Community of hope? not at the moment

As I lay sick in bed from dengue fever during May and then unable to move because of back problems, God brought to mind one of our communities to pray for regularly. When I had the strength to pray, I wrestled with God over the plight of our larger slum community - a community in which we have worked for around 2 years now. Yet there remains little visible fruit from the hard sweaty labour. Unlike our local slum community (which is the smaller of the 2 communities in which we work) where the fruit has been good, we are struggling in the larger slum community to plant a strong community church with faithful people. We do have a small church there but it is struggling because of the veil over the community of no hope. God spoke directly to me, as I lay on my bed listening to Him, about the reasons for this - which is really the subject of another blog .... watch this space ! :-)

But in the meantime, God has provided for us to open a Ministry Resource Centre in this larger community - thanks to a generous one-off donation a few years ago from St James Menangle in Sydney ( http://www.menangle.anglican.asn.au/ ). We have named this Centre the House of Hope. It is placed in the middle of this large community that has no hope. Daily, in this community, we are faced with heartache and pain that would rip open even the hardest of hearts. It is a smelly, sweaty place that some residents desire to get out of ..... and some do if they are lucky enough to find a job and get some money. I have posted 2 videos below of the opening of our Ministry Resource Centre last Saturday - please check them out, but then please read on AFTER the videos as I share an opportunity in this community which God is urging us to jump at !!! ....

I wrote above that this Community has no hope. There are lots of reasons for this which stem from a spiritual stronghold over the place of drugs, alcohol, bitterness, jealousy and hatred. BUT the community is also bracing itself for the ultimate building of the Skytrain which will put a station right outside this place. The community of around 5,000 people is owned by one person who rents the swamp to poor people who build wobbly structures on it. This one person is now likely to sell his swamp in 2-3 years to developers to build condominiums for richer people to live next to the new Skytrain station. Residents will then be thrust out to other swamps/communities they can find to build makeshift dwellings. Many have lived here for over 30 years, so the breakdown in community that will occur is horrendous. BUT .....

God is in control and I believe this is a unique OPPORTUNITY to disciple new believers before they are ultimately thrust out to new locations. Could this be a strategy to reach the unreached communities in our city?, bearing in mind we have only impacted 3-4 of the 30 slum communities at this stage. Please pray for God to open hearts and bring down strongholds of hopelessness in this community and grow this opportunity to disciple people BEFORE they are thrust out in order to reach all communities. Will you take up this challenge with us and pray?

One Family's Story

In one of the communities we spend time in there is a young lady called Nong Wan, about 13 years old, who comes to hang around with me at every opportunity. She loves to play card games with me and just sit and chat, but most of all she loves to read all the Thai books we have about Jesus. She has been going to our local Thai church ever since she started to receive sponsorship from a Christian foundation to go to school, so she already has a beautiful relationship with Jesus. Last Thursday when we arrived to spend the day in the community, Nong Wan spent her own 5 baht (about 16 cents) to buy me a bottle of water and was then sharing with me her dream of becoming a doctor. I of course encouraged her to keep going for that dream and God will help her to reach it.

Later that day as Phil went to buy some lunch for us, I had the opportunity to go to Wan's home with her grandmother, who has the care of both Wan and her 2 year old brother since their mother abandoned them. As I gently asked questions to determine why Wan sometimes had to miss school she explained that she earned money to live on by selling goods that she buys cheap from a market in Bangkok and that she needs Wan to mind the little one while she goes out to sell them as she can't take him with her. She went on to explain that she used to be a housemaid but can't do that anymore since she has to care for her grandchildren, and that at times she doesn't even have enough money to buy the cheap goods in order to sell them, and is reduced to begging. She was crying by this stage. As I looked at her home around me, the mud we had walked through to get there, the gaping space where the roof was missing (remembering rainy season is on its way), the bits of tin and wood that looked like they'd fall down any minute, and remembered Wan's dream to become a doctor, and the money she had spent on me that morning, I too began to cry, and to desperately ask God for wisdom to know how best to help this family.

For starters, I rang Phil and told him to get two extra lunches. (The photo above is of them eating lunch in our rented space.)

