A major fire occurred earlier this week in the Rama 9 slum community. One community member died; another is still missing; and forty-eight homes were destroyed. Mercy Social Workers are assisting the community – cooking food, bringing bedding, securing life’s daily necessities, and ensuring that the children are safe and healthy. We are coordinating with community leaders as well as housing and government authorities to rebuild every home lost to the fire.

We wish to share with you a feature article about Fr. Joe and Mercy Centre recently published in Ireland’s Sunday Business Post Magazine. You can view the article here. Please be a little patient – it may take a minute to download.

Our Scriptures say that Jesus fasted for 40 days & 40 nights. Then Angels came to minister to him. And I love that ancient story dating from the 3^rd Century that the Angels went to visit Mary his Mother, asking her to cook Jesus' favorite food, so Mary cooked the food and the angels brought it to Jesus. His first meal after fasting.

We have one hundred-and-thirty kindergarten teachers in our Mercy family who, on average, have taught at our schools over ten years. In this photo of six Mercy teachers, each teacher has taught in our Mercy Kindergartens for more than twenty years, except Kru Niphaphon, who is still young and just starting her career. (Please give her time.)

Her parents picked recyclable trash for a living, mostly plastic bottles and newspapers, near their shack in the slum by Bangkok’s port.

Mother Gung says her own mother used to tell her, "Daughter, you were born just after sunset in the Year of the Tiger _ that time of day when Mother Tiger is hungry and going out to look for food for her babies. Sometimes you find food, sometimes you don't. There will be tough times."