School break is upon us, all of the Bible students and most of the children have returned to their villages to spend some time with their relatives. The break is only about one month long, but it provides everyone a chance to get away and rest. Currently, Maam and I are holding down the fort with the help of another staff couple and my brother Joe. Five boys remain, and though they are very active, it is still very, very quiet here. We are enjoying the peace and quiet, and are looking forward to next week when we will get some time to get away and rest. This week we are trying to catch up on all the things that we have needed to do for a long time now. The past few months have proved to be some of the busiest of my time here at Akha Outreach Foundation.
Working here I am constantly assured of not becoming bored with the same old routine, for each day provides a new challenge. Facing these constant challenges can sometimes become discouraging, but I constantly focus on the promises found in Lamentations 3:21-24
“This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
Since my last posting to this Blog, I have gone to this passage many times. I would find myself closing my eyes to sleep at night, with just the faintest bit of hope left, but waking to a new morning with a renewed hope and a desire to press on. I am eternally thankful for your prayers and letters of encouragement and I want you to know that God is using your lives as a blessing for so many others. Thank you for being a vessel, ready and willing to serve our King.
Why were the past few months so difficult? Because it seemed like daily I was forced to face the truth that our bodies are fading away, and we will experience suffering while in this world. It all started shortly after my last posting to the Blog, when I had to face every parents fear, trying to comport a hurt child. It was a Sunday afternoon, and everyone was spending the afternoon relaxing and enjoying a day of rest. I was just getting ready for a nap, when I realized that I hadn’t seen Garuna for a while. I asked Maam if she knew where Garuna was, Maam told me that she was playing with the children and so there no need to worry. I felt relieved and headed off for my rest. Before I reached the room, I heard Garuna’s scream of pain. I ran outside to see what was wrong, and one of the children was already bringing her back to the house. Garuna was screaming, and as I approached I saw the blood covering her eye. My first thought was a lost eye and blindness, but buy Gods grace it turned out to be just a scratch. Garuna was playing on the play toy, and fell off landing on her face. She got a small cut next to her right eye, and now has a small (very small) scar next to her eye. When I was about 8 years old, I too fell and cut the side of my right eye. I required stitches, and have a nice scar, but Garuna’s was so small that no stitches were needed. Still the sight of blood and the screams makes one expect the worst. Praise God for His protection. This encounter was only the beginning of what was going to become a long three months of medical emergencies and trips to the hospital.
Only two days after Garuna’s accident, Bratana woke up from her afternoon nap in great pain. We examined her and could find nothing wrong with her, we just assumed she was teething and that was why she was crying. But after awhile we realized something was wrong. We began by checking her from head to toe but found nothing wrong. Maam kept noticing that Bratana was favoring one of her arms. She wouldn’t lift it our move it, and that was not typical for her. Bratanas favorite thing to do is to bench press pillows. Yes, you read it correctly. She loves to lay on her back, and bench press pillows. But today she wasn’t doing it. We looked closely at her arm and hand, she would cry a little when we touched her elbow, but there was no swelling. So after a night of restless sleep, we decided to take her in to have a doctor look at it. After examining her, the doctor decided that she had a dislocated elbow. How it happened we aren’t sure, but after an x ray, it was confirmed that it was dislocated. The doctor again checked her out and slowly popped the elbow back in. What was amazing was that Bratana didn’t even whimper during this whole process. The doctor and all the nurses were amazed, and immediately after the elbow was in place, she reached for the nurses to hold her with a big toothless grin on her face. We were happy to see that the bill for the whole day amounted to $30 and were even happier to see Bratana bench pressing pillows again.
But our trips to the hospital didn’t stop there. Later the same week, Maam woke up and the right side of her face was a little numb. At first we thought that she might have just slept on it wrong, but the next day it was even worse. By the third day, you could clearly see that the whole right side of her face was drooping, and she was having a hard time hearing out of the right ear. We decided to go have it checked out when she yawned and her jaw locked and she couldn’t get it closed. After the doctor looked at her, he said she was suffering from Bell's Palsy, a disorder that usually goes away in time. In Maams case it was about one and half months before she was back to 100 percent. Even though it was funny watching her smile with a crooked face, I am glad her perfect smile is back.
