In a village in Thailand called Baan Ruam Thai 9, many families part with their children year after year as they send them to receive a free education at Buddhist temples far from their village. While many of these families know Christ and are members of the village’s Hmong Lutheran church, they simply cannot afford to pay for the village schools. Through a program called "Bring the Children Home," the WELS mission in Thailand is making it possible for these families to stay together and for their children to have a Christian education.

The program began in May 2006 with 21 eager Hmong children. It has grown to more than 30 children between the ages of 4 and 14. Through sponsorships and donations, the program provides funding for the children to attend the village schools during the week. In addition, they spend Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at the church where the village evangelists teach Bible classes along with Hmong literacy and music lessons.

Teachers Sam and Joe are originally from Baan Ruam Thai 9 and, after being among the first graduates of the “It Is Finished” Bible Institute in Chiang Mai, they returned to their village as full-time evangelists. As they work to bring the gospel to their village, it has been a challenge for them to find time to organize this program and spend the weekends teaching and supervising. But the work they do is invaluable, not only in sharing God’s Word with the children, but also in building a good rapport among the church and the village families.

"These children are learning God’s Word early on in their lives, and it shows," says Robert Meister, a WELS missionary who has been with the Thailand mission since it began in 1993. "To hear them sing hymns by heart, recite prayers, and respond in the Sunday morning liturgy is indeed a blessing from God."

The hope is that these children will be the evangelists of the future. Perhaps they will continue learning the Scriptures at the Bible Institute and Seminary in Chiang Mai, where they could train to be lifelong Christian leaders. “We pray that these children will one day be teaching their own children the truths of God’s Word,” says Eric Duwe, a WELS Kingdom Worker volunteer in Thailand. "We also trust that they will be solid Christian believers in the churches they will attend in the future."

To learn more about the "Bring the Children Home" program, e-mail promiseupdate@gmail.com.