Carpenters in Thailand What We've Been Up ToWe hope you guys are doing well! We wanted to catch you guys up on what’s been going on in our lives recently. Here’s a few pictures from the last few weeks.
 Stories This week one of our students is specifically on our hearts, because she will likely be having her first child this week! Every week some of us on our team visit the red light districts and bars to build relationships and offer them a way out. Gam had been working in one of the red light districts we visit, however, this isn't how we met her. Gam heard about Jesus for the first time ever on a video on facebook. She was so captured by what she heard, and she wanted to know more! She remembered she had once seen one of her facebook friends write about God, and so she reached out to him. He told her about a church he had visited before in Bangkok. This church happened to be Samaritan Creation's partnership church, AND it was only 5 streets down from where she lived! We met her that next day, and she was really interested in joining Samaritans. Fast forward a bit, and she joined our program. It's just been so incredible so watch her grow and see how the Lord has been working in her life. She found out she was pregnant after just two weeks of being at Samaritans. She's continually said how thankful she is for God's timing in all of it- as now she has a family at SC and hope in Christ! It's been really sweet to see how excited she is to meet her daughter and to be able to share about Jesus with her! Please join us in praying for Gam and her daughter, Arin. Pray for strength, grace, and encouragement for Gam as she begins this next season of life and welcomes her daughter into this world! We recently made a video for our home church, Christ Community Church, to share with the congregation. We wanted to share this video with you all as well. You'll hear more about Gam in the video below!
We are so grateful for all of you and the huge part you play in what God is doing here. Please let us know how we can be praying for you and your communities. In Christ, Mary Blake & Currie 
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Carpenters in Thailand As many of you know, Currie and I have been working on starting this new business as mission at Samaritan Creations. When we first moved to Thailand, we didn't know jewelry making was in our future, but here we are! About a year ago, we began sourcing materials, setting up a jewelry workshop, and watching lots of YouTube videos on how to handcraft metal jewelry. We've definitely made a lot of mistakes in the process, but we have learned so much in this past year! We've trained women here in how to make this jewelry, and we've been selling to wholesale buyers. We are so excited to announce that we are officially launching our website, and we can now sell jewelry in the US! Samaria sells jewelry which is handmade, locally crafted, and ethically sourced. All proceeds go towards the sponsorship program in our ministry, which helps support a student attend our one year restorative program! We would love for you to follow and share our Instagram and Facebook page. We'd also love for you to check out our website!! We are so grateful for you all! Mary Blake & Currie
Follow & ShareWe hope this letter finds you well. We are very thankful for the support you guys have shown us in recent months. Thank you for reaching out to check on us, praying for us, and financially supporting us so that we can continue serving here. During the shutdown here in Bangkok, we were able to continue meeting online with the students in our program. Our team was definitely a little nervous that it would be difficult to continue the program online. However, we were really pleased with how it went. The students continued to open up, ask questions, engage, and grow while meeting virtually. This was a huge praise! During this time of hardship for so many, our ministry has also been able to deliver meals to people in the community. It's been amazing to see the many ways people around the city have stepped in to love one another over the past few months. Thailand's cases have been very low for quite some time now, and so most things have opened back up. We've been meeting at the ministry this month, and it's been so wonderful to be back together again! This week we had the privilege of moving in one of our students into university! Cream just graduated from the first phase of our restorative program. During the graduation, she shared her story of how the Lord led her to Samaritans and how He changed her life. She shared how she used to be hopeless, but that she'd found real hope in Jesus. Cream was passed from one family member to another throughout her childhood, because neither of her parents were involved in her life. She shared that she's found a true family at Samaritans. She got teary eyed during several moments throughout the graduation, and it was just such a special time of celebration! Typically in the second phase students attend a job training center, however, it's been closed because of COVID. Cream shared with us that she's been inspired to continue her studies since she's been at Samaritans. Her motivation and determination is so exciting to see! She's studying Chinese and English. We had such a fun day moving her into her dorm room! It was a day full of excitement and expectation for all that's to come! We're so proud of her! Cream will continue the one year restorative program with Samaritans while she studies at a local university. She will continue to receive counseling and mentorship and she'll continue to study with us as well. It seems that she's settling into college life really well! Today, she brought her two new roommates to church! We're so excited to watch how Cream shares Christ's love with those around her! Prayer: Please pray for Cream as she's transitioning to college and for all the new things! Pray that we'd continue to disciple her well, and pray for her as she loves and shares the gospel with those around her! We'd love prayer for wisdom in outreach and meeting new women during this time. The red light districts and bars are currently closed. We're trying to find different ways to reach out to the women who are really struggling and without work. Also, we would really appreciate prayer for some of our family friends. They