Gayle Haberkam is a retired nurse living deep in the high jungle mountains of Northwest Thailand. She lives with the Karen people in a small village called BeYoTa. Many people living in surrounding villages had never even heard of the name of Jesus until Gayle began her ministry there. For more than fourteen years, she has worked with a young Karen man named Blet Jhaw, who shares her goal to reach these people for God. Gayle and Blet Jhaw desire these people to abandon their sinful habits and be prepared for heaven. BeYoTa is a primitive area without electricity, phone service, internet, or shopping. The local people are very poor. They live in wooden or bamboo structures, have no medical care, and most adults cannot read or write.

Opium is the primary source of income in that mountainous region. Mostly everyone is addicted to it, and many mainline it as heroin. Opium—along with alcohol, homemade cigarettes, betel nut, and the practice of eating pigs, rats, and just about anything else that moves—destroys the people’s brain cells and removes the precious few vitamins and minerals they need so badly. Consequently, teaching them about the Bible and health messages is slow and difficult.

The people of BeYoTa and the surrounding villages live much like they did 100 years ago. Their lives are full of superstition, devil worship, and the use of witch doctors. People have come from 130 surrounding villages to receive health care and learn basic health principles. Gayle’s medical work is a bridge to reach people’s hearts. When God brings healing to someone, or when a life is saved, they want to know about the God whom Gayle worships. Only 4-6 people used to attend her church, but now, between 50 and 60 people are attending every week! God has supplied all of Gayle and Blet Jhaw’s needs. Their faith has grown as they have witnessed His day-to-day miracles with the people and when He saves them from poisonous snakes, wild elephants, and the constant dangers of traveling over impossible roads. (To hear from Blet Jhaw’s experience as a missionary and his point of view of their ministry, watch this Jesus for Asia Now report.)

Gayle and Blet Jhaw feel a deep urgency like they have never felt before to reach these people before it is too late. They appeal to you to realize the call of God on your heart–a call to reach the lost. The fund for Gayle’s project helps her minister to the spiritual, physical, social, and mental needs of the Karen people in BeYoTa and the surrounding villages.