Teen Girls Discover Their Value and Purpose!

The River Team met Nong Earn for the first time when she was about seven years old. Nong Earn lived in a dilapidated lean-to hut with her great grandparents. Due to unfortunate happenings, including deaths in the family, Nong Earn became the sole carer of her great grandparents. Her great grandma’s Parkinsons disease was progressing fast and great grandpa was very old and nearly deaf. Nong Earn helped them in  everything from preparing food to assisting them in their personal hygiene and toilet matters. The local government school was aware of the child’s unkempt appearance and frequent absences. There, however, was no structure in place to address Nong Earn’s problem.

Having established itself in the local communities, The River Team began to visit Nong Earn’s home on a regular basis. Initially the visits were about building a relationship with the family and to help identify their felt needs.

The River Team empowered the local community leaders to help this family. It was established that the priority was on providing secure shelter, adequate nutrition, care for the old couple and importantly, to attend to all the needs of the growing child. It was clear that she needed to remain with the only family she knew.

Right next to the lean-to hut, a little house with the necessary facilities for sleeping, eating and bathing was built. The local leaders and community people and of course The River Team, presented the new home to Nong Earn’s family. The River Team has continued to visit them and help them live as a family. Both great grandparents have discovered peace in God. Nong Earn became a regular at The River Kids Club, then the youth program and is now one of our Shine Girls! 

Earn’s great grandma has already passed away and her great grandpa is very old and almost completely deaf. But Nong Earn will never be alone - she is now part of The River Family!

Through Shine, she is discovering her value and purpose in God and is being equipped to impart this life-changing TRUTH to her peers in the local communities.

Thank you for your partnership in changing lives!

The River Partners 2012 and Life @ The River Concert

The River Partners Conference 2012 brought together well over one hundred leaders from most of our target areas! The time spent together empowered and strengthened us all greatly!

The momentum of praise has continued to increase! Our River Worship Team excelled in their untiring exuberance and sensitivity to God's leading. Everyone was involved! 

The spirit of celebration became explosive as we pressed deeper in understanding the free gift of Father's grace and righteousness, imputed to us through the “once and for all” sacrifice of His Son! 

We are unconditionally loved by our Heavenly Father, carriers of His life-giving, liberating and victorious presence -  empowered by His Spirit to do our part in SETTING LIVES FREE! 

The powerful, scripture-based ministry from Australia was much appreciated! Our own key River leaders did their invaluable part in facilitating excellent afternoon sessions on topics relating to Effectively Loving and Empowering Communities. 

In the evenings the proverbial “roof was blown off”! A huge stage was erected next to Hangdong Road, right inside the border of The River Centre! The music from our first    
    Life @ The River Concert 
was presented by three bands; our own River Band, a local youth band with "Kriangkrai" as its lead singer and by a more widely known band, which plays both christian and secular music.The music was heard and witnessed far into the city. With such a large crowd gathering, the police provided crowd control. This confirmed to us that we are making a real difference in Hangdong! 


"Kriangkrai" is fruit from our work in Hangdong Communities! His band practices at The River every week.

There is absolutely nothing that comes even close to the privilege of living for God’s glory! 

TOGETHER we will do our part in opening the way for others!

The River Kids Club Summer Camp 2012

Last week the River Kids Club had its annual 3-day Summer Camp at The River! The camp was all about FUN, FUN, FUN, while at the same time targeting team building, working together and building character. The timing of the camp was right after the Thai New Year, so everyone was in a party mode!  

At the beginning of the camp, each child was placed in a team. Each team had its own crew of leaders, who were actively involved in all the assigned activities. Some of the games resulted in everyone getting seriously dirty, so a thorough clean-up afterwards was an absolute necessity!

After sticky and hot outdoors, it was really nice to retreat into an air-conditioned meeting room. The kids did glass painting, watched a movie and enjoyed some free time. This was followed by each team cooking together and then preparing for the special performances at the evening's "gala event".

After enjoying the special dinner, the individual teams got on stage to show their creative abilities. There were still more games and then it was time to go to bed. Sleep was far from many kids' minds; it was far too exciting to be on a camp! Tomorrow held a promise of so much more fun and excitement!

On the morning of Day 2, the happy campers and their leaders woke up early, did some exercises and ate their rice breakfast. Everyone packed themselves into cars headed for an adventure at the Huay Tung Tao Lake. At the destination, the campers played games and then held an art contest. Everyone had a go at drawing the beautiful scenery they saw and the results were very good in deed!

Lunch was sticky rice and chicken, followed by watermelon. This would be akin to KFC and a soft serve in the west!  

Back at The River, the swimming pool was soon filled with delighted, squealing kids! 

In the evening the kids and youth joined for a combined Thai-style BBQ and lots of fun games.

On the following morning, the regular Kids Club program allowed the kids to do the things they have learnt to love and expect. These include singing, games and activities, which all carry a message of being valued and loved. As a special treat, the kids got to dress their leaders in funny outfits and paint their faces to match!