Secondly, we are able to use donated money set aside for situations like this to help improve their house and make it safe to live in, with the help of people from our local church and also from within the community, giving us an opportunity to provide some work for unemployed men.

Thirdly, we'd like to encourage, enable and empower Wan's grandmother to do some kind of handiwork that she can do in her home or in the community without having to take Wan out of school to care for the little one.

And finally, as the donations already given are gradually used up in helping families like this, we'd ask people to consider donating more to our Foundation so that we can continue to make a difference in people's lives by being God's hands and feet. This can be done by contacting Suzanne North or Glenda Allred at Pioneers of Australia on 1800 787889 or by donating online at pioneers.org.au and specifying the gift is for "Phil & Jenny Malone Special Project - Foundation for the Urban Poor" (The online giving is only new and we haven't seen it work yet so please let us know if you donate online so we can follow it up if necessary.)

Thailand Ministry Images

Check out our new video "Thailand Ministry Images". Some of you may have seen this video already as we have used it to present to groups over the last month. The video was made by a friend who visited us for a week in April 2010, so contains some excellent live images of bits of our work there. Why not have a look and leave feedback or a comment :-)



We continue to be on furlough in Australia and it is our plan to return to the work in Thailand with the urban poor in January 2011.

Our first 3 years in Thailand

We are enjoying our Home Assignment in Australia, experiencing an Aussie winter again after 3 years of intensely hot weather in Thailand. I have compiled a very amateur video of our first 3 years in slum ministry in Thailand. Please have a look, feel free to drop a comment and enjoy :-)

Also, use this to stimulate you to partner with us in prayer. The needs are great, only God can adequately meet all the needs through His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). What a privilege it is to serve the Living God - made possible only through His sovereign Grace :-)

STOP PRESS - we will shortly have 2 more videos put up made more professionally by a friend with videoing skills .... watch this space.

Encouragement of Christmas outreaches

As another year draws to a close, I am conscious of many discouragements in this difficult land, yet also many encouragements. You know, if we go simply by feelings we will fail to walk along the path that God wants us in ..... I have certainly learnt that over this last year. God's call to win the Central Thai people group and the enormity of the task at hand has not changed. But who am I? a simple person who has fallen and being broken over many years - not capable of doing the task at hand on my own, but ever determined to follow my best friend Jesus in winning the lost, even if it means walking to the cross.

I have posted below some pictures of our Christmas outreaches held in 4 separate communities in the period 13-19 December. You can also see a short video of one of the outreaches by clicking on my Youtube channel on the right of this page. The encouragement of the Outreaches has reinforced to me the promise of God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22,23), which has completely overshadowed all discouragements of 2009. For those not on Facebook, this will be your first view of these pictures. Please look at them slowly, read the short descriptions and pray for the people you see ..... it may be their only chance to get snatched from the lake of fire that we read about in Jude verse 23. And on behalf of those people in the photos and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for praying, I love you and appreciate you very much.

A 13 year old girl chooses to follow Jesus

The fulfillment of an ice-cream is nothing compared to the fulfillment that Jesus can give (as Jet is being exposed to)

Rays of sunlight beam onto children choosing Jesus

Jen & I with some of our kids we teach every Saturday... as they hold their Christmas gifts, we desperately want them to grow in the gift of Jesus for them

Sea of faces (adults and kids) wait to hear the Good News

The challenge of ongoing discipleship as many say yes to Jesus

Truly the harvest is ripe and the labourers are few. We are trying to put discipleship groups together to respond to the many who came forward to receive Jesus at the Christmas outreaches. The task is great .... Jesus has them in His Hands, but we need your help. Will you join in working with the movement of the Holy Spirit through Asia?

A new fellowship birthed

God blesses us with times when we come across some extraordinary people. Charlee is one of those. He is blind - the result of a fight some years ago. Subsequent to that, Charlee met Jesus. As a result, he loves the people in his community and has never wallowed in his plight of poverty and disadvantage (in Thailand there is no Government help for those who are stuck in poverty because of their circumstances). We came across Charlee last year when we served for some months teaching English in his community. Charlee started a cell church in his one-room dwelling (no bigger than 9 square metres). As the cell church began to grow it soon became apparent that the accommodation was inadequate .... so Charlee approached us for help to move to a bigger dwelling.

