Dear Friend,

 

Hello!  I am so excited to be able to experience autumn this year.  It’s my favorite season.  I have been in the U.S. to visit churches, and renew friendships for the past few months.  Thank you so much to the many people who have shown me such warm hospitality.  You made space for me in your worship service, and provided lodging, sustenance and fellowship to a wandering missionary from Thailand!  What a joy it was to spend time with you, and exchange stories of God’s presence with one another.  

 

 

 

In Opposition to Human Trafficking

 

Good news from Thailand!  Over the 2008-2009 project cycle, the New Life Center received a grant from the U.S. State Department to do anti-trafficking campaigns in rural tribal villages in northern Thailand. The project was headed up by “Anna”, one of our New Life Center graduates.  She trained teams of NLC residents to do drama and dance performances in three different tribal languages.  After each performance, audience members were invited to share their own stories of labor exploitation and human trafficking.

 

“I have never told anyone in the village this story, but I had

a bad experience."

 

Mr. “Nay” symbolizes the stories of many local people who stood up to speak. He said, “I have never told anyone in the village this story, but I had a bad experience.  A recruiter came into my village and offered me a job working in Korea.  He said that I would make a lot of money and offered to pay my way to get there.

 

When I arrived, I was put to work in a factory.  I was locked into the building.  My passport and working papers were taken from me, and I was not allowed to call my family. I worked for 12 hours a day in very difficult conditions.  They kept saying that they would give me my paycheck “in a few weeks”, but I never got paid.  After many months, the police came to raid the factory.  I was put into jail, and then the police sent me back to Thailand. I came back home to the village,

 but never told anyone where I went because

 I was ashamed that these things happened to me.”

 

After the audience members shared their personal stories, Anna led a discussion about danger signs, and alternative economic choices.

 Our target goal was to reach 2,500 people.  But we had more people come out for the performances than expected.  When the campaigns were completed, the teams had reached over 12,000 people in 35 villages!  Another step in the expansion of the New Life Center’s human trafficking prevention efforts!

 

 

 

Please Remember the

World Mission Offering!

--Susan Rice, MPT convener for Kit

 

Despite the challenges of this difficult economic period, it seems to me that there has been at least one good side effect:  missionaries and those of us "back home" have come to see even more deeply our connection in the work of bringing God's love to the world.  Neither "they" nor "us" can do it without each other!  Pastor Craig Holler, one person in Kit's missionary partnership network (you are in that network, too, by the way!) recently wrote a letter to pastors in his area, and we thank him for permission to quote it here:

 

"We, Vanderhoof Baptist Church, are in a partnership with ABC-Missionary Rev. "Kit" Ripley who is serving in Thailand at the New Life Center where their Mission is to rescue young girls and young women out of many forms of slavery.  We have been supporting her for the last 3 years and we are sure that the work she is doing is worthwhile.  

We at Vanderhoof look at our support for Rev. Ripley as our part in fulfilling the "Ends of the Earth" portion of the "Great Commission"....

 

Thanks to Pastor Craig Holler and the Vanderhoof Baptist Church for being part of Kit's Missionary Partnership Network. --Susan

 

 

Guilt-Free Shopping!

New Life Center handicrafts can now be purchased over the internet through a partnership with Thai Tribal Crafts.  Some of our most popular handbags, tote bags and jewelry are available by pasting the following link into your browser:

http://www.ttcrafts.co.th/cgi-bin/producttype.cgi?producttype=New%20Life%20Center

You will notice that the crafts are listed in Thai Baht.  This means that you will want to use a Currency Converter to find out how much the items cost in US dollars.  A free currency conversion service can be found at:  http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Click on the Product ID Code to learn more about the product or to place an order.  When you have finished browsing through the New Life Center page, you can also check out products from other projects such as Lanna Coffee, Weave, and Tabitha Handicrafts.  Just click on “Main page” at the top of the screen and scroll to the bottom of the page to learn about specific projects, and shop for their products. When you have finished shopping, place your order.  Thai Tribal Crafts will then email you with the international shipping cost for your total order.  (To save on shipping, place a group order with your friends!) They will also inform you if the items are all “in stock”, or if they will need to be produced to fill your order.  Thank you for your patience with this process, as we seek to meet the growing demand for New Life Center handicrafts.

 

 

 

Your Resources Make a Difference!

I am so thankful for the prayerful and sacrificial support of so many friends who partner with me in ministry.  Your financial gifts are a vital part of my service in Thailand.  If you were not able to give, I would not be able to serve on your behalf.

As we reached the end of the International Ministries fiscal year on Sept 30, I rejoice that through God’s grace and your generosity, my support goal has been reached!

 

Thankfully, I will be able to return to Thailand in November and focus my efforts on the many tasks at hand in the mission field, trusting that your kind faithfulness over the last year will continue into the new year.

 

 

 

Above and Beyond  the  MPT Call of Duty!

I recently experienced another moment of God’s grace. I went into my storage bay in Cincinnati to get some winter clothes and discovered that there had been a flood in there earlier this year.  A water main break!  Ugh.  Not having time to address the problem that day, I locked the unit back up and headed off for some more travels.  While I was gone, Dave Rice, a friend and member of my Missionary Partnership Team, went over to the storage bay to see what he could do.  He took everything out of the 10x15 foot unit, and sorted through it to find out which items had suffered from water damage.  He took photos of the damage, in hopes that insurance would cover it.  (Sadly, it didn’t.)  Then he put everything back into the bay, with the wet items separated out in the front.   Upon my return, Dave took me over to the storage unit, and helped me sort through every damaged box.  We filled up the dumpster outside with moldy books, a wet mattress and boxspring, stacks of my artwork, and many other items.  Dave even stood by and endured my tears as I flipped through wet photo albums of what were once baby pictures, graduation pictures, and Christmases gone by.  A colorful mush remained. After our hard work, I was grateful to find that most the furniture is unharmed, and the damage is not as bad as it might have been.  And in the end, I discovered that the most important thing was intact…my friendship with Dave, his wife Susan, and other friends, whose extravagant and sacrificial love can only come from our beloved Lord, Jesus.   

 

 

 

WORLD MISSION OFFERING

 

Last year’s world mission offering was down to the same level that we received in 1996, over 10 years ago. Partner ministries that IM supports all over the world have faced cutbacks.  Many of our missionaries are still below their fundraising goals.  (You can contact David Worth at International Ministries at 1-800-222-3872 to find out who’s still in need.)

 

Again, thanks so much for your faithful prayers and support.

 

With Love,

Kit