Hands of Hope Foundation

Partners

We are partnering with two local non-profits in Thailand: The Tamar Center and the Hand to Hand Foundation.  The Tamar Center’s mission is to help men and women out of the human trafficking industry and equip them with an education and skill set that allows them to make a living and sustain their families.  Hand to Hand Foundation focuses primarily on the slums and prisons. They work to love on the people, educate the children, provide medical care and hygiene, and point them to Christ.  These two organizations have seen tremendous success in their missions and have incredible testimonies of lives transformed forever by the gospel.  
 

Church Planting

Working with our local partners and Community of Faith Church, we planted four churches in Pattaya in Summer 2015. These churches have become a center of life and hope in their areas.  They are staffed by local Thai people and the elders are comprised of leaders from Tamar Center, Hand to Hand, and Community of Faith.  These churches have become our main vehicle to minister in the realms of human trafficking, slum outreach, and education.  They create a stable and consistent voice and location of hope in the area.

Two of the churches are planted in the middle of two of the worst slums in the city.  What is happening here is incredible!  People are being delivered from drug and alcohol addictions, cycles of abuse are ending, and the communities are being transformed.  The chief of both slums have given their hearts to Jesus and are leading their communities. The people are running their own churches and are taking pride and ownership in their new faith.  

The third church is stationed in the most intense party street in the city. The fourth is in a bakery and shop run by women the Tamar Center has freed and given work. Both of these venues have become a massive beacon of light and hope for bar girls and locals.  The pastors running these venues are former trafficking victims and their testimonies have incredible power and authority in the streets.  In the middle of chaos, God is changing lives!

Human Trafficking

The Tamar Center is our focus point for Human Trafficking work in Thailand.  The Tamar Center takes men and women that are open to the gospel and begin to create opportunities for them to become free from the sex trade.  They do this through their training programs.  This gives the girls an alternative job to working in the bars.  Salvation for these women creates an opportunity for God to lead them out of the darkness and into a new life and a beautiful and wonderful plan to prosper them and give them life to the full.  This makes the alternate jobs a game changer that helps to free the women from their bar work and begin a new life.

These programs also instill creative value and self worth in the women.  This is a big mindset shift and opens the door for them to accomplish more than they previously thought possible.  But, the most important core value in these programs is to build relationships with these people and to point them to Christ because ultimately, he is the one who can change their lives and make them new.   The healing in their hearts comes in knowing God and growing closer to Him.

There are two great ways to support this ministry.  You can purchase some of the handmade products and sustain the women in there new lives.  You can also donate money to help sponsor a girl's education.  

Slum Outreach

The Hand to Hand Foundation is working to make an impact in this area.  Hand to Hand Foundation began working with children in slums from the beginning.  This foundation started to clean, clothe, and feed these children.  They would teach them Thai and English, artistic expression, and share the hope of Jesus.  Consequently, they began to build relationships with the slum communities as a whole, becomingly highly respected for the hope they would bring in the name of Jesus. They also work to help the adults get new birth certificates which in turn allows them to instantly triple their income at the very least.  Thailand is a Buddhist country that believes strongly in Karma and this becomes the main reason they don’t have any welfare systems in place.  The people in these conditions “deserve” to be there.  This has allowed us to have a significant impact in sharing the hope and love of Christ.

Hands of Hope Foundation is partnering with Hand to Hand Foundation to increase their impact in the slums of Pattaya and Isaan.  Our teams aid by ministering to the people through medical outreach, building projects, and simple acts of love.  We have also started churches in a few of these slums which have become a beacon of light and a center point of life and hope in the slums.  The churches have changed the atmosphere of the slums and brought new life and energy and opportunities to reach and educate the people.  

Education

Although education is compulsory until grade 6 it is often not an option for the children of the slums and homeless children.  Hand to Hand Foundation is currently providing education and care for many of these children in Pattaya. They provide an exceptional education opportunity for children doomed to poverty without it. Their facility provides meals and has showers, since many of the children come without both.  Margie and her staff provide a Christ-centered, loving atmosphere where the children can feel loved and comfortable.  All of the children are attending for free and are almost exclusively picked from slums and areas where our ministries are directly doing outreach.  This allows for followup through our churches and continued outreach.  Learn more about the school here.  

Some of our Hope Scholars are through this ministry.  Change a child's life by sponsoring their education.

Child Rights

One very big problem in Thailand is that children have little to no rights or protection.  Hand to Hand Foundation is the leading voice for child advocacy in Thailand and is currently working directly with the Thai government to develop rights for the children.  Whether a child’s needs are not being met or a child is getting repeatedly abused, there is really nothing that can be done to protect the child.  Children often get sold into the trafficking business to pay off a parent’s debt or to provide money for drug habits.  Many children are getting abused in their homes without a hope of being able to leave. Whether this be physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, there is not a lot that can be done for these children, even if the problem is well known.  Children are often even sold to support a parent’s drug habits or to pay off a debt.  Sometimes these children are returned, but a lot of times they become victims of the sex trafficking industry.  We are proud to partner with Hand to Hand Foundation while they fight for change and freedom for the children of Thailand.