Dear Friends of Sarnelli House,
We have some good news this time. The Covid Devil finally left us again. We had 8 young ladies and Brother Geng as victims this time. The “Hoof and Mouth” virus has also been eradicated, so we can all rejoice and wait for the next wave, in resignation.
Two young German men, for the Redemptorist parish in Bonn, Germany, have come to volunteer. They are the first to volunteer from the German Redemptorist Volunteer Mission. We also have another German volunteer from the Lutheran church in Oberhausen, Germany. We are experiencing headaches and problems with Immigration. Instead of viewing our volunteers as kids who sacrifice to come and spent time with sick and orphaned children, they treat them as foreigners coming to take Thai jobs. They have a new team at Immigration, with new rules.
We have been incredibly blessed with rain to soak the rice paddies, and hope they continue for another month or more. The rice is about 6 weeks from heading out, and then 3-4 weeks before we begin to harvest. Everything is green with different shades, and this is my favorite time of year. Our gardener is now preparing beds for planting vegetables and already has tomato plants growing.
We have taken in four kids within the month. One poor little girl is 11 years old. Her parents were on drugs, and sold her to a foreigner for sex, charging him 500 THB (US$14). The guy took the girl to the police and turned the girl’s parents in. They are in jail now and the girl has been given to us to raise. Another is a 2 month old baby boy, whose Thai father is in jail for selling drugs, and his mother is a Burmese drug addict, who will serve her prison sentence, and then be deported. The boy is ours and he has a hole in his heart, so will need a lot of treatment. The third is a 7 month old baby boy whose mother is imprisoned for selling drugs. And the fourth is a young lad 16 years old, from down south in Songkhla.
Next month, the Province of Thailand-South Korea will hold new elections. The Redemptorist Center in Pattaya will host a big group of priests and brothers participating in the elective process. Old guys in their “80”s, like Fr. Chai and myself will not attend. Right now, the Redemptorists working at Sarnelli are three in number: Myself, Brother Keng, a brilliant young Brother who I am afraid we might lose to a Redemptorist school in the Bangkok area, and Fr. James, a young Thai priest ordained about two years, who in a great guy and a superb preacher, and might well be transferred too. God knows who they will try to send in their place. There are some priests and brothers I don’t want. But at my age, I don’t think the powers that be will be interested in my views. Time will tell.
Again, thank you so much, and God bless you and keep you safe and healthy!
Gratefully!
Fr. Mike and staff and children
