Sponsor Opportunities

Imagine you are living in a very remote area with no vehicle or public transportation. You can only grow rice and peppers, which means that your family’s entire diet consists solely of those foods every day of the year. Not only do you lack access to meat, but you don’t even have enough rice and peppers to keep your family full most years. You have no source of clean water, and you live in a shack without running water, electricity, or bathrooms. The only people who visit are the Buddhist monks.

What do the monks do?  They beg for food.  The Buddhists tell you you’ll never reach Nirvana, Buddhist heaven, until you have no desire, not even the desire for food.  It has been this way your whole life, your parents’ lives, and your grandparents’ lives. With a terrible feeling knowing that your children won’t be able to eat that day, you give what little food you have to the monks.

Bald patches, like the one on the child on the right, are common due to lack of proper nutrition.

Then, one day, some people come along who want to help. They call themselves Christians. They provide a system to clean the water, and they bring animals so you can get eggs, milk, and, on special occasions, meat.  They purchase uniforms and supplies so you can send your kids to school. Now your children can receive the education you wanted but couldn’t have.  You ask the Christians what the catch is. They tell you there isn’t one. You ask why they’re helping you. They say that God wants them to help the poor.  Would you be intrigued by that answer? The Thai people are. They want to know about the God they’ve never heard of who cares about them. They develop a hunger to hear more about the God who wants people to give to the poor, instead of taking from them.

Goats and chickens raised in Chiang Mai to donate to people in remote villages

Many of the students who have been sponsored through this program have already become Christians. Many who haven’t yet obeyed the gospel are regularly studying the Bible and attending worship services. The retention rate is very high, because the preachers and teachers continue diligently studying with new Christians for as long as needed.

From the water systems to the libraries to education, these students and their parents deeply appreciate everything they’ve received, and they show that appreciation with their actions and their receptiveness to the gospel. The money you donate helps them to have hope for a better future on earth, but more importantly, it helps them understand their need for Jesus so they can have a future with God in heaven.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Outdoor worship service in Chiang Mai

            There are many ways your donations can influence the lives and souls of people on the other side of the world. Regardless of how small or large your budget is, you can help!

If you want your money to go wherever it’s most needed, select one of the following three options:

• One-time donation of any amount
• Recurring monthly donation of any amount
• Recurring annual donation of any amount

If you prefer to choose how your money is spent, read through the options below, then simply make a note when you donate. The money will be allocated accordingly! One hundred percent of monetary donations go directly to the ministry in Thailand. Nothing is kept for overhead costs in any of the countries who help support this ministry.

Sponsor a Student

            Tuition to K-12 schools is free in Thailand, but many students still can’t afford to attend. They must still pay for school supplies, uniforms, and meals. Your donations will provide everything a student needs to attend school for an entire year!

If you sponsor a student, you will be matched with someone you can follow until they graduate. Education is key to breaking free from poverty in Thailand, so this is one of the most beneficial ways someone can help.

Donations can be stopped at any time, and if you can no longer help, your student will be moved to the top of the list for a new sponsor.

• Student living at home: $360 per year
• High school student at the dormitory: $575 per year (meals not included)
• College student: $600 per year

Fulfill a Dormitory Need

Several students live in a dormitory on the Mayos’ farm in Chiang Mai for 10th-12th grades. This allows them more time to study so they can catch up on schooling they missed in their early years. They’re also provided with on-site tutors, access to food on weekends, and better schools so they can get into better colleges, along with the needed uniforms, school supplies, and weekday meals that all sponsored students receive. This is often the teenagers’ first time in their lives they’ve had unlimited access to food. For many of them, it’s the first time they’ve eaten food other than rice and peppers, so the Open Hearts Helping Hands ministry team does not limit their food intake.

The students do farm chores including gardening and taking care of the animals, plus they cook and clean up their own meals. The staff members are rarely given the opportunity to do basic things like take out the trash or carry their own bags, because the students will recognize the need and run to handle the task. They want to show how grateful they are to have the opportunity to be there.