We then adopted this church as one of our financial projects. Thanks to the financial generosity of some of our friends in Australia this little cell church in the slum community now has a place to meet. To our knowledge it is the only church operating WITHIN a slum community in Samut Prakan. Samut Prakan is the city province in which we live - an industrial city housing most of Thailand's major industries, but also a city with large tracts of people living in poverty and sub-standard housing.

Outside the cell church building

Dom (standing) and Charlee leading a worship service

Sitting on the floor waiting for church to begin

Jen interacting with some of the kids, while Charlee tunes his guitar in the background

Some of the kids perform a dance of praise to God

Please pray for this community that the witness of faithful people like Charlee (who have very little) will continue to touch the people around him whom he loves.

The poverty dilemma

I often ask myself the question here in Thailand .... why do people live in such poverty when so many are living comfortable lives? And then, how best can we help people who are often in dire physical need?

Let me share a story.... Mae GuLaap (translated 'Mother Rose') is a 70+ year old lady who must fend for herself in her simple dwelling made of wood and cast iron in one of the communities in which we work. She needs to earn income because social welfare is inadequate to keep her alive. She lives with two children who have been abandoned by their parents. Then she looks after many more each day in order to earn 100 baht per day (equivalent to around $A 3.40). These little children are left by their mothers because they must go off to earn whatever they can through selling food on the streets and work long hours (a 12 hour day selling food is not uncommon). The dilemma Mae GuLaap has is that (in case of 2 children previously) the mothers may not come back for their children and then she must take on more young ones in her permanent care. The picture below shows one of the children (a small baby) looked after by Mae GuLaap. This baby is left with her for around 12 hours each day for 7 days a week.

One of the children looked after by Mae GuLaap - a baby rocking to sleep outside Mae GuLaap's dwelling

Mae GuLaap has tremendous needs, yet her face oozes out the love of God with a smile that can only come from Jesus giving her strength. She is a member of our church. But she rarely gets to church because she must earn her income 7 days a week. This is the reality of living from day-to-day on the poverty line in a country where there is little social welfare and few people to help those in need.

Last week we took Mae GuLaap a huge bag of rice - her face lit up like she had won the lottery :-) . A practical way to help meet a need and it probably means she can feed the children who have been abandoned into her care during the next week.

Green stagnant water lays beneath these places all year round in one of our slum communities

As you can see in the picture above, a lot of care is undertaken to ensure the spirits reside in well elevated little dwellings that are clean and carefully maintained. People, on the other hand, reside in houses made of whatever materials can be slapped together. We would love to be able to help teach people the importance of a clean and safe environment. Also, there are huge opportunities here to help in community development (more specifically community health development), if we had the people skilled in this area.

But, daily we are faced with the dilemma of how to best help people in poverty .... handing out money is not wise because it grows dependence and breaks down community by showing favouritism, yet turning your back on valid needs is certainly not what Jesus would do. We are increasingly coming to the conclusion that one reason God has called us here is to share our blessings with people in need - through providing food and other practical assistance (such as helping to pay education fees for children). It is a dilemma - while financial dependence is not a good thing there is a need for assistance. This assistance must respond to specific needs (e.g. helping the elderly with food parcels, or, helping younger more-able people with the means to run their own businesses). That is, in the case of younger people, the old adage applies "if you give them a fish, they will eat for a day but if you teach them how to fish they will eat for a lifetime".

Above all, we have Good News about salvation. God calls us to share this Good News while we are being Christ to people in caring for them physically.

Finally, we must ask ourselves the question in all circumstances like these .... what would Jesus do?

Is this a future Thai leader?

Every community has its leaders, whether by natural selection, by force, or by default. Even in a community of kids there are natural leaders who step up to the mark and lead their mates around. We see this with the kids we interact with in the communities we serve here in Thailand.

Let me introduce you to one of those ... his name is Jet and we think he is 8 years old. Many kids in our communities don't actually know how old they are because no one has told them when their birthday is. The number of kids we get to our kids' program on Thursdays and Saturdays can often depend entirely on how Jet feels that day. Let me share an example .... last Saturday, Jet said to me that he was not going to our Program of English teaching and games in the afternoon. And, so true to his word, he walked around telling others also not to go. His 'followers' promptly did what he said and didn't turn up. More on that later ....

