Nittaya Mandee (or Sao as she is called by friends and family), spends each working day surrounded by children – 35 mostly active and very needy little children aged between six months and three years. Together with two other women in the ‘big’ children’s room, an infant children’s carer and Mrs Nam Kant (who has […]

Nittaya Mandee (or Sao as she is called by friends and family), spends each working day surrounded by children – 35 mostly active and very needy little children aged between six months and three years.

Together with two other women in the ‘big’ children’s room, an infant children’s carer and Mrs Nam Kant (who has served as the cook and cleaner for Home of Praise since its inception), Sao has the privilege of sharing the love of Jesus with these precious little ones in very practical ways.

Coming into the Home of Praise brings the little children into a place of love, hope and joy – often in stark contrast to their life in shanty homes in the slums of Kong Toey, Bangkok. The harsh world of the slums surrounds the little green building of Home of Praise, tucked under the towering freeway structure above and tightly packed in by shanty housing on every side. Many of the children come from homes where violence, drug use, abuse, poverty and neglect are rampant.

The daily routine in Home of Praise is important for these children coming from the chaos of the life lived in these surrounding slums. Their day in Home of Praise follows a regular pattern:

• At 7.30 am – play and read stories
• Eat fruit and drink milk
• 9.00 raise the flag
• Exercise until 9.30
• Come into the room and drink milk from a glass (not a bottle)
• Wash their face and put powder on
• Story time
• Play for one hour (divide into 2 groups) – one outside and one inside
• Lunch (rice and small portion of vegetable or protein)
• Sleep and have a bottle
• Bath time
• Leave at 3.30

Parents (or their carers) pay a very minimal fee of 10 baht (35 cents) per day for their children to attend Home of Praise.

When asked, Sao shared that the best thing that she and the others staff at Home of Praise can give to the children in their care is ‘Warm love – the love of God. We tell them about the love of Jesus through our actions and through the songs we teach them. We show them God’s love by caring for them’. Sao continued, ‘pray for those of us who work here and for the children we love to care for’.

At the end of each day, long after the little children have left, Sao makes her way through the slums to her home to be greeted by her husband and four year old son. She leaves Home of Praise…tired but happy.

Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) generously supports the ministry of Home of Praise and is vital in providing fruit and milk as well as allowing people, such as Sao, to give the love of Jesus Christ to these children in very practical ways.

Many of our partner churches are working in new territory for the kingdom of God; therefore, spiritual attack is their everyday reality. As a member of a congregation, school, or family, or a couple or individual, you are invited to commit to praying for our partners in mission. For regular prayer point updates, go to www.lca.org.au/international-mission/act-now/pray

Read more stories about our partner churches in Thailand at https://www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories/international-partners/thailand/