Additionally, church attendance is required for those who live at the dormitory. These students are so appreciative of living on-site that they arrive at the services every Sunday morning clean and in their best clothes, at least 15 minutes early, then have informal singing until other members arrive and the service begins.

• Food for one dormitory student: $140 per month
• New dormitory: $54,000 (This includes all materials and labor)
• Property next door to the Mayos’ farm: $120,000 (This will allow for more dormitories to be built)

Build a Library

Many people in Thailand live without things we take for granted, and that includes books. They don’t have smartphones to download stories. Most remote villages are still without libraries. They have no way to learn about life beyond their community.

With your help, we can change that! You can provide families with the very important resources they need to learn about the world, which will help them break free from generational poverty that’s lasted for centuries.

Thichawmae’s (Tea-cha-mae) library was fully funded by sponsors

• New library: $5,000 (This includes the materials and cost of labor to build the library)
• Books to stock the library: $35 per book (books in Thailand are very expensive compared to books in the United States)

The books in this photo cost $5,000

Provide Water or Electricity

Solar panels on the church building in Chiang Mai

Imagine feeling helpless to provide life’s most basic necessities for a child, without any resources available to assist with their care. No government help. No WIC. No community or church outreach programs (except the Open Hearts Helping Hands ministry). What seems unfathomable to most of us is everyday life for the Thais. In the remote villages, many children develop kidney problems due to drinking dirty water.

Installing a water system allows everyone in a village access to clean water. There are many people willing to do the work, but they lack the financial resources to purchase supplies.

• New water system: $1,600
• Water filters for water system maintenance: $200 per year to maintain one system
• New solar panel system: $8,900
• Solar panel upgrade: $1,500 (Needed for the church building in Chiang Mai)

Sponsor a Preacher

The church at Thichawmae (Tea-Cha-May)

There are four preachers on the ministry team in Thailand. Michael, Passakorn (Pass-a-gorn), Chainchana (Chai-cha-na), and Suchat (Sue-chot) all travel many miles each month, teaching at more than one village to share God’s Word. Passakorn and Michael do not take a normal preacher’s salary, but they understandably insist on paying Chainchana and Suchat from the ministry’s general fund to help cover travel and living expenses.

Sponsoring a preacher to relieve the general fund would be a great blessing to the ministry! Hopefully more preachers will be hired as there is funding and as more people become qualified to teach!

The congregation at MaeLati (Mae-La-Tay)

• Sponsor a Preacher: $750 per month

Sponsor a Youth for Church Camp

            Approximately 200 youth attend church camp. This is not like an American church camp where parents or youth ministers drive the children to camp, and parents or the local congregation pay for the child to attend. These people have no money and no transportation.

Volunteers at the Open Hearts Helping Hands foundation cover 100 percent of the camp, including fuel to transport the campers, mats for the campers to sleep on, a location to host the camp, Bible classes, clothes so campers can change, soap, and enough food so the children and teens can eat until they’re full (which is a rarity for them).

• Sponsor a youth for church camp: $75
• Sponsor the entire camp (all expenses for 200 youth): $15,000

Give to the General Fund

            You don’t have to choose where your money goes! While some people enjoy choosing exactly how their money is spent, you can simply donate to the ministry! There is a general fund so money can be allocated where it’s most needed. If your preference is to allow the team to choose the greatest need, simply select one of the options below.

• One-time donation of any amount
• Recurring monthly donation of any amount
• Recurring annual donation of any amount

One hundred percent of monetary donations go directly to the ministry in Thailand (minus the PayPal fees that we cannot control). Nothing is kept for overhead costs in any of the countries who help support this ministry. The website, financial oversight, and all other expenses are provided by volunteers in the United States. We understand this is basically unheard of, but all who help want so much for the people in Thailand to receive what they need, that they keep absolutely nothing for themselves, and they personally cover any overhead costs.