1.     Home of Grace has the following request:

a.       Sponsor to send family to Christian Summer-Camp — $550

2.     Winter Blankets & Clothes Ministry:

a.      Fleece Blankets and sets of warm clothes cost us $5/each

We need sponsors to supply about 500 sets in 2010.

Please contact us by email if you can help in any of these areas.

dccalli1@aol.com

Shirley is improving every day, and she got a good report for her follow-up visit to the hospital Friday. We praise the Lord for His goodness and protection.

Our orphans are in the final school days for this term, and later this month they should begin a 6-week “summer vacation”. Pray that they all do well in their studies and get good grades on their final tests and evaluations. Education is one of the most important areas of the Christian care that FHF homes provide. Pray that the children will all advance to the next grade level. Also pray that God will keep them safe during their summer break activities.

Grace and peace to you,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

At Home of Comfort, Nathan and Abel climbed up to harvest some coconuts from this palm tree.

The boys at Home of Comfort also enjoyed a shopping day in the downtown market. This view shows the variety of

Shops and merchandise available, both inside the multi-story buildings, and outside from street vendors.

This street vendor is busy sewing more hill tribe style, decorated handbags. Vendors work long days to sell their handicrafts.

This shows an event that is a “Thai version” of the Soapbox Derby in America. But here, they include both cars and

motorcycles, that are cobbled together from scraps of wood and junk. Then brave contestants race down a long hill.

Here young Nathan is sitting in his cart and awaiting his turn to race the clock in a homemade cart.

Notice the hand-brake lever between his legs…the steering is accomplished with his feet.

Thank you so much for the many prayers, encouraging words, acts of kindness, and loving concern you have shared this week as Shirley had the surgery. All went very well and the tests proved there were no cancer cells. Shirley came home late Thursday evening and is recovering quickly. However she’s still quite hoarse and cannot speak much above a whisper – The doctor said it may take several weeks for her voice to return to normal.

Pray that Shirley can be patient and not rush back into her work.

Pray that all of our orphan families continue to grow in faith and wisdom.

Blessings to you,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

 At Home of Blessing, Joshua, Isaiah, and practice a worship song.

At Home of Comfort, Solomon looks serious as he gathers some fresh eggs from their chicken coop.

This time of year, Chiang Mai has very bad air pollution because the farmers burn-off the dry fields.

This photo, from Shirley’s hospital room, shows the thick smog as morning light covers the city.

This is also the last days of cold weather. Here two of our house fathers (Prajuab and Yea) are visiting a hill tribe

Village to distribute warm clothes to the poor children. Each one received a set of flannel pants and sweater.

Okay, I know you want to see proof that Shirley is fine! But, for now, please settle for this recent picture

of us eating with some of our FHF children and staff. Between us is Mark, from Home of Grace.

Dear friends,

 Each Saturday, we host English classes at our foundation office. We have fellow missionaries, from the Philippines, who teach English to local Buddhist children. They do all the work and we provide the facility – a great arrangement allowing FHF a small part to help ensure the Good News, through Christian teachers, can reach Thai Buddhist families. Now many of our Faithful Heart orphans can attend the weekly classes.

 Pray that the English teachers can find many opportunities to use Bible stories and Christian beliefs to help teach the English language.

Pray that the words of eternal truth will sink deep into their young hearts and minds, and blossom within their families. 

Abundant blessings in Christ,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

 http://www.faithfulheartministry.com

 Here Shirley is encouraging a group of students as Charlotte pauses her work.

Last week our missionary friends from China (and Gaffney SC) helped teach the Saturday English classes.

Left to right are: Jedidiah, Norman, Bob, Charlotte, Angie, Madeline, Margarette, and Jeanil. God bless them all!

Here the children are learning English pronunciation and vocabulary by singing a Christian song with our friends.

Margarette is working patiently with a younger group that includes Jonathan (center front) from our Home of Comfort.

This has been a busy week as we’ve hosted a mission family that is taking a “New Year” break from their teaching ministry in China.

We drove to Mae Chaem and spent the day visiting the house parents and 25 children of Abundant Grace hill tribe hostel. We also spent a couple days helping our house parents paint the walls in the home just rented for our orphan girls. Then, last night, we had a special dinner gathering for all of our homes and orphans. It was a time to thank God for his kindness and faithful provision of all that has been needed in this orphan ministry thus far.

Pray with us that every one of the children will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Grace and peace to you,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

http://www.faithfulheartministry.com

On Monday we traveled to Mae Chaem to visit the Abundant Grace hill tribe hostel, and see their newly rented home.

