Cricket National Team
Cricket is a sport that we know little about, but several of the children at Gethsemane love it. Two of our Gethsemane girls, Sunida and Rachel, have been playing cricket at a high level for several years and are now on the Thailand National Women’s Cricket Team. Over the last couple of years, the team has played several matches in other countries and recently returned from a month long tour of Africa where they were preparing for the upcoming
Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. They were in Zimbabwe from August 18th to 30th and South Africa from September 5th to 9th. The World Cup Qualifiers will also take place in Zimbabwe in November/December this year.
This has brought some recognition to the home and their standing in their community.
We are so proud of you, Rachel and Sunida!
New Baptistry at Antioch
In July, Under the Son Ministries had the pleasure of being the mission for Vacation Bible School at Ravenwood Christian Church. When we were asked what needs in Thailand the ministry had, the first thing that came to mind was a baptistry at Antioch Church which is across the road from Gethsemane Home. After accepting the challenge of raising money for a baptistry, we told Titus to go ahead and start with the baptistry’s construction. Each day during missions we gave the children updates on the progress taking place. The children at VBS were encouraged and eagerly started raising funds. During the closing program, everyone watched a video of Titus showing the latest progress of the work they had accomplished. A total of $1,200 was raised during the week of VBS.
A few weeks ago Titus sent another video of the of the completed baptistry project to show the congregation at Ravenwood. We want to thank the children for helping to make this project possible.
Thailand COVID Update
One question we are frequently asked is, “When are you going back to Thailand?” Even though we have considered several possible dates to return, the truth is Thailand still faces many problems with the COVID virus. The country’s lack of having a safe vaccine is adding to their ability to control the spread. In the last couple of months, Thailand has seen the largest spike in COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020.
One setback the Gethsemane children faced in July was the closing of schools. The university students still have some classes online, and the younger children have homework sent home to complete. In the beginning of the school year, the middle and high school students were unsure how classwork would be handled, but at the present time Titus told us they are also online.
The good news is that many people in Thailand are starting to get the vaccine. The last time we spoke to Titus he said that starting sometime in October, the government plans to administer the Pfizer vaccine to all students over the age of 12, and hopefully adults will follow soon after that.
Gunsuda’s University Experience
We recently received several photos from one of our Gethsemane university students showing some of her experiences during her first year of university. Gan is studying for a degree that would be comparable to Marine Biology in the United States. These pictures gave us an insight to what she has been doing. We’re hoping to visit her school whenever we are able to return to Thailand.
Upcoming Fundraising Events
In early September, we sold 200 mums in four days! A Fall/Christmas Pop-up Shop was recently held in our home, and we just participated in a Craft/Vendor Fair at the Senior Center in Maryville. We are so thankful for the response of everyone who purchased flowers and bought products.
There will be Pop-up Shops in our home on October 22-23 and November 12-13. The Christmas Craft and Vendor Fair at the Community Center in Maryville will be held on Saturday, November 20th. Our last fair of the season will be the Holiday Craft and Vendor Fair at Nodaway County Senior Center on Saturday, December 4th. The 5th Annual Christmas Homes Tour will take place on Sunday, December 5th. Tickets will be available the first of November. We hope you can join us at each of these events.
