New Life Outreach

Dear friends and sponsors,

I'm going to make a bold request.

In view of the possible up-tempo of the deportation of the Hmong refugee back to Laos this year, I'm bringing forward our PROJECT FIRSTAID! to this month.

What this entails is equipping each of the 7 refugee groups each with an advance first aid kit and 1 smaller first aid kit to every 100 people.

This is the full breakdown :
7 X Zone Leader First Aid Kits (+ 1 Demo Set for training)
80 X Section Leader First Aid Kits

I'll head down to Phitsanulok tomorrow to obtain the lowest price but estimates is as follows :

Full Zone Leader Medical Kits - SGD 150 X 8 = SGD1200
*This kit will attend to the casualties and medical emergencies

Section Leader First Aid Kits - SGD 50 X 80 = SGD4000
*This kit will attend to general injuries

Total Cost = SGD $5200

I am hoping to deliver these kits by the end of March. Please help spread the message.

This morning we managed to confirm that indeed a deportation happened.

11 people were deported after signing a "voluntary" deportation paper.

We have also received news that emotions are running high in the camp as people are fearful of the ongoing deportation. We've also heard that foreigners have all been denied access to the camp for the next couple of days so the deportation can go on smoothly.


What is happening in Laos ?
This month 22 Hmongs were slaughtered in the forest of Laos in attacks by the Laos Military and another 49 died of starvation.

I have lots of people emailing me asking me if I can bring them to help out in the refugee camp in June etc etc.

The challenge is that I cannot give a straight answer in view of all the uncertainties. The furthest we can look towards is prolly one month ahead.

The announcement mentioned that in 2008 the refugees will be deported.
But please do not be mistaken. "In 2008" does not necessarily mean end of 2008.

In fact the signs are disturbing with the rumored deportation yesterday.

Today, we received the most disturbing news to date.

We heard that a group of refugees have been just deported back to Laos.

Now we are in the process of verifying the facts and getting more data. Please pray with us.

With all the ups and downs doing this work, its just not easy.... But one of the source of my encouragement is from a lady named Lee Wah.

In our initial phases of our work, people knew little about us as such credibility was an issue. It was difficult for us to do anything but this lady was one of the very first few from Jubilee that came forward and believed in us. Many times as I looked back at our work, I cannot help but think how would we have gone this far without the help of the people like Lee Wah.

More then just giving, this lady gave of her savings. She does not draw a huge pay packet, but from what little she had, she gave so freely to the people who had greater need.

In fact when I spoke to her, her simple and genuine words just warmed my heart. She shared that from her pay most of it goes into supporting people and meaningful works.

I do not know about you, but people like that inspires me(so much that I broken a policy to launch a FRT despite the lack of numbers *grinz*) but I think its only right for her to see the people she has blessed.

She's the lady 2nd from the right with her husband next to her

For the first time in our 5 months of working in the refugee camp, the Thai military has revoked our entry permits.

This is in view of the security breach by one of our thai contract drivers who unknowingly strayed to the fenceline and snapped a couple of pictures of the refugee camp interior. In response, we have terminated his contract.

We have made a couple of calls to the camp, but the military has reverted that they are still waiting for the "revoked" permits to be re-approved and they should be receiving the news sometime next week.

This week, I would probably need to make personal a visit to the base commander again to discuss this issue. ... till then.. our weekly MILK! mission is on a hold.

This week has been a terribly busy week for us, lots of meetings and presentations to bring awareness to our work at the refugee camp.

Tomorrow, I'll be flying back to Thailand and will be there for the next 3 months to ensure all the paperwork for the offices are done.

In the mean time, if you are unable to reach me, please contact ben at ben@radion-international.org

Once our field office is set up, i'll be able to blog again !

Today we met another brother from the finance industry and he was urging us to put up our wish list so that the public can support financially to see what are our needs and then they can respond accordingly.

For now, we have a monthly overheads of SGD6000/month which goes into bringing milk and biscuits to all the 3500 children(Once a month). To scale up this tempo to feeding 3500 children every week, we will need some SGD9,000/month.

