Thailand: stability for families in the slum

Mission partners Elise and Jon Fletcher are immersed in the life of the Khlong Toei slum in Bangkok. They support local families in a number of ways, including through an 18-month programme called Keeping Families Together (KFT), which helps people work towards financial stability. Pray that current KFT participants will be empowered to build more stable lives for themselves and their families and for God to work powerfully in the life of each family represented in the programme.  

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Thailand: protection of children’s rights

Elise and Jon Fletcher live and work in Khlong Toei, a slum community in Bangkok, where they share Jesus’ love and support local families to stay together despite the pressures of living in the slum. As Jon attends the regional conference for the Global network of Religions for Children, pray that it will be a great opportunity for dialogue and increased partnership in the work of protecting the rights of children in Thailand. 

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South East Asia: ceasefire

A Thailand-Cambodia ceasefire was agreed at the end of December, ending weeks of border clashes that forced nearly one million people from their homes. Praise God that the ceasefire is still in place. Please pray for lasting peace between the two countries and for civilians to be able to safely return to their homes.

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Thailand: Keeping Families Together

At the end of January, partners Elise and Jon Fletcher began a Keeping Families Together programme with 12 families in the Khlong Toei slum community in Bangkok where they live and work. Part of Elise and Jon’s role of sharing Jesus’ love with people through both presence and project-based support, the programme aims to give families practical tools to help them stay living together despite the pressures of living in the slum. Give thanks for these 12 families and pray for Elise and Jon and case workers as they come alongside them and share Jesus’ love.

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Thailand: Catholic connection

Praise God for an unexpected opportunity for mission partner Jon and his colleagues to meet with the Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Thailand. They were able to present the case for children growing up in families rather than orphanages and discuss ways to work together. The archbishop was encouragingly engaged and sympathetic. Please pray that this initial conversation will lead to further partnership and positive outcomes for Thai children.

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Asia: Flood survivors

Please continue to pray for all those affected by serious natural disasters in Asia, from floods in Thailand and Indonesia to the effects of Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka. May God provide for all their needs.

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Thailand: motorbike accident

Mission partners Elise and Jon Fletcher are immersed in the life of a slum community in Bangkok, where they share Jesus’ love with their neighbours and through various advocacy and training projects.

As information on the harm of orphanages is distributed to 200 international schools across Thailand, pray for people to take notice so that more children can grow up in loving homes.

Please also pray for Elise and Jon’s family as they recover from a recent motorbike accident in which their youngest child’s ankle was broken. Pray for healing and for comfort as she copes with the disappointment of missing out on dancing and skateboarding.

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Thailand: new case worker helping families to stay together

Mission partners Elise and Jon Fletcher live in the vibrant slum community, Khlong Toei, and share Jesus’ love with people in a number of ways, including through the Keeping Families Together programme (KFT). Elise and Jon write that their next-door neighbour Ora has started working for KFT as a part-time case worker to support families in their community. Give thanks for Ora’s local insight and experience, which will benefit the team greatly, and pray for many more families to be strengthened through her support.

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Thailand: influence through international schools

Mission partners Elise and Jon Fletcher are sharing Jesus’ love with people in the slum community where they live, including through partnering with the Alternative Care Thailand (ACT) coalition for care reform in Thailand. Pray for Jon and ACT as they work to educate international schools in Thailand about the harms of residential care for child development and the prevalence of orphanage trafficking in Thailand. Pray that schools will be open to dialogue as well as a change in practice, and that there will be some strong allies. 

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Thailand: people in mission conference

People in mission from across Asia will be coming together for a few days in Thailand in October. Pray for visas to be granted and childcare arrangements to be made so that people in mission can attend. Pray for those organising the event to be of one mind as they plan opportunities for rest, fellowship and alignment with God and each other as they listen to what God wants to do in the region.

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Thailand: protection in rainy season

Following the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand earlier this year, the Thai government have set up an emergency warning system to warn people about natural disasters. Pray for God’s protection over communities still suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake to avoid any further damage and loss during the current rainy season.
Pray for the new drainage systems in the city of Chiang Mai to be efficient. And pray for peace in people’s hearts as they fear that there will be a repeat of last year’s city-wide flooding.

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For nearly two decades, Helen has worked at the front lines of anti-trafficking in Asia. She’s focused her skills, as a trauma therapist and mental health specialist, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which she describes as a ‘bottleneck’ for Asia’s people trafficking. 

Many of the people Helen supports come from remote villages in northern Thailand where poverty, limited education, substance abuse, poor access to healthcare and mental health issues create a perfect storm of vulnerability. 

Sex tourism draws huge numbers of people to Chiang Mai and many vulnerable people end up exploited into this industry. But it’s not just sexual exploitation. Chiang Mai is close to Thailand’s border with Myanmar, where a huge civil war rages – displacing many people. Families are fleeing across the border into Thailand. A lot of young girls and boys, who have been separated from their families – or whose parents cannot work – are being recruited into exploitation. 