While we were waiting for Maam to completely heal, our next medical emergency began. One of the hardest things about being sick or others around you being sick, is the helplessness you feel in trying to help them. You see their suffering and so desperately long to ease it, but many times aren’t able. I truly hate this feeling not being able to help and the month of August was filled with it. It all started on a typical Monday morning. All the children were busy getting ready for another week of school, and the staff was busy helping them get ready. Every school morning we have a mass exodus as the kids leave for school. Currently we had 82 children attending 8 different schools. So we have kids going in many different directions by many different means of transportation. There is one truck that takes a load of children into the schools in the city. There is another truck that takes a load to a nearby jr high/high school. There is about 12 that ride their bikes to a different jr high/high school. And then there is third truck that does two trips to a near by elementary school. We have been doing this for a while now, and it usually works like clock work. But something happened this Monday morning that changed all of our lives for ever. Manoon was a 13yrs studying at Don Chai secondary school which is about a nine minute bike ride from our place. For six years now we have had all the children from this school ride bikes, because it is close buy and the kids really enjoy it. We have never had any accidents or troubles before this particular Monday. Manoon and some of the others left on their bikes as usual, and just outside of our property Manoon was struck by a car. The mirror of the car caught Manoon and his bike. Manoon crashed onto the windshield of the car and tumbled of onto the road. No body from our home saw the accident, but the first truck load arrived at the scene right after it happened. As quick as we could the staff rushed out to the road to help. By the time I arrived two of our staff and the driver of the car were already in the ambulance with Manoon and on their way to the hospital. For the rest of the day we were in constant prayer and uncertainty of how serious this was going to be. And for the next two and half weeks, God used Manoon’s life and this accident to teach everyone more about our wonderful Heavenly Father. Manoon passed away at 11:05PM on Thursday the 23rd of August after 18 long hard days of fighting, most of the nurses said that if he wasn’t such a fighter he would have died in the first 24hrs following the accident. Not Manoon, he fought and he fought, and his courage and desire encouraged us and gave us hope. We are thankful that Manoon was a son of God, he had received Christ and truly loved to worship. We rejoice that his life here was a blessing to all of us and even his death was used to bless others with the message of God’s Love. The driver of the car is a soldier and is a Buddhist. But many times during this ordeal we were able to share with him the love of Christ and build a relationship with him and his family. He lives in Chiang Mai, about three hours from here, but when he has to come to Chiang Rai, he stops buy to visit our home. The loss of Manoon was a terrible burden, and no parent wants to have to lay to rest one of their own children. The were many long and lonely nights of uncertainty leading up to his death, but strange as it seems, the one thing we feared most was what brought the most peace. There is an Akha proverb that says: “Not only yellow leaves fall to the ground, but sometimes green leaves as well.” And another proverb that states: “It is not the length of life that matters but the quality of life.” The sorrow of his death, brought about joy of a new life. The tears of his loss, brought about hope of seeing him again in heaven. We all miss Manoon, but are thankful that he is with Jesus right now, and one day we too will be with him again. Thank you for your prayers during this time of pain we passed through, and if you would like to know more about Manoon and his life or see a slide show one of our staff made for him, you could go to the following link.
www.imaracom.com/cyberworks/manoon.html
During the uncertainty of Manoons accident, we as a staff team took turns driving his mother to and from the hospital three times a day. We also took turns bedside with Manoon. I have been to the hospital here many times, but during the month of August the hospital felt like my home. Following Manoons death, I was saddened at his loss but glad not to have to go back to the hospital again. At least that is what I thought. For the next month and half I have been going to the hospital or visiting a doctor at least once a week. First Garuna got a really bad cold, followed by Bratana and Maam. Finally I got the same cold and after a week of feeling on the verge of death, I began to recover, only for Garuna to become sick again. Praise God the second time wasn’t as bad, and we are all health now.
My final trip to the doctor came this past week when I had to go to the dentist to get a small filling in one of my teeth. It turned out to be a hour long ordeal and costing a lot more then I expected. But praise God the tooth is better and I feel a lot better. When something major happens here, life doesn’t stop and you don’t get time off. You still have children that need to get to and from school, homework that needs to helped with, classes you need to teach, food that needs to be bought and cooked, and everything else that makes up a normal day here. The break has arrived though, and we are thankful for God seeing us through the past few months, and also trusting that the next two weeks will truly be a time of rest and relaxation for everyone here. I am looking forward to spending some time alone with my family. We are traveling to
Thanks again for your prayers and I ask that you will continue to lift up everyone here at the home and Manoons Mother and brothers. Also the soldier and his family, God is at work in their lives and we are eager to see what come about. Pray that Maam, Garuna, Bratana and I will have a nice week of rest in
On a final note I want to thank all of you who have sent goodies our way that we listed on our wish list. The weather has been hot and the lemon aide has tasted so good. The 100 grade bars are a true déclassé and I have to ration them so that they don’t get eaten to fast. Garuna loves Apple Jacks now, and now her and daddy share a box when one comes. Thank you so much for your care, it may seem small, but it is a huge blessing. Thank you.
