While we certainly depend upon God to make Saving Grace a success, we know He will use people around the world to provide the needed resources. You can play a special part by sharing with your friends and contacts about why Saving Grace will make a difference — not only for students and families, but also for the nation of Thailand!
Please take a moment to let your friends and contacts know about The Saving Grace Project…
Don Williams is the superintendent of Grace International School, located in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Grace is a missions school that serves more than 600 students and their families, most of whom serve as missionaries in SE Asia. The school is fighting for its life as a result of a lawsuit that threatens to evict the school from facilities it has legally owned for more than a decade. Don and Gene Foltz, founder of the school, are spending a whirlwind week in Korea. A Grace International School family helped the school connect to pastors and leaders in the Korean church and wider Christian community concerning the effort to save the school called The Saving Grace Project.
Here is Don’s account of the June trip to Korea:
Gene Foltz, the founder of Grace, and I spent a whirlwind week in Korea. A Grace International School family, Deborah and Juman Kim helped the school to connect to pastors and leaders in the Korean church and wider Christian community concerning The Saving Grace Project.
From Incheon to Seoul… God Opens Doors!
Gene and I landed in Incheon, Korea’s third largest city to start the adventure, then headed off to Seoul for meetings with a pastor and lay leaders in the Kim family’s denomination, the Presbyterian Church. The next morning the group left for Daejoen by bus where we visited the Mission Center of the denomination meeting leadership talking about Missionary Kids (MKs) and how Grace wants to partner well with sending agencies in caring for and in educating the 90+ Korean MKs attending Grace International School. We also talked about The Saving Grace Project and were greatly encouraged to hear of the church’s and mission center’s faithful prayers. The mission center leadership committed to pray how they might support The Saving Grace Project.
Similar Circumstances in Busan…
Later that same afternoon we took a train to Busan where we met with the pastor and his leadership team of a large church and Christian School. Again we were able to share about the Project and learn that the church has been in a court battle similar to Grace’s over their school. Their case is now at the Supreme Court and should be decided later this year. Please pray that the case will be settled favorably for the school/church as the company building the facilities ten years ago went bankrupt and the banks are coming after the church and school to settle the debt owed by the developer. As you can imagine, these dear brothers and sisters know how to pray for our situation.
In the evening around 9 PM the group went to a prayer time with about 150-200 people from the church. Gene and I were given time to share about The Saving Grace Project and invited everyone to pray. Praying Korean style is a fantastic experience. Everyone prays out loud at the same time for a couple hours. We invite you to continue to pray as well.
We spent the night in Busan enjoying breakfast with the pastor we met the day before. Later in the morning we met his entire staff of 12 assistant pastors. This is a church of almost 2,000 people. We toured the Christian School and then left for Ulsan, just under 2 hours away, to visit a pastor of the largest church in the denomination, about 3,000 people. We shared a meal together as we did throughout our journey enjoying a traditional meal while seated on the floor. Together we learned about each others’ ministries and opportunities each faces. We spent time praying for each other and being encouraged in the Lord. The pastor is prayerfully considering what his church might do for The Saving Grace Project.
The group made its way back to Busan and had a dinner appointment with a director of a Christian TV Station and also with the President of a Christian University. The director plans on sharing Grace’s story throughout Korea inviting Christians to be praying. The president is very interested in education for MKs. He took a keen interest in Grace’s situation. We talked about the possibility of teachers who are being trained at his institution possibly coming out to Grace for their student teaching as well as to serve as missionaries.
Back to Seoul and Amazing Meetings…
After dinner the group zipped off to the train station to make their way back to Seoul. Sunday we had a meeting in a church. Gene, Deborah and I shared in a morning service about the Saving Grace Project. The congregation earnestly prayed for the project twice during the service.
On Monday afternoon we met with several Christian media outlets. They included: The Korea Church Times, The Kukmin Daily, KUKI News, KUKITV, Christian Television System, CUP News and The United Christian Newspaper. A couple video cameras recorded Deborah, Gene and I talking. We spent about an hour together. At the end of the session an editor of one of the Christian newspapers handed me an envelop and said this is for The Saving Grace Project.
Visit to a Korean Christian School…
In the morning we had a wonderful time with folks from Central Christian Academy in Suwon, Korea. We toured the school and talked with their leadership team about their school and ours. They have been praying for us for a long time. We enjoyed a traditional Korean barbecue…one of my new favorite meals, with the school’s leadership. In the evening we had a meeting with a group of lawyers. We were given an hour to share the story of Grace. Prior to our arrival they took up an offering for The Saving Grace Project and presented it to us at the conclusion of our time together. In the week since returning to Thailand the word about Grace has hit both local Korean Christian newspapers and TV.