More swimming pool activities and then final meal together and back home to share all the amazing camp stories with family and friends!

These kids are precious! They come from broken homes, and without the love of God being extended to them, would not have a future to look forward to. Thank you for partnering with us in transforming young lives for God's glory!

The River Women's Conference 2012

In March, our women's leaders gathered together for the annual River Women’s Conference, this time, at The River Convention and Training Centre! Although the main meeting hall was occupied by  another event, our team creatively transformed the Kid’s Club facility into nice venue for the women. Delegates came from most of our target communities. 

The atmosphere was relaxed and unlike previous years, everyone sat on the floor! Each woman was given a team colour, which automatically placed her in group. This created a sense of belonging and resulted in lots of friendly competition! 

On a fun note, the women went “sarong swimming”. For many, this was the first time in a swimming pool, so wearing a sarong was the way to go! 

The teaching was on relevant topics, such as Team Work, Sexuality, Relationships and Character Formation. 

Exploring the topic on Team Work started from identifying The River Missions Statement. The formation of our character, our strengths and weaknesses, which impact our performance as a team member. 

The critical issue of gender identity was introduced through clear and balanced presentation on sexuality. This also included testimonies. For most of the delegates, this was the first time they heard teaching on this topic.

The women were then challenged about the the power of the tongue. The teaching included great object lessons and examples on the damage caused by carelessly spoken words, which destroy relationships and even our own lives.

To flourish means “to be fully alive!!!” The women explored what “fruit” looks like. Each one received a small pot plant, representing their individual lives. They asked God to grow, water, and prune, so that they will become more like Him.

For the time of communion, the room was lit with lots of candles. One lady expressed her impressions as follows, ‘it so struck me that the way they had done it really created the atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to move.  They had “laid the table” for us to come and eat and meet and commune with God.’ Many women just wept in the presence of God.

There were women, who made the decision to receive Salvation and wanted to be baptised as a public confession of their faith. Many were filled with His power!

The River Women’s Conference 2012 was a great success, which will be evidenced by the fruit the women will bear in the days to come!

The Girls of The River Rescue House

The school year has just finished for kids in Thailand! We are so proud of the way our River Rescue House Kids are improving! Nat  (photo: right) is in the Government High School and Fon (photo: middle) and Ganya (photo: left) in a small Christian Elementary School. It is wonderful to see these girls becoming more confident!. Fon and Ganya in particular are beginning to shine in their English classes!  Fon scored the second highest mark in her class and shows great promise in her ability to catch up with the “lost” time.  Ganya, who was deemed as mentally impaired, is performing far beyond expectations! She is coming out of her shell and is improving daily. Her new glasses are helping significantly and have given her a new confidence in the classroom.  It's fantastic to see these girls blossoming and beginning to do so well at school!  Ganya, Fon and Nat have a future, which is filled with amazing opportunities!


Thank you for your part in giving these children a future!

The Multi-Purpose River Centre

The River Training and Convention Centre is operating in an increasingly productive way! Apart from our already active program, we also have opportunities to host international training! 

On the second week of March a large number of delegates from the surrounding countries  gathered for training  funded by Fida International. This was a forum where delegates received training from experts on community development with focus on its global impact. The delegates also had opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences. Some of the issues explored were relating to environment and human trafficking. The River accommodation facility was booked to capacity and The River Team demonstrated its experience, gained over the past 4 years, in hosting and catering!  Representatives from creative access countries were amongst the delegates, some outside their countries for the very first time! On leaving, all expressed their appreciation for having an opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of another country and to participate in the excellent training! One after another, the participants said that what impacted them the most was “ the HEART of The River Team!” What touched the visitors was the passionate love of these young men and women for their God and how each one so willingly lays down his/her life for the people in the communities!  

This is a “privileged” life - living out the High Calling as ambassadors of the Most High Calling! The world that desperately needs to know Healing love!

“I am special, I am loved and I belong!”

Birthdays are not usually celebrated in the communities of Thailand. A child is often only reminded of how much pain his/her mom endured during childbirth.

The kids, who come to The River Kid's Club, learn to know that they do not have to feel guilty about being born. Instead, they discover that their birth was planned by God and definitely worth celebrating! 

YES! At The River, we celebrate birthdays BIG time and always make them a wonderful surprise event! Birthdays of kids born within any given three months are grouped together and a BIG PARTY is thrown.

The hall is decorated with lots of colourful balloons and streamers. Lots of party food is prepared, gifts are wrapped and fun games and other activities creatively planned. 

As the kids arrive, a surprise party awaits them!

Everyone sings “Happy Birthday” in both English and Thai. The worries of everyday life are momentarily forgotten as the lights are lowered and the candle-lit cake arrives! The birthday girls and boys are cheered on as they blow the candles and cut the cake! Then the joy of receiving a present!

Last Saturday at The River, it happened all over again!

The seed planted in a child's heart:

 "I am loved, I am special 

... I belong!”

For some kids, this is their very first birthday party ever and they will certainly never forget it!