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Newsletters
The newsletter can be downloaded below:
- newsletter 2023
- newsletter 2022
- newsletter anniversary year
- newsletter June 2020
- newsletter September 2018
- newsletter December 2017
- newsletter December 2016
- newsletter December 2015
- newsletter spring 2015
- newsletter 2014
- newsletter 2013
- newsletter 2012
- newsletter 2011
Old news items
June 2015, New refrigerator/freezer De Power Of Love Church that is visited by Bob often is working on a orphanage. Just before his leaving to The Netherlands, Bob managed that Asia Care Foudatnion could donate a big refrigerator/freezer for this orphanage. May 2013, travel report Jan and Janny For two years in a row Jan and Janny visited Bob during winter. The travelogue of 2013 can be found at this tab at the 'Travel reports '. August 2012, diaper project In the summer, when Bob was in the Netherlands, he already announced that he intended to set up the diaper project. After he went back to Thailand, he began to purchase diapers for a spastic girl from a family that already receives food. On the picture one can see the hand over of the first diapers to the grandmother of the girl.
Dear family, As you know, me and Dinant have been in Thailand for one month during September/October 2011. Although we did a lot of cool things during this wonderful trip and have seen beautiful places, we also have experienced something that was very emotional and dramatic: We have visited the refugees from Burma. We were taken there by Bob, a friend of Dinant’s family, who has established a foundation for these people to provide food and medication. We were impressed. We have seen a family that consists of a father, mother and three children. The father had stepped on a landmine in Burma: he lost his arm and became completely blind. The eldest daughter is spastic and lies in a hammock in the empty and austere living. How strong is this mother in the midst of so much misery! For this reason we decided to raise money for the refugees during our holidays. They have much lower levels of wealth than we have – it's so nice in Holland and we enjoy good food and gifts. We’ll bake a lot of cookies and we will sell them for 5 euros per bag on Saturday at Grandma's birthday. All of the money will go to the foundation and will be used to buy food and medication. On the website: dinantencarola.waarbenjij.nu, you can see our entire travel report (in Dutch) with photos including our visit to the refugees. On Saturday we’ll show our book so you can read the travel reports and see the photos. The website of the foundation is: www.asiacarefoundation.org. Please help us to collect a great amount of money! See you Saturday! Carola & Dinant.
November 2011, message from Bob Bob sent us the following message on November 3rd:Health I have a littly nuisance from the fall on July 4th this year. It becomes less and less. Currently I'm more or less housebound. I have a bacterial infection on my right foot. Yesterday I went to the hospital and I have to clean the wound daily and cover it sterile with a dressing. I also had antibiotics and painkillers. If the swelling does not decrease, I'll go back to the doctor for possible adjustment of medication. Fortunately, I do not need to visit the refugees in Pala - U. I can postpone this until mid-November. I expect that I’ll be able to go there by myself by then and in case of emergency I’ll send Curt in my place, an American missionary. I have to skip my language lessons now unfortunately. Flooding The current situation of the flood in Thailand: This weekend a lot of water from the north in Bangkok is expected. Currently we have here in Hua Hin many evacuees from the area of Bangkok. We do not have floodings here. However, there are logistical problems related to the massive flooding in Thailand: At Tesco Lotus, the largest supermarket here in Hua Hin, many shelves are empty. Other supermarkets have fewer empty shelves. Drinking water is limited. Prayer I would like to request prayers for a quick healing of my wound. I would also like to ask for prayer for the natural emergency situation in Thailand. Much thanks in advance, Bob.
October 2011, travel report of Carola and Dinant Last autumn Carola and Dinant visited Bob. They have recorded their experiences in their report. It can be read at this tab under 'Travel reports'. Thanks We received thanks from a fellow missionary of Bob for the medication that was purchased by the money of the foundation:
Hey Bob,
I've attached the pictures of the medication that was bought. I have the receipts and I'll give them to you on Sunday. This is a great blessing! They said: "Thank you very much"! Blessings in Christ, Curt.
The drugs that are purchased by use of the money received by the foundation
"Currently, I have a lot less pain, but it has not been fully disappeared. Especially with some movements of my left hip I get unexpected twinges. The first four weeks I have been pretty limited in my actions. Work related assistance to the refugees are not suffered. Despite many painful moments include motorcycling and even driving on dirt roads and sometimes many holes in asphalt, I could the daily life letting go as best as possible. I have also been limited in household chores in and outside for a few weeks. And still I can not do anything I want."
