Top Kids

Top Kids is an evangelistic and teaching program for children from several slum communities held every Saturday at Muangtong Church, Bangkok. Transport is provided since there is no convenient bus service available. The “Through the Bible” curriculum, written and illustrated by Prasert Taksin and the Top Kids leadership team, is used to lay a foundation to present the gospel. At least 100 children have been converted, and 50-60 are being discipled through the Top Kids program. Children who make a commitment to Christ are encouraged to study a Bible correspondence course, and are taught a six-lesson course for new believers in groups of no more than three children with one leader. The program finishes with lunch, usually the most nourishing meal the children have each week.

Heart of Mercy

The Heart of Mercy fund was set up in 1999 to provide sponsorship for children living in slums in north Bangkok. These children live in sub-standard housing, usually several sheets of corrugated iron nailed together. The houses grow unbearably hot in the tropical temperatures of Bangkok, and leak during the rainy season. Families who reside in these houses are among the poorest in Thailand, usually living on less than one dollar per day. Drug abuse and addiction are rampant in the slum communities of North Bangkok.

Many of the children living in these slums do not live with their own parents, because the parents have died of AIDS, or are in prison on drug charges. In 1999, one of the leaders of Muangtong Church found that many of the children in these slums were not attending school because their parents or guardians could not afford to buy school uniforms for them. Initially, Thai Christians at Muangtong Church were helping the children, but the numbers of children needing assistance continued to grow, so that the church needed outside help with this project. The church then set up an individual sponsorship system to try to find overseas sponsors for the children. This proved to be very difficult as sponsors have been unable to build a long-term relationship with the children when they are continually shifted from one relative to another. The church is now looking for sponsors who would be willing to contribute to a fund that will help children whenever urgent assistance is needed.

60 children are currently receiving help from the Heart of Mercy fund, which provides a school uniform, shoes, school-books, medical care and an opportunity to attend a Christian camp for children each year.