Hey, my name is Anna, and I’m excited to share how Jesus is leading me in serving at New Vision for Life children’s home in Chiang Rai Thailand.

Serving children, specifically children from hard places is a passion the Lord gave me in 2017. It was through a little girl named Rochelle at a playground in Colorado. She was dirty, maybe 5 years old, had no parents who were present, and not many social skills. She was the kind of kid I honestly would have avoided and distanced myself from up until then. But this time, it was different. Through playing with and being identified with her, Jesus changed something in me and let me see her as He saw her. He continued this by using the journey of adoption and the transition of six siblings into my family to open my eyes to the needs of the hundreds of thousands of orphans all over the world, and that He calls us to love the one in front of us.

I am joining a team that is being sent by the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Lancaster base in Pennsylvania. We will begin by going through a Discipleship Training School (DTS) together, September 2025, which is the entry school into becoming a missionary with YWAM. The initial phase is three months long, followed by two months of overseas ministry. Our team will move to Thailand January 2026, complete our two months of outreach together in Thailand to graduate DTS, attend language school for five months, then move to the town where the children’s home is located to begin serving. We have all committed to a total of two years, with the potential for evaluating and continuing work at the children’s home after that initial period.

There are over 700 children currently at the home, with only around 30 total home staff and teachers. They range in age from 2-18. Many of these children (300-400) have fled from the genocide taking place in Burma. Others are Thai and have parents who are dead or in prison with life sentences. Some kids have a family, but their parents feel they cannot support their children and/or believe sending them away from their village to the children’s home will give them a better education. And some of these precious ones were abandoned with no birthdate, no contact number, and no explanation.

With 700 children in one place, there are literally thousands of opportunities for ministry. Some we may be able to start on right away, and others may take time to begin. Some of the main ones that we have identified are:

* Teaching English

* Teaching practical skills

* Helping kids with homework

* Building connections to provide dental and medical care to children

* Documenting children

* “Fostering” children

* Church planting

* Hosting short-term teams

* Regular cleaning and/or deep cleaning projects

* Providing and training children in hygiene

* Maintenance and improvement projects on the buildings and grounds

*  Supervising and playing with children

* Helping to host staff and teacher trainings and retreats

* Building connections and researching legal procedures to help adoptions take place

* Potentially opening a new ministry and acquiring property near the home for the youngest children to be nurtured and cared for.

* Providing mentoring and discipleship for older kids to prepare them for life when they leave the home.  

We are praying and trusting God to direct us as we get on the ground and gain language skills. We know serving at the home will require remaining flexible and ready for anything, and also comes down to choosing to love the one in front of us.

In choosing to go to Thailand, I am needing to raise ongoing monthly support, as I won't be able to simultaneously hold a paying job to support the full-time work I will be doing at the children's home.

Would you consider partnering with me for the next two years through prayer and giving financially as I go to Thailand? We are so in need of the grace of God as we go to do this work, and knowing people are faithfully praying makes such a difference! I do have a monthly budget in place, and I would be happy to share more details, answer any questions, and tell you more about the work at the children’s home.

Thank you so much for considering partnering with me and being one who loves on these little ones from afar.

Matthew 25:35-36, 40

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ …

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

Our Jesus is worthy!

And so worth it.

-Anna