April 2011 In Thailand, since april, Bob is busy learning to read and write the Thai language and he will be able to speak it as well later on. Bob:"I think it will take at least two year and a half to achieve this. And of course I will help the refugees in the meantime in a practical way."
Travel reports
Jan and Janny
For seven years in a row Jan and Janny visited Bob. Directly below is the travelogue of 2017 and 2018. Further down you can read their story of the year before.
Travel reports 2017 and 2018
travel report 2017 and 2018 (translated)Travel report 2016
travel report 2016 (Dutch language)Travel report 2015
Once again we have been in Thailand for seven weeks. We visited the refugees of the Karen tribe in Pala U.
We collected money for the project of Bob: The collection at our birthdays yielded an amount of money. Besides we had the contents of the charity kitty of the cafe of our daughter in law. Furthermore we received several gifts. Thanks to all who contributed to this, also on behalf of Bob!!!!!
In Thailand we bought candies, cookies and cans of fish. The remaining of the amount was given to Bob. He uses it for the food project, diapers for two disabled children and medicine for one of those children. Currently Bob provides 22 families with food. He delivers this at the Bible school.
The reunion with the people of the Bible school and the families is cordial. It is unfortunate that we can not understand the families, but using sign language helps a lot. It is nice that they knew us from previous times, it feels good.
The family of grandmother with her disabled granddaughter (18 years) is worrisome. Grandma can not match the care for her. Unfortunately the mother of the other family we visit is not at home. We only meet the father with the youngest child and the disabled daughter, lying in her hammock.
Bob brought a bucket filled with all kinds of products to the families and staff of the Bible school, as Christmas gift. This was appreciated very much.
For twho times we have been to two slums to bring food with a group of people from the church in Hua Hin. So we fully realize how fortunate we are here in the Netherlands.
Jan and Janny
Trave report 2013
This year Jan and I have been back for four weeks to Thailand. Together with Bob we visited the Karen Refugees in Pala - U. We would go to the two families we also visited last year. We are allowed to take pictures to show at home and to those who have donated money.
We decided that we do not want gifts anymore on our birthdays, and if people still want to give something, then we would like to receive gift for the project. This resulted in a nice amount of money. From the parents in law of one of our children we also received the contents of the charity pot of their cafeteria. From the talk group of the church we also received the contents of their 'pot'. In this way we could surprise Bob with a nice amount and we bought extra things in terms of food and toys for the children.
At the hotel we spoke with a Dutch couple about Bob's work and we mentioned that we would join him with a visit. They were very interested and joined us. It is a snowball effect.
We arrived at the family, a grandmother with severely disabled granddaughter, Nong Ai. Grandmother told us that the girl is ill. She felt very warm and we gave her a nice teddy bear which she directly pressed against herself. Grandmother was busy to wind yarn. If she made a tangle she started weaving bags.
Then we drove to the Bible school where Bob always delivers food. There was a German doctor who treats the sick and provides medication. This guy comes every year and does this work entirely disinterested. Very special to see this. Bob picked up Nong Ai. She was examined and given medicines. We also visited the other family and gave them extra food and toys. Both families now get diapers for disabled children.
We wish Bob God's blessing on his special work. Warm regards,
Jan and Janny
June 8th, 2012
We, Janny and Jan, have visited Hua Hin in January 2012. It was the second time we were in Hua Hin and we were looking for a church service. We found that there is a service in the Hilton Hotel weekly at Sundays at ten o'clock. We didn't know this before.
During a service we met Bob van Rijn. His story impressed us deeply. We travelled with Bob to Pala - U to visit his project. It was hartbreaking to see how these poor families live in dependence of other people. We also directed some of our friends to Bob when they were in Hua Hin. They also visited Pala - U. We support the project of Bob, but this is not sufficient.
We want to generate more attention to this good work. In a talkgroup of our Protestant church we told the story of Bob. Spontaneously one decided to allocate a part of the charity money to this project. This part is already transferred. Moreover, our parish committee decided to transfer money monthly.
God bless, kind regards,
Jan and Janny
Carola and Dinant
Last autumn Carola and Dinant visited Bob. They recorded their experiences in the travel report that you can read below.
