House of Light
House of Light orphanage is an outreach of Akha Light Foundation.
It is a partnership with Pastor John
(Akha national) and North American churches. The purpose of the Orphanage is to
reach the Akha children with the love and hope of Christ. They can have the
hope of a future in Christ and also have the opportunity for an education. Here is an explanation of the Akha people from
Pastor John:
My name is
John Phanthawit. I am from Hill Tribe People. We called ourselves Akha. We are
originally from Tibet, then moved to China thousands years ago, after that to
Burma, Laos, maybe also to Vietnam 200 years ago and moved to
Thailand about 100 years ago. The Akha
population is about 2 million around the world.
Most of our people about 90% still keeping Akha religion (which is animist or
Hill tribe religion) specially the Akha people that live in China, Laos, and
Vietnam. Some became Christian in Burma. 70% of the Akha people in Thailand are
Christian but not born again Christian.
We're just refugee people to different countries. Most of our people not just
in Thailand but those who living in others countries too, we don't have Thai
citizenship. They gave us the refugee card to stay in the limit area.
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| Pastor John and his family |
Why an Orphanage?
Without
citizenship it is difficult if not impossible for the Akha to get a job.
One of the only ways to get Thai citizenship is to complete a high school education.
There is no free education as of yet in
Thailand. Most Akha children without
families to take care of them will be sold into the sex industry for the girls
and child labor for the boys. The
orphanage was born out of a heart and passion to help the Akha children. When
they come to the orphanage they are able to go to school. Not only will they be able to have Thai
citizenship here on earth we can show them how to have the greatest hope of citizenship
in heaven.
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