live right by the ministry, and they're always at the coffee shop supporting Samaritans. Their oldest son, Mookie, was diagnosed with cancer two weeks ago, and he has been in critical condition since then. Please pray for wisdom, healing, comfort, and peace. Please let us know how we can be praying for you during this time. In Christ, Mary Blake & Currie  This was her FB post after we met! Earlier this week, we received a message from a nineteen-year-old girl who we met a few weeks ago. Our outreach team passed out gifts and cards for Valentine’s Day, where we had the opportunity to build several new friendships, one of them being, Noey (name changed for privacy). When Noey reached out, she asked if she could come visit us to hear more about our school and training center. We were expecting her to say she would come sometime during the week, but she asked if she could come right away. She came straight to our home, and we shared a meal together. Her courage to reach out, come alone, and ask for help was quite amazing to see. As we sat in the living room together, she shared the immense hardships she’s currently facing. While we’ve been in Thailand, we’ve heard so many difficult stories from women working in the sex trade, but it never gets any easier. Our hearts broke for Noey as she shared that her mom and older sister are forcing her to sell herself each night. She explained that this first began when her mom brought her to Bangkok to visit her sister during a school break. She told us that she thought she was just going for a visit, but this ended up being the first night that her mom made her head to the streets to work alongside her sister. Noey is responsible for supporting her parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, siblings, and her four- year- old son. She poured out her feelings of exhaustion and weariness from carrying these financial burdens and family pressures. She told us that her mom’s neighbor asked why she forced her daughter to do this kind of work even if she didn’t want to do it, and her mom responded by explaining that it was her daughter and therefore she must do anything she asked of her. We showed Noey the ministry building, and she kept saying how much she wanted to come. However, she also expressed how nervous she felt that her family wouldn’t allow her to come to our program. We offered to help speak with her family and step into the situation.
It’s moments like these that we feel so helpless. It was so heartbreaking to watch her leave our home and get into a taxi. As we watched her drive away, we just kept praying that we would get to see her again, and that she would have the courage to continue asking for help and allowing others in. After she left, we didn’t really have many words as we were just so heartbroken for our new friend. We worshiped and cried out to the Lord. The lyrics of one of the songs we sang together and prayed through are at the end of the newsletter. As we were talking about and praying for Noey, Mary Blake was reminded of the story in the Bible where a group of friends lowered a man who was paralyzed through a roof to get him right to Jesus. We thought about the courage that this man must have had to let his friends help him. In his desperation, he allowed others to step in and help him get to the only one who can save. His friends understood the urgency and need for him to encounter Jesus, and they demonstrated that they would do anything it took to get him before Him. We were amazed by Noey's courage to cry out for help and to allow others to enter into these dark places with her. Pray that we would continue to fight for Noey and the other girls who we have relationships with. Pray that we would do anything it takes to help Noey and our other friends get to the feet of Jesus. Pray that we would go crazy lengths to build deeper relationships, offer them the opportunity to study in our program, and most importantly share the gospel with them. Please pray for the five women who just joined our program! We are in awe of how God brought them each to Samaritan Creations and how He is working in their lives! Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. We are so grateful that you are in this fight with us. In Christ, Mary Blake & Currie "Come As You Are" Come out of sadness From wherever you've been Come broken hearted Let rescue begin Come find your mercy Oh sinner come kneel Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You're not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are There's hope for the hopeless And all those who've strayed Come sit at the table Come taste the grace There's rest for the weary Rest that endures Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't cure So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You're not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are Come as you are Fall in his arms Come as you are There's joy for the morning Oh sinner be still Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal So lay down your burdens Lay down your shame All who are broken Lift up your face Oh wanderer come home You're not too far So lay down your hurt Lay down your heart Come as you are Come as you are Come as you are
to provide fair employment opportunities for people in these villages. This creates an opportunity to work alongside, build relationships, and reach out to people all over Thailand. Third, our desire is to help the ministry become more sustainable, and so we're working to create new products and find more stores to partner with around the world. Sustainability will allow for us to employ and support more women and children in our program. Our hope and prayer is that more people will have the opportunity to hear the gospel here! We had a great trip meeting and building connections with the local people of Lamphun. The people of Thailand make such beautiful things! We are excited of what's to come! We are currently working with the students here to create new products with these fabrics! We are also setting up a jewelry workshop and learning how to make metal jewelry (you can learn so much online these days!) We're really excited to for this new business at SC and to teach and work alongside these women. Working alongside the students here is such a great way to build relationships and have intentional conversations.