Until next time, please know that we love you and are continually praying for you. May God continue to bless and protect you and your loved ones, and may your lives continually be a light to those in darkness.
Love in Him
Dan, Maam, Garuna, and Bratana Rutledge
Praise Report:
1. Praise God we have made it through another term. The children and Bible students are growing physically, mentally, and spiritually. For this we are so thankful.
2. Praise God I passed my Thai drivers test. I have had a Thai drivers license now for three years, but at Christmas we are going to begin using a big truck to take the kids to school. Here they call it a six wheeler, it is like a deuce and a half truck. So it is a big truck. In order to drive it you need a special license and I had to take both a written test and a driving test. The first time I failed both. The written test is in Thai and I still read like a first grader, so it was very hard. The second time they had someone read it for me and so I passed easily. Also the driving test was easy, I just messed up on one part and had to go back and do it again. Praise God it is finished and now I have another tool to help serve the ministry here.
3. Praise God our family is healthy right now and Garuna and Bratana are growing bigger and bigger each day. Garuna is right now singing a Christian song and reading a book on ABC’s. Bratana is nine months and is starting to stand on her own. She has two teeth now and loves to clap her hands. Maam is doing great, and everyone loves her cooking in the kitchen.
4. Praise God for the needed finances to pay for all of our expenses. There were some times, it looked like we might be short, but in the end there always was enough. Thank you for your gifts, we can’t do this with out you.
5. Praise God for Dr. Luce and his two dental assistants that spent a week here providing dental care and treatment for everyone here at Akha Outreach Foundation, and also many people in nearby villages. This is the fourth time Dr. Luce has come, and his heart to serve is truly inspirational. All the kids love him, and even though I have a fear of dentist, he is one man I love to spend time with and watch him work. Thank you, Dr. Luce and all those who have ever come with him to aide all of us here. There is a short interview with Dr. Luce at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1869843191842582785&hl=en feel free to check it out.
5. Praise God for the completion of the rice planting. Usually we plant our rice mid August, but this year the rains came late, and we weren’t able to plant our rice until mid September. It was hard work, but everyone pitched in and now we can look forward to the harvest in November.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray that this time will be full of quality rest and time for our family. We are all tired and we are looking for some time to unwind.
2. Pray for Gods hand of protection over all the children, Bible students, and all the staff during this school break and the upcoming school term. Pray for physical health and also spiritual growth and maturity.
3. Pray for the Akha Christian Youth camp that is being held on the 10th to the 13th of October. Each year they hold this camp for the Akha teenagers and have been averaging close to 700 teens each year. Most of the teens are not Christians and come from non Christian villages, so it is a great time to share the message and love of Christ with them.
4. Pray for all the staff here at Akha Outreach Foundation. We are having a staff retreat/planning meeting from the 24th to the 27th of October. This will be a time to evaluate the past term, and make plans for the upcoming term. We have three teams of staff working together to help this ministry function smoothly. The Children’s Team which is in charge of the 81 orphans that are living here, the Bible School team, which manages the Bible students and Bible school, and the Church Plant team which aids the villages churches we have planted and provides materials and training for the pastors and church leaders. All three of these teams are full time job, but all of our staff help out in the other teams when needed. Please pray that this retreat be a time of unity building and encouragement as we look to the term to come.
5. Pray for the children team and all the orphans here. I have now been directing this team for a year, and it has proven to be a bigger task then I ever imagined. I feel like a full time father to 81 children, but also to Garuna and Bratana. It is tiring and I would not be able to do it without the aide of my other staff members. I still need your prayers for guidance and direction, as I seek to build a team of people who will be able to build into the lives of each child. In years past we have had child leave because of different reasons, and each time a child leaves it hurts. So our goal as a team this year is not to have one single child leave. We base this goal on Matthew 18:14 “It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” We desire to press on towards this goal and trust that God will continue to use our lives to show His love to the lives of each of these children. Our desire is not only that no one will leave, but like it says in Matthew. Not one should perish. We desire that all of them are able to come to a saving knowledge of Christ and grow in their relationship with Him.
6. Finally please pray for our financial support as a family. The end of the year brings with it many expenses. At the end of November we have to renew our insurance for the year. This is around $2500 for the year. Also in April we as a family will be flying back to the
Thank you again for your prayers and your support. We could not be here serving if you weren’t there serving first. Thank you.
Your fellow servants in Him
Dan, Maam, Garuna, and Bratana Rutledge