Wrapping Up a Fantastic Trip…
We arrived at our final stop over around 11PM on Monday night. We crashed and got up the next day visiting leaders who have started a non-denominational organization to support MKs and MK initiatives. They are keenly interested in Grace and want to do all they can to help support us.
As I’ve returned to Chiang Mai I’m struck by what was accomplished in just seven days in Korea. It occurred to me if every language group/nationality would take as seriously as the Korean parents have in helping us to get the word out about The Saving Grace Project, we would have tons of opportunities to share Grace’s story. This has been a fantastic trip and we hope to make many more in the coming weeks/months as the rest of the Grace community helps to make connections with churches and individuals in your passport countries. Please contact Bill Clark at bclark@gisthailand.org, Tom Matyas at Tom@GraceFndn.Org or Gene Foltz at gfoltz@probizlinx.comwith the possibility of introducing friends who might up meetings in your area, with the assistance of the Saving Grace Project team.
The political upheaval that has rocked Thailand in recent weeks escalated the week of May 16 as government troops fired upon protestors in Bangkok. This led to waves of violence and destruction across Thailand, including the city of Chiang Mai, location of Grace International School. Don Williams, the school’s superintendent, reports that, “some of the hard line protesters also set fire to government buildings in other provinces. Here in Chiangmai they set fire to the governors’ residence. As a result we are under an 8PM to 6AM curfew. We want to let you know we are safe and don’t fear for our safety. We just need to be careful that we don’t end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. We have closed Grace tomorrow (Thursday). We’ll see if we can re-open Friday. Please pray for Thailand during this time of uncertainty. Thai citizens naturally are very concerned and feel insecure. Pray that through this Thais will find their security in the eternal God rather than human institutions.”
A day later, Don reported the following:
“The red shirt bikers in Chiang Mai ignored the curfew, coming out in force to set fires to car tyres in several places throughout Chiang Mai and attacked several Bangkok Bank’s branches according to Thai Rath website. Two fire trucks were set ablaze. Newin Chidchob father in law’s Chiang Mai Construction Co building suffered extensive damages and was torched. However, the people in the building were prepared and could extinguish the fire. The police and soldiers are now on motorcycle patrol to confront the red shirt bikers.”
City officials recommended that the school remain closed Friday while the protests and violence continue. Please keep the families and staff of Grace International School in your prayers. And remember, too, to pray for the people of Thailand.
During his high school sophomore year, Michael begged his parents to let him move from a nearby closed country to Chiang Mai where he could attend Grace International School and live in a dorm.
“I realized I wanted and needed spiritual mentoring and accountability, though it was hard to leave my family. As an in-residence student, restrictions were tight, and because the dorm parents didn’t know me, I had to earn every privilege,” Michael said.
Grace International School met a need the family didn’t realize they’d had: more social interaction and spiritual input from peers and adults. And since their previous international school wasn’t Christian, there was no spiritual emphasis. That changed dramatically for Michael through his junior year at Grace. Then, for his senior year, Michael’s parents moved to Chiang Mai with their three other teens.
“After GIS graduation in 2009, college was a big transition, since I moved to America from another country. But GIS is academically challenging and prepared me well; and I learned to make friends within any race or age. At college I realized rules that bugged me at GIS weren’t as dumb as I thought at the time. They taught me submission to authority,” Michael said.
Grace teachers continue to influence him, even while he attends college in America. He seeks their input via email and recalls how they spoke truth through their daily lives. And because his parents had prayed for “significant adults to influence their children,” the family agrees GIS is a good choice for all of them.
“Sometimes I think I should have flunked one class my senior year,” Michael said. “Then I wouldn’t have graduated and could have stayed at Grace another year!”
Early one morning, 19 students and adults squeezed into two vehicles and tied their supplies on the roofs for a trek to NW Thailand. On the way to Chiang Dao, at Limestone Waterfall they read scripture and spiritually prepared for a day of children’s ministry.
“We learned that Burma’s genocide destroys from the outside, with loss of land, jobs and relatives. But it also destroys people inside. Many Burmese refugee parents feel hopeless and turn to drugs or alcohol, which hurts their families,” teacher Sharon Wade said.
Two students were especially excited to see again small ones they remembered, children who were previously attacked with a machete and fire by their drunken father, but were now with their mother. Everyone was asked to pray for the family’s safety.
“Our students were a wonderful example of Christ’s love in action. They held the children, played with and taught them,” Wade said. “This was our first Art ministry, and we thank staff and parents for their generous support at our auction. It paid for the whole trip, bought art supplies to leave at Genesis Home and gave Pastor Suria money for the children’s schooling.”
The teens’ gift that day was joy—both given and received—when they taught 24 homeless children to use watercolors, to express their feelings and focus on something peaceful.