We gave the house parents some gifts from their sponsor: A new well-water pump and a desktop computer.  

Here the older children have just returned home from school (at 4pm), and are already busy helping to fix supper.

The children are all well-behaved and dependable in their home work and chores.

Along the mountain road to Mae Chaem, we stopped to stretch our legs and talk with this lady who was selling

Ant-eggs wrapped in banana leaves…a special delicacy in Northern Thailand.

On Wednesday and Thursday, a missionary family visiting from China, help our new FHF family paint the walls

In the home just rented for the orphan girls. Here our house fathers, Rattapong and Prajuab, are busy painting.

Out side the house, our visiting family keeps the orphan girls entertained playing with dolls and games while

the cleaning and painting goes on inside.

This week we want you to see some photos of our newest family from our Home of Promise, for girl orphans. We can only accept a maximum of five orphans into each family home setting, and there are three girls already moved into the new home (with two more to follow next month). Please join us in giving thanks to God that He has equipped us and provided resources, enabling FHF to rescue these sweet little ones and place them into a loving and safe Christian family home. May God bless everyone who has prayed for and supported this new orphan home. To God be the glory!

Grace and Peace to you,

David & Shirley Callahan

http://www.faithfulheartministry.com

This is the house parents with their own baby daughter and the three orphan girls.

From left to right are: House father Rattapong, Laura, Sarah, Hannah. Back row : Aey, and Thaow.

The oldest girl has been given the name Hannah. As you see, she is still reserved and uncertain about her new life.

None of the girls had ever been out of their remote village home. They had never eaten meat of any kind, nor seen a

Western face, so they were slow to warm-up to Shirley & I.

At first, she was too shy to even face then camera, but little Laura did finally crack a smile as she played a game with Shirley.

This is what two of the girls looked like while still living in the village hut. Sarah is on the left, and Laura on the right.

Their mother rarely left the village herself, and never allowed the girls to go away from their tiny house. So, they’ve never

been exposed to crowds, traffic, large buildings, indoor plumbing, and many other trappings of modern life.

Inside their tiny hut, the thin bamboo slats and wooden timbers are soot-covered because

of the in-door cooking. As you would expect, fires and burn injuries to village children are common.

We pray you are enjoying pleasant weather like what we have in Northern Thailand right now. In January our daytime highs reach the upper 80s with overnight lows in the 60s…very nice!

The housefather at Home of Blessing, Prajuab, needed to repair some water pipes and used it as a training opportunity. All the boys helped with the work, and learned some valuable home-maintenance skills.

Pray that all of the children will learn every skill needed to become self-sufficient and productive parents. Pray that God will inspire some of our children to also care for orphans when they become adults.

Grace and peace to you,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

www.faithfulheartministry.com

Here Prajuab is using plastic pipe to replace a broken water-line.

 Joshua is learning to measure and mix cement that will be used to cover and protect the new pipes.

Here Isaiah is marking and cutting the new section to splice it onto the water line. John & Timothy are watching closely.

Home of blessing also has some new baby rabbits that the children enjoy taking care of after school.

This is another of the new rabbits.

This week we to do a little “catch-up” and share some photos that didn’t make it into our weekly letter.

I’ll start with this photo from the December rice harvest. It shows how the rice stalks were cut, then bundled, and placed on a conveyor belt into the big machine we rented to separate the rice from the chaff. We were blessed with a good harvest, but it required lots of hard work. Pray that we will find energy and discipline to meek all the work demands in the homes.

This shows some of the 8-dozen cupcakes Shirley and some friends baked for our Christmas Party. They were a special treat!

I added this photo because they were beautifully decorated! We thank God for surrounding us with many good friends.

 Our Christian social worker, Mint, continues to visit the homes and work with the children and parents every week.

She has been a special blessing because of her professional skills and her heart for helping children.

Please remember to pray that God will lead us to the orphan girls He has chosen for our new girls home.

There are many more orphan girls than we can accept, so we must help the house parents make extremely difficult choices.

Grace and Peace to you,

Dave & Shirley Callahan

www.faithfulheartministry.com

483,076

$14,639.00

182,869

$5,541.00

430,000

$13,030.00

235,945

$7,150.00

235,945

$7,150.00

572,750

$17,356.00

205,273

$6,220.00

603,422

$18,286.00

Note: We received several one-time

donations in December as a result of

our fund-raising visit to the US

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