Grace (GIS) is an amazing school for missionary children in Northern Thailand that was set up in 2004 by a group of parents who wanted to keep missionaries on the field.
They recognised a need for a good, affordable education for missionary children, that would enable their parents to stay serving in Asia, to support and care for their children, third culture kids with different needs. Grace is more than a school, to many it is family.
Grief and loss
Many of the children have experienced grief and loss in their lives, leaving family and friends, their own culture, familiarity and comfort, to be in Thailand where their parents are in ministry. One of the main reasons that missionaries will return home from the mission field is because of their children’s education, but having Grace enables them to be confident that their children are being well educated and cared for.
It’s quite a large school, with over 550 students from 20 nations, whose parents are serving in 24 countries. Thailand is a good base for many of the parents who are serving in countries throughout South Asia, where it would be unsafe for the children.
Raising a new generation
The families are church planters, Bible translators or relief workers serving in prison ministries, outreaches, children’s homes and more. GIS not only enables these missions to happen, but is dedicated to raising a new generation of godly leaders and missionaries to spread the gospel to the next generation. We are also impacting the local community around us. Thailand has a 95% Buddhist population and is very resistant to the gospel. Many missionaries work for years to share with these beautiful people, entering into their lives and sacrificially giving. The Thai staff at the school are required to be Christians, but most of the guards, cooks and gardeners aren’t yet believers.
Life-changing story
Very recently the head of the guards, Dtui, professed faith. This is his story.
Dtui has been a guard at Grace for 11 years and during that time he has had contact with many believers. Many of the teachers and parents within the GIS community have taken the time to get to know him. Over the last few years, Dtui and his wife have incurred significant debt, and last year, out of desperation, Dtui and his wife, Daa, accepted an offer to receive financial counselling from a local church planter whose children attend Grace.
While the counselling was based on biblical principles, the counsellors made it clear there were ‘no strings attached.’ They offered their services out of love for the Lord and for Dtui and Daa. This concept was puzzling to the couple. In Thai culture, there is an expectation that one ‘owes’ another person when they receive a gift or an act of kindness. There were other things which mystified Dtui and Daa. Where did the joy come from which Daa observed in the two GIS families she worked for as a housekeeper? Why did the Christians at GIS respond with respect and love when an unfair lawsuit was brought against the school? These things intrigued them enough to finally accept an invitation to church. They began to learn that they owed more than just a monetary debt, but more importantly a debt of sin that was enormous but was already wiped clean by the death and resurrection of Jesus. One thing holding Dtui back was all the expensive idols he had accumulated over the years. He wasn’t willing to give these up. Over the summer, someone broke into their house and stole all the idols. He finally realised that he had nothing holding him back and he needed to repent. Dtui was baptised four weeks ago and has made the decision to follow the God who chose to love us ‘with no strings attached’ when we were still his enemies.
New campus, new teachers
The school is currently sharing a school building with a local Thai school (SBS) while we build our own campus for August 2018. This has been an exciting transition and a wonderful time to see God’s provision and to see him at work.
We need help at Grace – we need teachers! There is an urgent need for a Bible teacher, right now, and many more opportunities that can be found on the website www.gisthailand.org/
