDHW (Karen Department of Health and Welfare) implementation of the PA program. Our program is approved, but many steps are ahead. Pray for space and building of a hospital building in Kyaukkyi. Pray for a new EMA office/ student housing location in CM as the current facility rent is going up and will be too high. Thankful for the continued enthusiasm of students on both the Chiang Mai and Kyaukkyi campuses!! 1 During the month of May, Earth Mission s 2016 Annual Report will be mailed to all of our donors and supporters. If you ve never received mail from us, and would like to receive your own copy, please send us your physical/mailing address. Also, if you ve moved recently, please make sure we have your current mailing address. Contact us at: earth@earth-mission.org EARTH MISSION PO Box 6411 Siloam Springs, AR 72761 Phone: (479) 524-0776
EARTH MISSION STAFF TYLER S UPDATE As this update time rolls around again, I reflect back over the past few months here at EMA s Chiang Mai campus where I have been primarily working. In my current responsibilities, I work mainly with the Year 1 students. They are an extremely smart and hardworking group of students. They recently had a major English exam and the teaching team was very pleased with the results. Their English is flourishing and blooming under the care, dedication and hard work of our team. The students work very hard and are extremely selfmotivated to learn. Five days a week we keep them running with quite a packed schedule, but this is what they want. They say we are here to learn, please teach us. In my job I spend a lot of time with the students, working beside them, playing beside them and just doing life with them. As we continue to develop deeper and closer relationships with these students, please pray that we can show them Jesus in all that we do. These students may not have had the education background that prepared them to enter into medical school in the Myanmar system and as a result may be viewed as the B-team. But in my opinion, and what I have seen of our students, they are definitely the A-team. They each bring unique skills, strengths, experiences and personalities that we believe God is using and will be using to paint a beautiful picture. A picture of hope, of light and love. In their eyes, I see the hope - hope for an opportunity, for a chance to prove that they have what it takes, and for the joy to know that somebody believes in them and is willing to help them succeed. Thank you for being a part of us, for being a part of our students story, for loving, supporting, praying and caring. 2
ONETOANOTHER MESSAGE FROM SHANI, ONETOANOTHER S FOUNDER & DIRECTOR We need your prayers as we don t have new projects and the last tranche of funds haven t come through yet for the Victoria Memorial Hospital (VMH). So, the work there is on hold. It s been a tough month for me as I have had to let some people off work because we didn t have the funds to pay them. We have been in touch with some donors in the UK regarding a water filter project for poor communities in Multan. We hope this project will get approved soon so that we can continue to serve the marginalized community here. Currently, we are working on policies for VMH and planning how to get the hospital open and started. I plan to go to Australia in June this year with Jess and the kids (pray for my visa to be approved). While I am there, I hope to be able to raise awareness about VMH and also raise some funds for it. We are looking to raise about $10,000 per month for the first year in order to get the hospital started. The small business loan project continues. We have been receiving payments from our recipients on time, and it has been amazing to see them grow in confidence and support their families. 3
EARTH MISSION ASIA THE IRISH BUILDING TEAM IN KYAUKKYI The beginning of April saw the invasion of the Irish in Kyaukkyi and it was an adventure! Through an Irish nurse who has been working as part of the Earth Mission Asia (EMA) team, Christian Fellowship Church in Belfast heard about the work EMA has been doing in Kyaukkyi and wanted to come and help. Between January and March 2017 a team was put together and funds were raised to contribute towards the expansion of the clinic and its work. A team of eight guys arrived and worked hard to help build two more clinical consultation rooms for the doctors as well work on a couple of other projects. HAPPY MOTHER S DAY! In celebration of all mothers around the world, EMA asked the Year 1 students to tell us more about their own mothers and what they mean to them. Go to Earth Mission Asia facebook page to watch the video! Meanwhile the two girls on the team were able to help with the curriculum teaching. Known for their cheeky sense of humour, the Irish did not let us down and laughter rang out throughout the week in spite of the intense heat. Being on the ground helped them catch the vision for EMA s mandate to make healthcare accessible to all people in the region. The highlights were: getting up at 6am to play football with the students (some were better at this than others!) and spending time with them, listening to the staff and students share their stories and listen to their desire to change the difficult challenges faced by Karen people, and having an opportunity to worship together. 4
EARTH MISSION ASIA MHEE, SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT & FULL- TIME STAFF AT EMA EMA would like to present Mhee who works for EMA full-time in our Chiang Mai office. She received a scholarship to study weekends at Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Thailand. I m so glad Earth Mission Asia has given me the opportunity to study at the undergraduate level in the major that I wanted. I now see a bright future and great opportunities ahead for myself. In the future, I m determined to use my knowledge and abilities to help the organization in their curriculum development and education programs. I m happy that I get to work for this organization because I m able to practice my English with both EMA s staff and volunteers who can teach me more and correct me when needed. I feel like this organization gives great importance to education because they believe education is the key to further self-empowerment. 5