Jet, like many kids we spend time with, is very needy without any male role model in his life. IF he is feeling OK he will grab hold of you and insist you give him all your attention and stops others receiving attention. Yet, on the other hand, he also takes a natural leadership position of organising the kids and trying to control them (whether they are older or younger) and many follow - out of respect or fear or wanting to be led, I really don't know why.

Mischievous Jet - but insisting on being up the front

Jet is very happy when he is in charge. But he is somewhat disruptive when he is being led.

Again, Jet making the 'statement' that he is the leader of 'the gang'

He doesn't go to school and spends his time either wandering around his slum community or playing and then is ready to boss others when they return home from the local school.

Jet refusing the challenge of a friend climbing to his 'height'

Most kids respect him and don't stand up to him, because he will be very forceful to get his own way.

Jet (on the right) trying to be cool, but he doesn't let his friends 'step out of line'

Anyway, back to last Saturday .... Jet finally decided (out of boredom, I think) that it was a good idea to join in with our kids' program at which time he stood with hands on his hip and yelled at the top of his voice for all the neighbourhood kids to come along as well. Those who didn't dare challenge his leadership prior to this time were now free to come and they all enjoyed our time together joining in with lots of fun games and activities. We had around 20 kids that day.

What do you think when I introduce you to Jet ? Possibilities can include ....

1. You may see his leadership qualities and the potential of a young man like this ?

2. You may think he is just a kid who misbehaves and wants his own way and should be disciplined ?

3. You may see that he is a kid with deep needs and deep wounds who has been rejected by potential adult role models who are too preoccupied by their own issues that stem from their extreme poverty ?

4. You may see that this child needs love and the care and leadership of Jesus in his life ?

I actually see the enormous leadership potential in Jet and want to provide care for him that eventually introduces him to my favourite leader - Jesus Christ. I have been encouraged by a friend in Australia to pray for Jet that one day he will become a servant leader of the emerging Thai church. Will you consider praying that with me?

My favourite leader is Jesus Christ because He showed how to lead people through servanthood. He never lords it over people but poured Himself out through His sacrificial death and continues to pour Himself out so His followers can be free. There is no better leader than Jesus - that is who we seek to serve and demonstrate to the communities in which we live.

Please pray that these natural leaders (like Jet) would choose the servanthood leadership of Jesus Christ and become natural servant leaders for their people in a way that revolutionises the Thai church.

The Communities in which we work - part 2 of 3

2nd in the series of communities in which we work, this blog features a larger slum community but with the same sorts of issues as the first one. Normally, we get into a 'songtaew' and travel for about 10 minutes to be there on 2 days per week.

In this community we teach adults on one day and then on another day we hold a program for kids and attend an adult cell church in the home of one of the believers.

Picture 1 - adults learn English at slum community no.2


At this stage, we are building relationships with these and other adults and use every opportunity to testify to the Hope and Restoration that we have through Jesus. In contrast to other English classes, we do not use God's Word in this class to teach English but just use a range of other materials. Each week God gives us greater insight into the needs of these people.

Then on another day we hold a program for kids and gather in a large central community meeting place, which we have done for about 3-4 months now. This has found favour with the Committee that runs the Community as well as the range of other adults who sit around to listen and observe our English class. Our Thai church has just begun to help us in this activity. Over the last few weeks we have slowly begun to introduce our Great God in many songs we do with the kids.

Picture 2 - some of the kids sit in groups to play 'animal bingo'


Picture 3 - Phil x 2 ... here, I piggyback one of our kids whose name is Phil


In contrast to other slum communities we have been exposed to, our kids program here is predominantly full of boys (normally in other places, we get to interact with more girls in a class). On an average day we will get anything from 15 to 25 boys attending and around 1-2 girls. The boys have the same heartbreaking issues as in other communities - no male role models and mostly looked after by grandparents because the parents have abandoned them. Their poverty stems from the fact that their carers are therefore too old to earn sufficient income to care for them .... and so the cycle of poverty continues for kids in this community. Their choices are limited in breaking out of this and we pray against and want to protect them from making damaging choices.

