Family ministry

Det is a father of 3 who has a 6th grade education. Ae is a teenage girl from the slum who has another term of 9th grade to go. Fai is a single soon-to-be-mother who has completed 12th grade but is unable to work. These are real people (with name changes) that we work with here. Det is constantly between jobs as he is unable to make enough money to support his family and relatives because of his low education. He is expected to support his relatives who spend all of their own money on alcohol. Ae is unable to complete her last term of 9th grade because she has no money to pay due to her mother's gambling addiction and may soon be finding fast ways of making money. Fai is unable to work for a living until she has given birth and recovered from this high-risk pregnancy, and her family cannot help support her because of gambling addictions. Each of these 3 people are in their helpless situations not because they themselves have addictions but because others do - because those who are supposed to work together with them or be there for them in their time of need are too busy looking for satisfactions that last only for a few hours. 

I ask myself everyday what it is that people like Det, Ae and Fai need, and how I can help them without doing more damage than good. How can I help them in a way that doesn't "rescue" them but instead enables them to rescue themselves? How can I support them without allowing them to rely on me but instead point them to God? Giving money should hardly be the answer, but where is the line? These are the issues of the society that we face almost daily, and what I've observed is that there is something REALLY important that we need to be focusing on. Family. It all starts in the family. Those who have addictions usually have them because of past pain, most likely from childhood, and those who are affected by their addictions are Det, Ae and Fai, their own family members. Either addictions are passed on to the next generation or neglect and abuse is passed on - sometimes both of them are passed on. 

Business might be the answer to their financial needs, and it sure can be used by God, but there needs to be something other than business in order to reach the family life. There needs to be something to impact the grandparents and parents and encourage them to love their children and to reach out to the children from a young age and teach them God's way so that they may have a chance of a hopeful life where they can then raise their own families to become a responsible future of the country. That's why we focus on family ministry - reaching out to children and youth through games and activities that interest them, reaching out to young mothers and babies through activities that will strengthen their love and bond, using business as a tool for God's love to be shown and to enable parents to work close to home, and gently teaching and encouraging people to hold on to the community aspect of Thai culture and stand for each other. 

One of the main spheres of the society here is family. It is the one with the most influence on how someone's life will turn out in the future. It is the one we need to reach out to to shoot an arrow of God's love and break through the pain and issues we face in society today. The family unit has the power to work together with Det and help support him so that he can further his education and get a better job in the future. The family unit has the power to raise children like Ae with love and support her in her education preventing her from getting into dangerous work as a teenager to make fast money. The family unit has the power to support Fai when she is faced with circumstances that don't allow her to support herself. When we reach out to families instead of just focusing on how we can help one person here and now, whole societies will be changed.