March 19, 2026
 
 
A Prayer Email from Aaron:
 
Greetings friends and family,
Jesus paints for us a picture of his identity and purpose in John 10 saying, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” He adds, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” There are so many sheep in Thailand that are stuck under the thumb of the thief and live in constant fear and insecurity who are yet to know the Good Shepherd nor the care, protection, provision, and purpose He graciously offers to them as HIS sheep. This is why Karyn and I have been committed to this ministry for 11 years! Thank you for being our partners in this, both financially and spiritually in prayer and encouragement!
Karyn and I are filled with joy about students from TawSaeng who have heard Jesus call them by name and are following Him into new life, abundant life! March 22nd-27th our team is blessed to take 6 of those kids, university students, to serve about 220 children in some of the most unreached areas of Thailand (only 0.4% Christian according to The Joshua Project). In partnership with Thai churches, we will be doing outreaches in 3 different provinces. We will have an event for 5th graders at a Thai school, an event for about 100 students from 10 different churches, and one for about 60 children from an outreach ministry. Our students will be teaching English, Bible stories, life-skills, as well as leading activities, games, and songs, while I will meet the pastors and children’s workers. We will be handing out backpacks and bags of food staples, too.
Also, the Thai school year has come to a close and we have been busy celebrating student’s graduations and also preparing our staff for our summer program. This time of year is super hot and super busy as the children are at our center for a greater length of time each day and is generally packed full of fun, learning, and special activities for them. While school is out a few of our university students will help teach the younger kids Chinese language, baking and barista skills. We also, hope to have one of our university students intern at TawSaeng this summer as well. It is a blessing to watch how God work in and through their lives!
 
How to pray:
  • For safety and protection over our whole team.
  • For the 6 university students serving to deepen their faith and hear from the Lord this weekend, as they go to teach and serve.
  • For the children in these locations. Pray for seeds to be planted in the lives of the children that maybe hearing the Gospel for the first time ever.
  • Pray for me (Aaron) as I meet with the pastors and children’s workers for encouraging, prayer, and some teaching.
  • Pray for a great summer at TawSaeng and great impact in the lives of the children and their families.
How you can help:
  • $4,300 will double to $8,600 through a matching grant. Give any amount to help us provide tuition, uniforms, school supplies, and lunches for 27 children grades K-12th to attend school. (Some students attend public Thai government schools. We also sponsor 11 students to attend a more expensive Christian school for a higher quality education.)
  • $1,380 provides 220 backpacks for under-served children our team will be serving in east Thailand.
  • $840 provides 100 bags of food staples for families.
  • $350 provides a special summer-time fun and experiential learning activity for 35 TawSaeng students. (family picnic, zoo, water-park, etc.) ($1,050 total for the whole summer program)
  • $250 will pay our intern for a month ($500 for 2 months)
 
May God bless you all as you have blessed us!
Aaron & Karyn Beckner & TawSaeng Staff
 
***Be looking for our year’s end newsletter with 2025 ministry and family highlights.
 
On Resurrection Sunday, we took our high school and university students to a reservoir, where festivities for the Thai New Year were still in full-force. Amidst the rafting and water fights, three of our university students chose to be baptized and profess the faith they have put in Jesus. As one of our students said, “I’m very excited. It’s a big decision. Thank you TawSaeng and God for guiding many things.”
How awesome for our staff and believing students to pray over these new disciples.
The Lord answered our prayer for a quiet place to pray, worship and celebrate His Resurrection.
Our service trips serve two purposes: First, it is for our students to grow in their compassion and love for others while developing both the skills and the heart for serving God. It is a key part of our discipleship process. Second, we have the opportunity to assist under-resourced and isolated churches with encouragement and opportunities to help them better reach their communities for Christ. This time, our team drove 11 hours to return to the Isan area (northeastern Thailand) for a third year. We served in three provinces over three days. This region has a high level of poverty and highly unreached with the gospel (98% Buddhist/0.4% Christian). We partnered with ministry leaders and pastors from three church networks who are actively trying to reach their communities through ministering to poor children in their area and growing or planting churches to spread the love of Jesus.
Our students taught about forgiveness through the story of Joseph, taught the life-skill of positive self-esteem and gave jerseys, backpacks and groceries to over 170 students.
Aaron was excited to meet with the Christian leaders and mentors again to pray with them and encourage them in their work with Thai students.
For the past three years we have partnered with this Christian couple who pastor one of the churches we serve at. They have also planted 10 churches in northern Thailand and one in Laos.
10 years in! Karyn and I were able to get away to southern Thailand to set aside time for an intentional sabbatical. We took time to rest, read, pray, play and look forward to the next 10 years (and beyond).
 
We caught many fish on our excursion, including Grouper, Red Fish and Sardines. I almost landed a Mahi Mahi, but the catch of the day was this King Mackerel Karyn caught.
We were in awe of the amazing and beautiful sea life on our day of diving. We saw sea horses, colorful corals, moray eels, sting rays, scorpion fish, lion fish, nudibranchs and we even found Nemo.
2015 – We got off the plane, excited to join Aaron’s parents in Chiang Mai, meet the people, learn about the culture and share about the love of Jesus.
2016 – Micah quickly jumped right in with the kids from TawSaeng, but adjusting to the food took time.
2017 – Play and having fun together bridges every language barrier. Before college Jonas was in Thailand for only a couple of years but, he enjoyed being with the students.
2019 – Elyssa loved Thailand right away and loved to help with the kids. The kids loved her too! It is always a sweet reunion when she comes home for a visit.
 
2019 – Esther* was our first student to receive Christ. It’s been a joy to watch her grow in faith. She is a lovely young woman who loves Jesus and works hard to supporter her family.
Ning, Karyn, Aaron, Seal, Mike
2020 – We have had many volunteers through the years, but the core of our staff has been together since 2016.
2020 – In the midst of COVID lockdowns and fear fear, we were blessed to be invited into the homes of some of our families for meals and celebrations.
2021 – God couldn’t have given Karyn and I a better 25th anniversary gift than bringing Jonas and Elyssa home after being separated because of COVID regulations.
2023 – Our relationships grow deeper every year as we mentor and disciple our students through prayer, teaching and time together.
2023 – We took some of our high school and university graduates to DaNang, Vietnam to celebrate their high school and univ. graduations.
2023 – We are so proud and overjoyed when our students take steps in their faith, like choosing to be baptized.
2024 – We were so overwhelmed by the love shown to us by our staff, students and friends to help us clean and move after the floods.
 
2025 – Every year we finish our summer program with a trip to the Sticky Waterfall with our students and their families. We play in the cool water, climb up the waterfall, eat together and deepen our relationships.