Picture 4 - our dear friend who cooks for us and provides us with drink in the hot humid climate


God has provided this lady to care for us when we serve in her community. While we teach adults and kids, she provides drink and food for us (paid by the local Government Committee that administer the Community). In her mind, she is serving us because we serve her community and she is 'earning merit' by helping people (us) who help others. We have, however, explained to her about the love of God that compels us to serve.

Lastly, in this community we take part in a small cell church of around 6 adults. The believers are mostly elderly women who have been in poverty all their lives and now have the care of their grandchildren as their priority. It breaks my heart to enter this small wooden house at the end of the path of other rundown shacks. We sit on the hard wooden floor, for around 2 hours, in the only room left in this lady's house where the electricity stills works. We sing praise to God, share testimony and read from the Word of God together. We celebrate God's Goodness to us and pray for sustenance to get through the next week and opportunities to testify about our mutual friend Jesus Christ.

Picture 5 - our cell church (picture 1 of 2) in this community

Picture 6 - our cell church (picture 2 of 2) in this community - elderly lady on left gets paid 100 baht ($3) per day to look after local kids

Interested to hear any comments you may have on this community ....

The Communities in which we work - part 1 of 3

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be posting 3 blogs - one for each of the 3 communities in which we work in order to introduce these places to you (our readers). So, today is the first - a slum community 5 minutes walk from our home.

First, click on the video below, showing me mucking around with some of the kids from this community (if it doesn't work then click on the video on the YouTube bar on the right of this page) ....

We have been working in this community for close to 12 months now, being with them on 2 days per week to teach the kids English, play games with the kids and meet as a small church cell in the house of the only believer in the community. My heart melts when I am with these people - their needs are great and I know I cannot possibly meet these needs adequately. We attempt to be as Christ to them, loving them, caring for them and then loving them some more.

I invite you to scroll through some pictures before I continue describing some needs in this community (which comes after the pictures). As you scroll through the pictures, please keep the following in mind .....
Picture 1 - pray for these 4 little guys that they would be future leaders of the Thai church (their names are: Ny, Jet, Diaw, Bear) - they are all without male role models,


Pictures 2 & 3 - pray that in our mucking around they will continue to trust us and the advice we give them as they grow into adults,

Picture 4 - pray we will be as Christ to them, caring and loving them as we would our own.

The purpose of hanging in there with the kids is to give them an opportunity to hear about Jesus and to provide assistance to help them get out of the poverty cycle, which is so destructive. The male-role models they have are largely men who drink to excess and rely on getting high with drugs. These are behaviours you can understand when you see the cycle of hopelessness they are in. We are seeking in the future to reach out in love to these adults as well. God has provided some relationships with the adults already. Yet, it breaks my heart when the boys crave my attention and affection because they just don't get it anywhere else. This 'craving need', stemming from lack of attention, makes them highly vulnerable to all types of dangers from the wider urban community.

Now lastly, I present 2 more videos of our activities with the kids in our local slum community. Video 1 shows us playing 'animal bingo' (a creative way to teach English), while Video 2 shows Jen telling a Bible story in Thai. Hopefully, it gives you a taste of just some of the things that go on, although every week is very different presenting a new set of challenges. (Again, if clicking on the videos here doesn't work, then just click on them on the YouTube bar at the rightside of this page.) If you like this blog then please drop us a message after the videos below.

Playing 'Animal Bingo' to teach English vocab. ....

Jen telling a Bible Story in Thai, while I deal with another challenge...

Back into Action

After an emotional and joyful time being a part of our daughter getting married in Chiang Rai, we had extended family with us for another week. Now, everyone is gone and we are back into action. God is good - He is building His groups of believers and nothing can stand against it.

I observe what God told David in I Chron.17 "You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day". God tells me again to not look for my own solution in extending His Kingdom - my responsibility is to serve Him and see what He does in building His groups of believers. I am truly in the best possible place that God has for me at this time in my life - there is nothing better in life than to be serving God (who does the impossible) and to see Him blossoming through my dear children.

If you are reading this blog and unsure of your own relationship with God, please trust Him now before it is too late and more time is wasted. He has great plans for everyone, who trusts in His direction.

Please take some time to pray for these dear kids from the urban slums that we hang with, as well as the adults who have little hope.