"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God". 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Greetings all in the name of Jesus.

Sometime around the beginning of March, we were blessed to have a sweet 12 year old girl named Zalima move into our home. She was one of the first kids we met when we moved here over a year ago. She lived in one of the worst Muslim slums in town. At age 4, she was sent to Bangkok to work with her 8 year old sister. They sold noodles on the street and lived with a bunch of other kids in the same situation.Her mother was once a prositute and her dad is a violent alcoholic. Her parents forced her to go out each day and collect money from a Thai businessman. We would ask her "why does that man give you money", but she would not answer us. We have since found out there was some sort of sex involved. We are certain her parents knew, but they valued the money more than their little girl. Her mom died just before Christmas of last year. A short time later NyiNyi approached her father and asked if we could take Zalima and her little niece and raise them. Thankfully he agreed. Her niece, MeeMee is living with NyiNyi and Suzan and we took Zalima. She is going to a tutor everyday to prepare to start school in June. This will be the first time she has ever attended school.

She is changing for the better each day. She is very receptive to the Gospel. She reads her Bible daily and this Sunday she will sing in church with our other daughters. We are so encouraged.

Tonight something happened that brought tears to our eyes. We were going to the clinic to visit one of the people that attend our "Church in the Dump" and Zalima asked if she could go with us. When we arrived at the clinic we noticed a little girl with tumors on her neck and in her stomach. She was 14 years old and weighed 40 lbs. Zalima went right over to her and started talking to her and trying to cheer her up. It was so good to see our daughter, who has had a horrible childhood, go over and try to bring a smile to this little girls face. If only we all would love like this. Please pray for this little girl. She has no family with her and she is scared and lonely.

Please pray that Zalima continues to change and comes to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Also, pray for our other daughters (MooMoo Aye, Saw Win and DeeDee Aye). They will go to school and move out of our home in June. It will be a big change for everyone.

Thanks for your continued support. Without it, girls like Zalima will be destined to a life of selling their body to support themselves and their family.

One last reminder. We will be in the states in October and are starting to make plans to speak at several places. If you would like us to speak at your church or group,please let us know.
The Turman Family

Online donations: http://www.hhmin.org/make_donation.php
Ministry Project Name: Turman

Donate by Mail: Designate for Doug Turman
Helping Hands
P.O. Box 337
Tallulah Falls, GA 30573

For the next 5 weeks we’ll be looking at how Christians answer the questions of evil. What difference does Jesus make when we want to ask God “Why?”

In preparation for this week’s sermon, an old unreleased song by the band Caedmon’s Call has been running through my head. The first verse is especially stuck, but the whole song is is worth a few minutes of pondering. 

Lately I’ve been thinking about some pretty strange things

More than I’ll admit

Like the exact moment that milk goes bad and

even then isn’t it good for something

But not as much about why bad things happen to good folks

and age old questions

But more about why good things happen at all

and why I don’t notice them

 

Me – Caedmon’s Call

http://www.lyricsmania.com/me_lyrics_caedmons_call.html

We have the privilege of supporting the Turman family during their two-year mission to Thailand. Here’s an update from Nancy Turman on their work…

Greetings in Christ!
We are enjoying being able to share gifts with all the kids we work with this Easter. These special treats called "Treasure Tubs" are an extravagant gift for these children, Pringles cans filled with paint sets, toothbrushes, crayons, glue, construction paper, stickers, etc. These are things that many children here cannot afford. Many thanks to the children of Pt. Washington UMC in Florida who sent them to us!

The death of Jesus on the cross was a huge extravagance, glorious and majestic God paying the price owed by us worthless sinners, a price we could never have afforded ourselves. Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!

Please pray with us for our "Church at the Dump" and check out the link to our sharesite to see photos.
Site URL: http://turmansinthailand.shutterfly.com/

Prayer requests:
*Rainy season begins in June. How will we meet with our "dump church" then? Please ask God to make a way!
*Pray for San San Tway, the young Muslim girl whose mother has been beating her and threatening her to not believe in Jesus. We visited her and her mother yesterday in an effort to gently soften the mom’s heart. The visit seemed to go well.
*We would like to bring one of our Burmese co-workers to the US with us when we come in October. Please pray for funds to travel and for visa approval for Nora Thida, and also for opportunities for spiritual development while she is in the US.
*Pray for Salima, the youngest Burmese girl who is now living with us. We are finding out more details about the past abuse in her life. She is a Muslim and prays religiously to the prophet Muhammed every night. Pray for her salvation, and healing from the past abuse.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We love you all!

"When I came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified." I Corinthians 2:1-2

The Turman Family

Online donations: http://www.hhmin.org/make_donation.php
Ministry Project Name: Turman

Donate by Mail: Designate for Doug Turman
Helping Hands
P.O. Box 337
Tallulah Falls, GA 30573

It started with a phone call. Two families we have been working with at the dump called and asked us to come to their huts and see them. One family is the one where the husband has HIV and TB and the other is a lady and her two children. They have both been on our prayer list. When we arrived they told us that they had heard that the police were coming later that day to raid the area and send everyone back to Burma. When the police come the people loose all their possessions (about two bags worth) and any chance they have at making a living ($2/day). If they are sent back to Burma, they will have no chance at a job, school for their children and may even be persecuted by the government.

The two families ask if we had a place that they could stay for a couple of nights. We said yes and brought them and their meager holdings to the house next to ours that we use to teach the ‘street kids’. They stayed one night and we took them back the next day to check on their houses. When we got there one of their neighbors told them that he talked to the land owner where they live and told him they had stayed with us last night. The land owner then decided that since they did this , he would not allow them to return to their homes. I do not know why he did this. I do know that for the past few Sundays we had gone to see these two families and had Bible Study with them and several of their neighbors.

The family with the sick father is still staying next door and they are in good spirit. We share with them daily and they are quickly becoming part of our family. I believe the man knows that his time on earth is very short. The other family is staying at the garbage dump with some friends until they decide where they want to go. Please pray that both of these families will continue to be receptive to the gospel and that we will continue to show them the love of Christ.

John 15:18 and 19 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

The Turman Family

Online donations: http://www.hhmin.org/make_donation.php
Ministry Project Name: Turman

Donate by Mail: Designate for Doug Turman
Helping Hands
P.O. Box 337
Tallulah Falls, GA 30573