Genesis Home consists of four bamboo huts. Lisu Pastor Suria and his family have a heavy heart to help these Palang Burmese families. Thailand’s 93 displaced Palang children are orphaned, abandoned, sick with AIDS or come from abusive alcoholic families.
“One of the main GIS Art Department goals is to find how we can use our creative talents to glorify God. We went to bless and were blessed in return!” Wade said.
Stories like this demonstrate the impact of investing in Grace International School and its students. The Saving Grace Project will enable you to have a significant ministry impact in the lives of others like the Palang orphans through the many outreaches of Grace International School. Please help Save Grace! Click the “donate now” button at right to give today!
God delights in giving the desires of our hearts, even if He waits 27 years! Grace International School (GIS) parent Connie Cummins knew from at age 13 she wanted to run an orphanage. And today she’s doing what God created her to do—with a flock of children she loves.
When Connie and Richard Cummins came to Thailand, they didn’t plan an orphanage. But after this former home schooling mom sent her five children to GIS, she had time on her hands. So she volunteered at one of many Chiang Mai orphanages, where she quickly noticed one extremely ill baby, alone on a mat.
Even at three-months, little Tip weighed only four pounds—after miraculously surviving an abortion. Though the infant was expected to die soon, Connie asked the orphanage director for permission to care for Tip at home, where her heart was undeniably bonded, nursing her back to health. Nine years later, Tip is a vibrant, healthy girl, who experiences the permanent joy of adoption into the Cummins family.
“When you came to help us, I knew there was something in your eyes, but I didn’t know what it was,” the director said. And amazed by Connie’s selfless love and skill, he asked Connie to nurture more babies.
Baby “M” was abandoned in a bag on the street, before being found and placed in Connie’s care. Today, M’s sweet, round face and constant smile make her a joy.
Baby “D,” age 5, was extremely sick, and without medical intervention, doctors said she would quickly die. Yet watching her today, you’d never know this curious, strong-willed girl was a neglected baby.
Connie, her family and staff have loved and cared for more than 26 children in the past few years. And more important, each child is eventually adopted into a loving home. And while each adoption is welcomed with joy, it is also painful to let these precious children leave. But Connie is convinced the sacrifice and tears are worth it.
“We must be open to what God has planned for us. If we only have eyes for what we are ‘supposed’ to be doing, we may miss the blessings of God’s amazing, unexpected plans,” Connie said.
Because Grace International School educates their children, families can minister in SE Asia. That’s why The Saving Grace Project is a critical factor, not only for the families and schoolchildren of GIS, but also for those who are blessed through the amazing ministry that occurs across Thailand and this entire region. Please help by contributing to The Saving Grace Project!
The Saving Grace Project received a special boost just after Valentine’s Day…
The first major gift to help Grace International Educational Foundation’s effort on behalf of Grace International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand, was delivered in a special presentation on Monday, February 15. Representatives from international missions agency Wycliffe Associates presented the foundation with a check for $30,000 to assist in the project to preserve and expand Grace International School. The mission school faces a significant crisis as a result of a lawsuit that could force it to vacate middle and high school facilities it has owned for more than a decade (click here for complete story).
On hand to receive this special gift were the school’s founder, Gene Foltz, former teacher Bill Clark and Tom Matyas, president of the Foundation (Wycliffe Associates representatives are not identified at their request).
“Of course, this is a wonderful step on the way to Saving Grace,” said Matyas after receiving the contribution. “We’re very grateful to Wycliffe Associates for this gift and for their continuing commitment to the school here in Chiang Mai. Every one of the missionary kids enrolled here, as well as their families, will benefit from this and other special help that’s beginning to come in for the Saving Grace Project.”
Through a series of meetings in Chiang Mai, The Saving Grace Project was launched this week to let many of the families and staff from Grace International School know about this effort to help preserve and expand the school in the face of crisis.
Meetings took place in local homes and in several restaurants to share the steps being taken by the Grace International Educational Foundation to raise awareness, prayer support and financial resources for the likely relocation of the school’s middle and high school. GIS superintendent Don Williams was joined by Tom Matyas, president of the foundation, Gene Foltz, founder of GIS, and longtime staff member Bill Clark to share the story of Saving Grace and the growing enthusiasm for the project around the world.
“We’re beginning to see response from people all over the world who have been touched by the situation in Thailand,” said Tom Matyas. “In less than one week, for example, we’ve seen a new Saving Grace Project Facebook fan site grow from our first two fans to nearly 400! That’s a huge encouragement to the people here in Chiang Mai. And we’re encouraging everyone here to share this information with their prayer partners in order to cover this entire effort with prayer support from around the world.”
Thank you for your support… More resources are being added regularly to share with people in your networks. Please check back regularly to see updates, new video clips, ideas for telling the story and more.
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:
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…
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!
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!
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!
$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 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.