Above this, we do have our logistics nightmare as well. We are looking to raise funds for another truck to support our outreach efforts and a 2nd hand toyota truck would cost something like SGD25,000.

So you guys see, its never an easy journey for us.....

Some 12 years ago, a young 15 year old boy sang a song in church. To many people, this was just a song, but to this little boy, it reminded him of the needs that exist beyond the walls of the church.

Somehow, this song seemed to fit right into that young boy's life, it was almost like the song was talking about him. For this young man, he wasn't outstanding or special in any aspect, he was just like the hundreds of others, just one of many.

As this little boy sang this song, tears rolled down his cheek and he just lifted up his little hands and told the Lord "If you need a servant, here am I"

Through these 12 years, this little boy struggled through life's challenges and pains. Waiting for that one day which he can live his dream - the dream of impacting lives.

I'm that boy. This is the song.

I am just one of many
But we’re standing side by side
With a common cord that binds

Lord the harvest is plenty
But the laborers are few
Lord show us what to do

Chorus :

If we can touch one life, reach one soul
Find someone who needs you lord

We can make a difference, if we try
We can change the whole world, one heart at a time
If you need a servant, here am I
Cause we can make a difference, In somebody’s life

Lord the world is hungry
I can see it in their eyes
They need the bread of life
Lord the world is dying
For their hearts have gone astray
Send us right away

If we can touch one life, Reach one soul
Find someone who needs you Lord

Then we can make a difference, if we try
We could change the whole world, One heart at a time
If you need a servant, Here am i
We can make a difference In somebody’s life

Just few minutes ago, my Thai staff called my mobile repeatedly. When I finally managed to return her call I found out what was happening.

The Thai soldiers in Phetchabun have called, mentioning that 1 man from our team was apprehended during our previous outreach. He was caught taking pictures of the interior of the camp.

It is such a big issue that even the military headquarters was informed. The camp military has also held back the permit approval till the matter is cleared.

We did a check and we confirmed the culprit to be our Thai bus driver and we have since terminated his services with RADION.

We have explained our position to the military and our follow-up actions and the military is happy with our prompt response to this matter.

So now, we are back waiting for our permit approval from the Thai military.

This is the newest fixed trip schedule.

29 Feb - 3 Mar (4 Day) - Open
18 Mar - 28 Mar (10 Day) - Full
11 Apr - 15 Apr (Special Songkran Trip - Open

If you have a group of 4 pax over any weekend and would like to join us, just drop us a mail and we can make the arrangements.

Wishing all my readers a very happy, prosperous and blessed lunar new year !

My application for a 3 month visa from the Thai embassy has been granted !

As such, I'll be leaving Singapore on 15 Feb 08 and will only be back in May. This is also timely as Feb marks the beginning of our weekly MILK! mission. Where we'll be bringing milk to some 1000 children each week.

Do continue to pray with us so we can continue making impact in lives.

Its always interesting when people ask us..... so how big is RADION ?
I'll usually reply with a grin. - 3 Pax. Eugene+ Ben + 1X Thai Staff.

Its never fails to shock our supporters.

I guess its how we work, we believe that 1 effective staff is better than 10 incompetant staff. And thats how it really is.... In fact, if you look at our track record, you'll be certain that we have at least 40 staff running the show. But its really not. Its just 3 of us. We do have part time staff on our list, but those are only activated when we need that support.

Yes I know...the scale of our operations is disproportionate to our manpower ! I guess thats just our style. Do we intend to employ more staff to come online ? Yes we do, but we are careful to bring in only good professional people who can continue our disproportionate operations!

Everything we do, we give our very best. For we serve God and not man.

Disproportionate ? Tell me about it :)

Today I spoke at Brother Poh Kee's group about the work I'm doing at the refugee camp.

All went smoothly as planned and just as I ended my presentation, the younger son of Poh Kee( Joel Ng) quickly excused himself out of the room and disappeared.

I stayed back for a couple of minutes to answer some queries and as we headed downstairs, this young boy "ambushed" me at the stairway and handed me $4 from his savings(With a small paper clip and his name written on a piece of paper), telling me to use it to bless the refugees.

I do not know about you. This small gesture warmed my heart. Not because of the amount but the heart thats behind this giving.