One thing for sure is that the Lord has taken us out of our comfort zone and stretched us this year. We've seen in tangible ways how He uses our weaknesses for His glory and how He equips us even when we're inadequate. We're so thankful for each one of you! Thank you for supporting, praying, and reaching out!
Also, check out our last two blogs- "The New Has Come" and "The Greatest Love Story Ever Told!" Our home church sent these out last month, and we wanted to share them with you all as well! Currie & Mary Blake “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Nok, a woman who began a relationship with Christ after coming to Samaritan Creations, told her friend, Ploy, about the opportunity to leave the sex trade by joining her at Samaritans. At this time, she was in an abusive relationship, and her boyfriend wanted her to continue working in the bars. She had a difficult childhood, and she turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain as she worked in the red light district. A few months later, she decided to call Nok to ask if the offer was still available. She was immediately welcomed into the program where she began to hear about Jesus.
She heard the truth of the gospel, and she began a relationship with Christ. God has been healing and transforming her through counseling, the trauma healing program, and relationships at SC. Although she loved getting to hear about Jesus in conversations and devotional times, she was struggling to read the Bible on her own. She was taken out of school after the fourth grade, which makes reading comprehension quite difficult for her. However, she’s been eager to learn more about God. This year, we began using oral storytelling as one of the ways to share Scripture at SC. Many of the women enter into our program with a 6th grade education and research suggests that the majority of Thai people are oral learners. By sharing God’s Word aloud, retelling it, and discussing it they’re able to remember, chew on, and really let the Word of God sink into their hearts. Ploy has expressed that hearing these accounts from the Bible in story form has helped her to cling to His Word throughout the week. Ploy was also excited to learn that she can listen to the Bible on her phone. She said this has changed everything for her, because now she can study the Bible on her own. This week, she’s listened to Romans every night. We are so thankful for how the Lord makes Himself and the Bible accessible to His children! We’ve been encouraged to see many changes in her life because of God’s grace and mercy. She knows God’s love for her, and it is evident in the way she lives her life. We’d love for you to join us in praying for Ploy as she continues to walk with the Lord and be transformed into His likeness. *All names have been changed for the privacy and safety of these women. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” We’ve been reaching out to a group of girls at a local karaoke bar since this past October. We’ve continued to visit, reach out, and pray for them. In January, the Billy Graham Association threw a banquet for women ensnared by the sex trade in Bangkok where they were able to hear the good news of Christ. Several of the girls from this particular karaoke bar came, and many of them expressed that they had never heard anything like it before. Pan was one of the girls who joined us this night, and we’ve continued to pursue her since then. At the beginning of April, we received a call from Pan asking if her friend could join our program. The next day, we welcomed Ying and her seven month old daughter into the ministry.
Just recently, Ying shared with me that she had only heard about Jesus once before coming to Samaritan Creations. I continued to ask questions, and I learned that she had seen a video of Jesus dying on the cross on the internet. She expressed that she had always wanted to know what happened before and after. She also wondered who he was and why he was dying on a cross. She asked me why Jesus died. I tried to hold back tears as I had the opportunity to share the greatest love story ever told to Ing. I was able to tell her that Jesus was on the cross thinking of her, bearing her sin, all so that He could have a relationship with her. I’m humbled and grateful that God graciously allows us to be a part of His work here. Ying is interested and eager to learn more about Jesus. She has several questions about Buddhism and Christianity, and we are so thankful for her curiosity and desire to know the truth. One of the mentors at our ministry, who is Thai, shared with her that God is not just a god of western culture, He is the God of all nations, of all people. The saying goes, “to be Thai, is to be Buddhist.” We ask that you pray for God to break down these barriers, and for Thai people to know that He is the one, true God. Please join us in praying for Ying as she continues to process all that she is learning. Pray that she would know Jesus as her Savior, and that she would step into new, abundant life with Him. *All names have been changed for the privacy and safety of these women. We're excited to share with you what God has been doing here in Bangkok! Recently, Samaritan Creations and similar ministries in Bangkok partnered with the Billy Graham Association to throw a banquet for women ensnared by the sex trade. We invited women who we’ve been building relationships with during outreach, and several came to enjoy the night together. We shared a delicious Thai meal, games, laughter, music, and stories. Thom gave her testimony to over two hundred women that night. Thom was rescued several years ago, and now serves on staff by managing the coffee shop and discipling women in the program. Many women were intently listening as she shared her story, which was extremely relatable to so many in the room. She spoke about the abundant life she’s found in Christ! Afterwards, many shared that this was the first time they heard they didn’t need to make merit to be forgiven. Please pray with us as we follow up with these