October 26th, 2011
I promised to write a report about our visit to the refugees in Pala - U. Firstly, let me give you some brief information about Bob's foundation. This foundation is committed to people in Asia who live in poor conditions. Bob has been sent out from his church in Tiel for practical assistance in Thailand, including assistance of the Burmese tribe 'Karen' in central Thailand. These people have fled their country because of the military regime.
We got to know Bob via Dinant's mother, who visited Bob last year together with Ylfva, Dinant's sister. We spent the first and the last few days of our vacation with Bob. He told us about his foundation: Dinant and I really wanted to see this with our own eyes. On Monday October 17th we went there.
We had to start with shopping. Usually, from the money that is given to the foundation (far too few!) Bob buys food on the market every month: rice, shrimp paste, salt and oil. This food is delivered to the Bible school in Pala - U and the people there ensure a fair distribution among the refugees who need this so desperately.
From Hua Hin, where Bob lives, we drove about 60 km away to Pala - U. A sign appeared on the way which warned us of wild elephants. Bob said that they usually come out when twilight falls and that we had the chance to encounter one on the way back. We were lucky! Halfway there was a huge elephant waiting for us on the side of the road! In broad daylight! Quickly I jumped with my camera to the back of the pickup, on top of the bags of rice and we turned the car. We stopped near the elephant ... Wow! What a moment, what an experience! Quietly I took one picture after another and when the elephant started to cross the road I started recording. Suddenly he turned his body to the car, looked at me and came right over us ... When the huge animal was about ten meters away Bob quickly took the car into gear and drove away ... Pff ... That was extremely exciting! Unforgettable!
We continued our way and finally arrived at the Bible school. This school is led by a few families from the Karen tribe. Here we unloaded the food and had magnificent views of the pineapple fields and rubber trees. We were shown some of the houses where students of the school live and after that we visited two families.
When we arrived at the first family we came into a completely empty room with only a hammock in the middle. As we got closer we were shocked terribly. There was a girl, about 13 years old, if I'm not mistaken. So small. So thin. Skin and bones. And spastic ... She was very curious about all those strange noises and trying to see us so we sat down beside her. Her wrists were so thin as your thumb, so fragile, we hardly dared to touch her. Her parents were not at home at this time so we first went to another family (I'll write about them next). When we came back later, the girl sat at her mother's lap. Her father, brother and little sister were sitting next to them. Her father stepped on a landmine in Burma in 2005 and got completely blind by that accident. He also lost one of his arms. Can you imagine that your husband is in such a bad condition, you have three children (of which one is spastic) and you still have to make money ... How do you keep that up? You would realize that this family is very grateful for the food they receive from Bob's foundation. We brought Thai sweets for the children (dried seaweed) and they ate it very quickly!
The other family consisted of a grandmother and a granddaughter. This girl was 16 years old and extremely spastic. Her mother died a few years ago and her father did not want to care for her; he had ran away with another woman. The Grandma invited us to sit next to her. We had quite a bit tense, one feels a bit like an intruder. Politely I sat down beside her. The girl was covered with ants and from my own experience I know that they can bite so that it itches annoyingly. We saw that she was bothered by it. We were shocked by the sounds they made, very strong. The smell was horrible, I felt sick. The grandmother told later that the girl only gets two diapers a day, a morning and an evening. They cannot afford more diapers... When I grabbed the hand of the girl and began caressing it, her arm relaxed but as soon as I stopped, her arm shot into an impossible position again. That was a special moment ... These people receive food from Bob's foundation, like many others, mainly widows and orphans.
After that it was time to go. We were silent and heavily impressed. On the way back we ate in a restaurant along the road and we saw another elephant. It's special to experience that when you drive through the dark jungle your headlights suddenly illuminate a huge elephant.
Dinant and I are thinking about how we can help Bob's foundation because a lot more money is needed than what is coming in currently. If we would have thousand people each transferring one Euro montly, it would be a huge profit! We'll brainstorm about it, all ideas are welcome, in order to give these refugees a more human live after everything they have endured already...
Kind regards,
Carola and Dinant
Photos
The photos that belong to this website are situated at Google Photos.
- To watch photos of the service in August 2010, click here.
- To watch photos of Bob visiting a primary school, click here.
- To watch photos of the food project and of the families that get food from this project, click here.
- To watch the photo of the diaper project, click here.
- To watch photos of the wheelchair project, click here.
- To watch photos of the organization of the diner, click here.