About a
year ago we posted about the amazing ministry, Special Blessings. This ministry
serves children with special needs, supports their
families, and trains their teachers and
guardians.
TMM missionaries Carol Fare and Vicki Brown have adapted this beautiful rental
home into an amazing space for kids to learn and play. They have an interactive classroom, a classroom for trainings, and an outdoor
space where Vicki is able to build adaptive equipment for children with
physical needs. This house has also been used for TMM meetings and even as a place for a local church to worship. The
second floor of the house is used as a living space for both missionaries.
Kids learning and playing in the classroom
Teacher training
It took a lot of time
and money for Carol and Vicki to create this environment. Although they have
always payed rent on time, they began getting notices from the bank warning foreclosure
on the house. As it turned out, the home owner was not making full payments on the mortgage. This
was obviously very stressful for this ministry. In January, the house was
foreclosed and went up for auction. A huge prayer was answered and Carol and
Vicki were the only bidders and were able to buy this space for an amazing deal
of $68,000.
Outside Special Blessings
Carol inside Special Blessings classroom
Vicki in the woodshop
This ministry is so
important here in Thailand. Many schools are not willing to accept children with special
needs, and have no desire to make accommodations. It has taken Carol and Vicki
a long time to convince educators to see that these children can learn and
deserve to learn at school, and this continues to be a challenge for them.
Carol and Vicki have had some amazing success as well, including being
recognized as Continuing Education Providers to teachers. Thai school teachers are required
to continue education, and they can now come to Special Blessings to learn
about incorporating children with special needs into the classroom.
Please keep this
ministry in your prayers. They are constantly having successes and challenges.
If you want to learn more, you can see more on their website: http://www.specialblessingskorat.org/
