Mercy Center

If your looking for stories of hope, some remnant of sanity in this Insane world, and a clear demonstration of LOVE, look no further than the Mercy Center located in one of the seediest cities in Thailand: the most famous destination for sex tourism, Pattaya.

We came in contact with the Mercy Center's founders and directors Fred and Diane, through a former employee of theirs who now works as a translator in Bangkok. A phone call to Diane brought the open door to Pattaya that we had been waiting for. It just so happened that the day we had planned to arrive, a place to stay became available in one of the Center's apartments. Literally, the long-term volunteer that normally occupies the place had left just hours before we arrived. With a place to stay, and an organization to work with, we came to Pattaya.

Fred and Diane, in all appearances look like, talk like, and hug like the grandparents everyone has always dreamed of having. Their story, and the story behind Mercy, however, reveal that being a grandparent is just one part of their job description. At the age where most couples are cashing in their pensions and getting ready for holiday cruises to Bermuda, they were picking up from their home in Canada and moving to Thailand, where they would start a center to house at-risk slum kids who needed a new home. They saw a need, felt a calling, and met it. This was years ago. Today, the Mercy Center houses 17 children and has plans to build a new Center by the end of the year, that will have the potential to house 50. To describe the Mercy Center as an orphanage would be putting it lightly. The minute you step into the Mercy Center, you feel like you've gone home.

The Center doesn't just care for the children, it seeks to provide a permanent home for the kids, paying for their schooling, their clothes, their food, their medical bills, everything. While occasionally, in the best case scenario, the kids are reunited with their families, in most cases, these children come from homes where either their parents have abused them, neglected them, or even outright abandoned them. Mercy has become family for these kids, particularily for those who don't have any. Spending a little time with these kids, you soon realize that they have found family with each other. The older kids take care of the younger ones- even if it means holding their hand or teaching them how to use a new toy. There is a definite presence of love in these children's lives.

While providing a home for these kids is a large part of the ministry, Mercy also has separate programs including slum ministries, and prison ministries, and a sponsorship program.

In our week at the center, we were able to witness firsthand the fruit of Fred and Diane's step of faith . While Mercy is openly a Christian organizations, I was amazed to hear that 80% of their funding come from non-Christian donors. The Mercy Center is real-life evidence of God's faithfulness.

For more information on the Mercy Center and how to donate, visit their website at http://mercypattaya.com/