Dear Friends,

 

Greetings from rainy northern Thailand!  It is the monsoon season, which has come about a month late this year, and we are now enjoying the lushness of the newly planted rice fields.  Our ministries, too, are experiencing a kind of renewal/rebirth…more on those in a moment (please read to the end).

 

We have been asked by our MPT (Mission Partnership Team) to send out a quick e-mail regarding a new opportunity to help support us to stay on the mission field for another year.  There is a new matching gift opportunity to give towards our support that will run from now until September 27th.  You may be receiving this e-mail because you are part of our “Christmas letter” list, and you may already be supporting us, or you may not either wish to or be in a position to do so.  That is fine.  If you are interested, however, and you are not currently giving regularly to our support, please read on.

 

There are some funds available to match gifts from those have not made recurring contributions to particular missionaries on a regular basis.  For those of us IM missionaries who have not met our committed monthly MPT goals and are projected not to by September 30, the end of the budget year, there are Extra Lift Matching Funds which are available (ranging from $20/month to $100/month) from August 9 to September 27, 2010.  These will be distributed as 100% matching funds on a first come, first serve basis.

 

The criteria for these new gifts include the following:

 

1. Commitments made between noon (Eastern time) on August 9 and noon (eastern time) on September 27, 2010 by individual donors who have not previously made recurring contributions to a participating IM missionary will be matched on a 100% basis.
2. Commitments can be made via the International Ministries web site on the profile page for the selected missionaries or checks may be sent to the International Ministries office as long as they are postmarked no later than September 27, 2010 and include a signed commitment for regular giving.  (Make the check out to International Ministries, PO Box 851, Valley Forge, PA  19482, marked for the “ongoing support of the Foxes”)
3. Commitments will be matched as follows (samples):  Minimum of $20/month for at least one year = will be doubled for an extra $240 for one missionary;  Maximum $100/month for at least one year = will be doubled for an extra $1200 for one missionary
4. The matching funds will be available on a first come, first served basis until exhausted or the end of the drive at noon on September 27, 2010.
5. Commitments will be matched to the point at which a missionary’s sustaining support level has been reached.

 

At this point, you may be asking if we need support this year.  Last year, due to the Luther Rice Matching Funds drive which some of you may have participated in (thank you!) we were able to meet our target MPT goal for our living expenses and even had a small amount over and above that amount to put towards our other expenses, such as work travel, visa costs, ministry funds, Kenny’s schooling, etc.  At this point in the year, we are estimating that we will complete the year at about 75% of our target MPT goal if giving continues at its present rate.  We need to bring it up to 100% by September 30th.

 

If you have in the past given only to specifics (our work) or have given only one or two times to our support in the past three years, you are eligible to take part in this effort.  The monies need to be given to IM as part of a monthly plan, to reflect ongoing partnership.  Please pray about your role in helping us stay on the field and pray for us as we seek God’s wisdom, as well.

 

As mentioned above, our ministry has been showing signs of new life, just as the land has!  [See photo #5] On April 5, a new store representing the partnership of Thai Tribal Crafts and Akha Crafts, a project we have been working with for the past 8 years, had its grand opening in downtown Chiang Rai.  This is a very important movement forward for the Akha Craft program, a project to help bring income and hope to the women of the Akha villages, which was housed in our home for the past 8 years.  It is exciting to see the “cutting of the apron strings” as the Akha Craft staff takes the project to a new level.

                                                                                            

In addition, another new store had its grand opening on Saturday, July 24th across the street from our home.  [See photo #6] It is called the Chiang Rai Christian Book Center, and caters to both Thai and Akha language users.  While also carrying Christian Thai materials and books, it is the first resource center of its kind for the Akha, bringing together the limited materials that are currently available to the Akha, with the purpose of continuing to develop more materials, particularly for children.  The goals of the center, in part, are to provide Sunday School materials/kits for the villages.  The ultimate plan is to have a kind of “lending library” of these materials for the local churches.  Training events will be critical to the success of this project.

 

Chuck and Ruth both continue to teach at the monthly Bible trainings for the pastors at the ACT training center.  In addition, Chuck witnessed 5 young people get baptized at the conclusion of the ACT Youth Retreat. [See photo #1]  There are now 4 villages with coffee trees that Chuck has helped to provide.  This year alone three more villages are beneficiaries of new water systems bringing them clean water. [See photo #2] Much of what Chuck does is to visit the villages and encourage the local pastors.

   

Ruth continues in her role as principal at the Family learning Center of Chiang Rai (FLC - in photo #3), and supports the STEP program (Student Tuition Expense Program in photo #4) that IM has to help children with their education, while also still advising the Akha Crafts program from time to time.  The FLC is looking to register as an international school this next year which also keeps Ruth very busy.

                    

Our children are doing well.  Rachel has graduated from Eastern University and is living and working in the Philadelphia, PA area.  Rebecca has just arrived in Rwanda for the fall semester of her junior year at Messiah College in the Harrisburg, PA area (nursing major).  Kenny has just completed his summer job at Kirkwood Camp in Wilmington, Ohio.  He has arrived back in Chiang Rai, and will begin school on Monday, August 30.

 

Thank you for your support and care for us.  Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  May God bless you and your family members!

 

Blessings,

 

Chuck and Ruth Fox