Saving Grace!

Saving Grace is a project to ensure that more than 600 missionary kids in Chiang Mai Thailand are able to continue their education at Grace International School.  After eleven years serving thousands of missionary families, their children, and the kids of local Thai families, Grace International School (GIS) is in danger of eviction due to actions being taken by a few members of a local neighborhood association.  These people have sued to remove the school from the property that has housed it for more than a decade, turning the property over to the neighborhood association to operate as a high-end health club.

The Grace International Educational Foundation (GIEF) is a U.S. based foundation that is working to help the school through this crisis!  Here are the challenges we face:

1. The courts may rule that Grace must vacate the current secondary facilities — possibly within 30 – 60 days!
2. Because of Thai laws, the school may NOT set up a second campus more than 1,000 feet apart from the current elementary building.  That would constitute a second school and require a separate administration with Thai representatives and more regulations.  Clearly this isn’t practical!
3. The school can build temporary classrooms (using reusable materials) on the site of the elementary campus.  These would house the current secondary students and teachers — but it would be cramped!
4. The school is looking for a new property — about 20 acres — where a new, combined campus can be built.  That would solve the difficulties with the neighborhood, AND allow expansion of the school to hold up to 1,000 students!

So what’s the problem?  MONEY!  Grace International School doesn’t have the resources to do ANY of the above!  That’s why GIEF is working to raise $2.5 million by the end of August, 2010!  That money will help with all of the problems listed above — meeting the temporary needs of students, faculty and staff and PREPARING to build a new campus (that’s a much bigger project that will take years and millions of dollars to complete!).

So what can you do?  Here’s what’s needed…

PLEASE PRAY!

Pray for the school’s leaders to make the right decisions, to be gracious with the Thai people and the courts, and to be a positive example of God’s love and grace!

TELL OTHERS!

Share this website with as many of your friends and family, co-workers, church members, Sunday School groups, and others.  The more people who get involved, the better to meet the need!

TAKE ACTION!

You can get in touch with GIEF and let Tom Matyas (GIEF’s volunteer CEO) know that you want to help.  We’re looking for people who can share information, host gatherings, do presentations — all designed to build awareness and support for Saving Grace!

GIVE GENEROUSLY!

$2.5 million is still a lot of money!  It will take the help of thousands of people to raise that kind of cash in the few months we have.  Your gift will do more than just build temporary classrooms or relocate a school…   Your help will be a huge blessing to hundreds of missionary families and children who depend upon Grace International School to be a safe have and a source of solid, Christian education while they serve in Southeast Asia.  You can GIVE ONLINE through the GIEF Web site.  And your gift will be a vital part and a significant step toward Saving Grace!

PLEASE… WILL YOU HELP?

Please watch the following brief video about Grace International School. You’ll see why it is a special place worth saving. The facilities may change. But, with your help, the school can continue to serve future generations of missionary families and their children, touching and changing lives throughout Southeast Asia.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 5:39 pm and is filed under The Issue, What Can I Do?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.