Naa

There’s a cool breeze sweeping through the narrow walkways that wind around these ramshackle homes in the slums. This breeze lifts the heavy smell of the canals and refreshes both the home-dwellers and their laundry, which is hung out to dry on twine lines.

28-year-old Naa and her 6-month-old son, Beam, are enjoying the fresh air. Two of her nephews ride their bikes around in a small concrete courtyard, and another little neighbor girl runs from shrub to shrub naming all the brightly-colored flowers that gracefully persist in these surroundings.

Tomorrow in church, Naa will dedicate Beam to God. He’s a tiny, bright-eyed miracle, born premature but fighting through to life. Even last night, he cried for hours with a fever. But Naa, too, is a fighter. In spite of her own poor health since the delivery, she maintains a healthy routine for her family.

Every night before bed, she and her 6-year-old daughter, Bua, pray together: Bua prays that Beam will grow up to be a good brother, and Naa laughs and prays that Bua, too, will be a good sister. Already Bua is an enthusiastic student who loves to go to church.

Hope Cards is a crucial link in all this – providing supplementary money to help send Bua to school, to buy milk for Beam; and most importantly, providing the hope that keeps Naa faithfully worshipping God, despite strong resistance from her husband, who works in a night club. They came from rural Thailand with high hopes for a good secure life in Bangkok, the city of so many poor young couples’ dreams, but Naa is thankful to have found her security in God.

“We make these cards with all our hearts,” she says, “and if you buy one, you won’t be disappointed!”