Last Sunday, July 10, there was a big party at Baan Zion in Thailand! No less than 7 girls were baptized. They all made a conscious choice for Jesus! What a blessing and celebration for this project! Years ago they were taken in by Baan Zion when their mother was arrested and put behind bars for years. They entered Baan Zion hurt, abandoned and some abused. But Jesus has restored their lives, given them healing and the ultimate love and joy is clearly felt in this project.

Jan and Ellen are very proud of these girls, of them all! Recently the 4 oldest girls have been appointed to also lead the project, where you can see that they are really a family together and help and encourage each other.

Read and see more about this special day here.

The children's home supported by Project Held in Myanmar was founded by Pastor PhilipThang and his wife. What started with taking in a few children who had nowhere to go, has grown into a home for just under 25 children. That no longer fits in the current house and a solution had to be found.

There has been a call to invest for a new home, prayers for a miracle and trust in God which has made it possible that over a year later, a newly built home is standing! Pastor Philip's children, staff and family have all helped to build this house themselves and they are also very grateful for what seemed impossible, has been made possible!

The children now have a bigger and safer place, where even more children can be taken care of! Where you can cook and eat and there is room for leisure. We would like to thank all those who have contributed in any way to this, and of course also on behalf of Pastor Philip and family.

Thailand Baan Zion trip report,

From April 28 to May 9, 9 people traveled to Thailand to support Baan Zion, Prison Ministry, help and do fun things with the girls. Baan Zion is a girls home, whose mothers are or have been in prison. These mothers come from the Hmong people, a group of people who fled China after the so-called "secret war" and settled in the mountains in the north of Thailand. They are not accepted by the Thai population and it is tolerated that they live in the mountains, but hardly anyone gets their own Thai identity. In order to get money and thus food, opium is grown, with the result that mostly the still young mothers transport the “packages” in the mountains. If they are caught, they will go to prison for 15 to 20 years without mercy. If the children are present at this arrest, they will go to prison with them, without any development opportunity. They sit together with about 20 women in a small space on a concrete floor. During the day, the mothers have to work, so that the children are mainly focused on themselves. If the children are left behind in the village when their mother is arrested, the girls in particular are no better off. There is a good chance that they end up in human trafficking, prostitution or are seen as a source of income by older brothers and these girls "disappear".

Jan and Ellen are now sheltering about 35 girls and have rescued them from the clutches of the darkness. The girls go to school, have shelter, daily food and each other. Because they all know where they come from, there is a lot of love, respect and understanding among each other. Together they make the food, wash the dishes and take care of their own laundry, bed and cupboard with things. All very structured and clear.

During the trip we as a team were able to experience God's presence so much! We went to bring something, but at the same time we received so much! It really felt like a holy place, where so much love was present and the children could be such wonderful children, but also looked after each other enormously! Beautiful worship together, where they really all stood in worship, opening in the morning with the bible and sayings of encouragement, understanding God's voice and keeping quiet time.

We were allowed to do a lot, saw beautiful surroundings of Thailand, rode an elephant, every evening we could go to a Thai market which was close to our hotel and had a picnic with the girls and staff, swam together at a waterfall and played a lot of sports, tinkered and played games together.

But what we remember most is that during the trip, Jan received a message from a mother asking if she would please take her daughters into the home. Because father had already been arrested and if he said anything about complicity, the mother would also be arrested soon. She had two daughters aged about 8 and 16. We prayed about it together, because this is another enormous responsibility for Jan and Ellen, which means that you will take on the care of these girls for years, with all the worries and finances that come with it. The great thing was that Ket, one of the girls, without knowing it, opened the prayer in the morning with the text Matthew 5 verses 14 to 16: “You are the light of the world”. “But we are a house of light daddy,” she told Jan Smit. “We want to show that, right?” Through the prayer and words of an eleven-year-old girl, God made it known that the two children were meant to be raptured.

Arriving at the camp, it was immediately a very hectic event, papers had to be filled in and everything had to be arranged to get the girls along, which does not always go smoothly. When the whole thing was almost over, an elderly grandfather approached them…. When asked if they would please take his granddaughter with them, he knew that if he couldn't take care of her anymore she would end up in the wrong hands and unprepared grandpa and granddaughter would have to say goodbye right there…Heartbreaking in spite of you know that the girl is saved, it remains a very emotional event….

It is nice to see that the girls found a place in the group for the rest of the week, participating in worship, games and the daily ritual. They are helped and encouraged by the other girls who understand very well what impact this has in the lives of these children.

On behalf of this road we would like to thank everyone who gave for the internet, prayed for the journey and safety! We really felt carried in prayer and safe in this still Buddhist country.