women. Pray for their lives to be transformed! Nok (name changed for privacy) grew up in a nearby slum community. At age twelve, her parents told her to work in the sex industry to provide for them and find a husband. After years of an abusive marriage and working in a local karaoke bar, she is now in the program at Samaritan Creations. She heard the wonderful news of Christ at the Billy Graham event, and she has been eager to learn more about God and His Word! After her counseling session the other day she quickly approached me and said, “I love it so much; I get to pour out my heart!” She is nineteen years old, and she has two children. Please pray for their growth and healing. We're continuing to study the Thai language every day. We are able to hold basic conversations, which has been helpful in building relationships during outreach, at the ministry, and in the community. We would love prayer for discipline in our studies. We are so thankful for your partnership! Thank you for walking alongside us as we serve here in Thailand. In Christ, Currie & Mary Blake "Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." Psalm 63:3 We've reached the three month mark here in Thailand! We're excited to share with you what God has been doing here in Bangkok. Our relationships with the women and their families are continuing to grow. We're so thankful for the opportunity to do life alongside them. As our Thai language has been improving, we've been able to get to know them on a deeper level. We've spent many nights and weekends sharing meals, swimming, and spending time together. Currie's biggest fan, Hin (pictured far right), is always asking to go down the "slider" at the pool with him! The community here at the ministry is like a family, and we're so thankful to be a part of it. Samaritan Creations began a ministry in one of the nearby slum communities many years ago. Some of the women at SC run this ministry. Thom has been so faithful throughout the years to love and serve this community. Every Saturday there is a children's program where the women from SC lead the children through music, Gospel messages, crafts, and games. SC owns this building, and we are praying about the possibility of having someone here everyday to serve the community. Please join us in praying for these children and their families. Most of the kids are from Cambodia, and many of their families are currently facing many hardships. We will be having a Christmas party for the children and their parents on December 22nd. Pray that the Gospel would be heard. We are so grateful to share that three new girls have joined the program! Two girls joined two weeks ago, and another woman came this past Friday. One woman has joined the cafe crew as a cook, and the two others have been training in textiles. Please pray for their transition into their new jobs, schedules, and friendships. Please also pray for Christ's healing and transformation in their lives. For the past two months, we've been working on setting up childcare here at the ministry. Some of the children at the ministry are too young to go to school, and so we have been training one of the women here to run childcare. Aoy is doing a wonderful job loving and serving the kids everyday! We are excited for the weeks to come as we reflect and celebrate Christ's birth with our SC community.
Thank you so much for your support, prayers, and encouragement. We are forever grateful for your generosity. In Christ, Currie & Mary Blake Carpenter Kay, the co-founder of Samaritan Creations, shared a story with me last week that really touched me. She grew up in a hill tribe village in northern Thailand. Her family struggled financially, and they often worried if they would be able to find enough food. Kay and her family of five often shared one egg. Yes, that's right- they would split apart ONE egg to share for the whole day! Although they continued to rise each day and worry about their physical needs, they always went to bed with enough for that day. The Lord continues to encourage Kay through her memory of "the egg." Each day, God gave her enough for that day, and He continues to do so through Himself. He is enough! This reminds me of Matthew 6: 25-34 where Jesus shares that He knows and cares for our needs. This story has been such an encouragement to me as we've been transitioning to life in Bangkok. During these first few weeks, we have been loved and supported so well by the people around us. We are so thankful for our team and friends here who have welcomed us right into their community. It has been so great reuniting with our friends from the ministry! We have really enjoyed spending time with them over delicious Thai meals. We moved into an apartment, which is just a five minute walk from Samaritan Creations. We've had people over from the ministry, and we are so excited to host many meals and hang outs at our place! We've been studying Thai with a personal tutor, and we've been really encouraged by the conversations we've been able to have in Thai. They are very basic conversations at this point, but we're just so thankful to be able to speak with the Thai people in some capacity. We would love prayer for discipline and strength to learn Thai! We've been building relationships with people in the red light district. We will do outreach again this Thursday, and we would love prayer for wisdom, communication, guidance, and trusting relationships. Samaritan Creations just recently renovated their cafe, which will allow them to train and employ more women! We have been helping out with job training, task lists, and organization in the cafe. As we've been spending time with the women and children at the ministry, it has been so encouraging to witness the transformation that has taken place over the past year in people's lives! Thank you for partnering with us in this ministry! We are eternally grateful for your support and prayers! In Christ, Currie & Mary Blake 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." |
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