Boys Receive a Mother’s Love

Our first all-boys home opened in Thailand with eight rambunctious youngsters aged 6-14. The first visible difference of having a boys home compared to a girls home came during the very first church service. While the girls sing in a “girly” fashion, prim and proper, the boys belted out songs with as much energy in their voices as they displayed when playing outside. The second contrast came during their time of play. Girls, for the most part, play quietly, not making much noise. For the boys, soccer games were in abundance along with scratches, bruises and bumps. It wasn’t long before one of the boys fell off the jungle gym and had to have stitches to his head. The tetherball became a seat for bouncing on and around, instead of hitting.

And, last, but certainly not least, came their very first Christmas. Girls intentionally and carefully open their gifts, saving every piece of wrapping to use for writing a letter or doing a craft. With the boys, this was not the case. The bags and paper went flying; taking all of about three seconds to go through to see what they had received from their sponsor family. Ah, but the question . . . what was the same between the girls and boys? Huge smiles on adorable Asian faces, expressing thankfulness that their sponsor family cares for, supports and prays for them.

Founder Carl Ralston and Remember Nhu international workers were a little hesitant of the boys having a single lady be the house mother. At the time, a quiet, godly, Spirit-filled Remember Nhu house mother took on the task of caring for the boys with a bit of anxiousness, not sure herself how the boys would respond.

How would the boys respond to a female authority figure in a male-dominated society? Would they listen? We were pleasantly surprised by their obedience and respectfulness to her leadership. It didn’t take long to figure out why. Through her quietness she leads her boys by example. She shows them Jesus’ sweet love. She instills values in her boys. She does a wonderful job protecting these young boys who were at risk. As all of us pondered why our boys responded this way compared to other young boys in their culture, the answer soon became evident. They were receiving a mother’s love, which they had never known and is unheard of in this society.

Thank you, to the sponsors who provide these future leaders with their physical, educational, emotional and spiritual needs!