Young girls are being sexually exploited and young boys are forced into hazardous labour, including construction work. The urgent need for protective interventions, safe shelter and trauma-informed support services continues to escalate.

This is where Helen and her survivor-led team at Rise Foundation Asia step in; working at the intersection of protection, recovery and long-term restoration.

Our first question is, “are you safe?” 

Helen and her team provide direct support and advocacy for people who have experienced exploitation, working with government agencies, law enforcement and multidisciplinary teams.

Most of the foundation’s team are women who have gone through their programme. Helen explains, “We have professionals, and survivors who are learning to be professionals in their field [nurses, social workers and counsellors], working alongside each other.”

At their drop-in centre, Baan Romyen – located in Chiang Mai’s entertainment district – social workers and caseworkers assess each new arrival. “Question number one is whether they are safe. Do they have somewhere to stay?” says Helen. “Secondly, we ask: ‘Have you eaten?’”

When parents arrive, the team checks whether their children are in school. Many of the young people they see – some as young as 12 – have been recruited into the sex industry. “We make sure that we take them out and put them in school,” Helen says. “Currently we support around 40 children in school and 15 young women in college.”

Other organisations often refer people to the Rise Foundation Asia because of their robust trauma and health care programme. 

Mind, body and soul – healing the whole person

Helen and her team have created a healing-centred environment – where trauma-recovery and skill-building go hand in hand. “It’s not a one-stop, come for a year and you’re healed. Healing is linear,” Helen explains. 

Every single person that walks into the drop-in centre is sent to the hospital for a medical check up. Some of them have never received that. Ever. The centre provides mental health assessments and ongoing psychosocial support through its team of onsite counsellors

An outreach team is active daily, with dedicated evening outreach each week. Together with a nursing team, they bring essential sexual health care directly into the spaces where women and children are most vulnerable – whether in remote villages or urban centres. In addition to this ongoing outreach, they run full sexual health clinics several times a year to ensure access to critical care.

Where is God in Chiang Mai? 

Helen’s faith quietly informs her values and approach, shaping a commitment to dignity, justice and compassion in her work. “There is extensive research that shows spirituality is an important part of the human psyche. How spirituality works out is different for different people,” she says.

“We do not pressure anyone into a certain belief system. We work with women and children who have come out of places where they didn’t have choices. Exploitation was part of their life.”  

“A lot of the women we work with want to know more about Christianity because they see the long-lasting effect of our faith impacting a lot of lives. We do not waver from our belief system.”

Is exploitation a never-ending problem? 

There is a constant stream of displaced, vulnerable people arriving in Chiang Mai. For every 10 people helped there are 20 more who will end up exploited and abused. How does Helen keep going? 

Helen starts with the immediate needs. “There are women and children who are in front of us. Our job is to provide for their needs. We never say no to anyone. We either redirect them to other organisations or if there’s a gap we step in.”

Then there’s the bigger picture of how trafficking and gender based violence is growing so much. 

“A couple of years ago, I got very frustrated. There’s a metaphor used in the anti-trafficking and humanitarian field where we are just pulling people out at the bottom of the river and there’s not enough work done to stop nature. So prevention became a huge part of what we do.” 

Rise Foundation Asia gets children into school. “A lot of the young girls don’t get to go into secondary education simply because they can’t afford it. And if a family can’t afford it, then the boys are the ones who get to go.” 

Substance abuse is a huge problem too. 

“A lot of gender based violence and sexual exploitation comes from childhood abuse,” shares Helen. “Women who experience abuse in childhood may later enter exploitative situations believing it to be normal, as early trauma can condition the brain to accept harm as familiar or expected.” 

How do you change that? “We go back to the family system,” says Helen. “We go to the villages and see where the substance abuse problem starts.

“We’re in the process of purchasing land and raising funds to build a post-rehab centre that will serve the long-term needs of the community.” The plan: stop substance abuse, provide health care and then employment. “We want to provide an alternative form of employment before they get into sex work.”

Alongside this practical help, Rise Foundation Asia works in advocacy and policy changing.

Helen explains, “We work closely with local and foreign governments. We’re doing cross-border and cross-sector work. Anti-trafficking organisations shouldn’t just work among themselves. It’s a humanitarian issue because it involves poverty, education, business, economic freedom and has a spiritual factor as well. 

Churches have a part to play in combating trafficking 

So how can churches help?

“Churches have the capacity and the people to lend their hands.” Says Helen: “Whether you have doctors in your seats, lawyers or educators, there are many ways that the church can contribute to this humanitarian issue and keep people safe, raising awareness and providing preventive measures.”

Helen reminds us, “the social media of churches alone is amazing. Even if once a week or month you put some of this information out, you’re reaching hundreds and thousands just from your community alone. You don’t have to leave the church and be in the mission field. 

“We all need to find the gaps and fill them.” 

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