A Stallion in a Foreign Land: Pr Ricky Tan and Care Corner

“You are like a wild stallion charging up and down the mountain, taking young people with you. Young people from another country… young people from the country and from the cities…”

The year was 1990, and though, like many prophecies, the language may be cryptic and symbolical at the time, it would become a concrete reality for Pr Ricky Tan in just a few short years. Indeed, the prophecy would be given not just by one prophet. It would also later be confirmed by another prophet from a completely different network circle.

The foreign land would materialize to be Thailand, and the mountains the undulating slopes of Chiang Mai. The stallion would lead, take care of, and protect a community of young and underprivileged orphans from this mountainous region. In time, even the city portion of the prophecy would come to fruition.

For Pr Ricky Tan, missions, particularly in Thailand, have been in his heart since he was still a student at Bible College. He shares, ‘When I was in Bible College in 1985, I started a weekly prayer group for Thailand. In my practicum during my first year in Bible College, I was involved in church planting ministry with a Thai church. I believe that’s when I caught the vision to go to Thailand.’

Four years later, in 1989, the vision of going to Thailand became more than a dream. While Pr Ricky was serving on staff in a Bible School in Singapore, he was given the opportunity to begin leading Bible School students on short-term mission trips to Thailand. This was the beginning of something much larger down the road. Just a short time later(1990), the prophecy was given. In 1991, one year after the prophecy, Pr Ricky married his wife, Lay Hwa, who would become a faithful partner in his ministry.  

‘The Lord sent me through the church I was serving to Thailand for ministry several times after I got married,’ Pr Ricky shared. ‘Finally, a new Bible School in Chiang Mai invited my wife and me to help with their school in 1993. We made a one-year commitment with the school. At the end of my commitment, the Lord opened a door for a children’s ministry, which we started in 1995.’ 

Care Corner Orphanage Foundation (CCOF) would be established, and the prophecy unto its fulfillment. From 1990 to 1995, it took about 5 years, but by 1993 God had already started setting the groundwork for the ministry by leading Pr Ricky and Lay Hwa to Chiang Mai.  

Life at Care Corner Orphanage

The Care Corner Orphanage is located in the verdant valley of Sanpathong, in the district of Chiang Mai. While in its name an orphanage, CCOF has the vibrancy of a community. Many of the children come from families devastated by drug addiction, AIDS, and broken homes. There is also a focus on providing shelter for girls who would otherwise be lured into prostitution. They would all find hope and a family who loves them in Care Corner. When CCOF first started in 1995, there were 28 children. By 2011, the foundation had taken in close to 80 children. Some of them have gone on to live successful lives of their own. Today, Care Corner has over 70 children combined with their campus in Sanpatong and a sister home in Maetho.

Every child is valuable in CCOF and has their own file. Dorm rooms are personalized with individual beds, storage areas for personal possessions, and biodatas on the door. Each dorm (separated for girls and guys) has a whiteboard where important events such as upcoming birthdays, trips, or visitations are posted. The children are regularly taken for outings and to celebrate festive occasions. 

Within the community, the children are encouraged to pursue their passion projects and self-reliance. Besides home-schooling-based learning due to Covid-19 lockdown, the orphanage has a dedicated study room where the children are taught handicrafts and a canteen where they are taught to wash their own dishes after every meal. 

There is housing for staff who live in the same area as the children. During the evenings, children and staff play basketball on their basketball court. They even have residences for long-term mission workers, bringing to pass the city portion of the prophecy. Many young people from the cities in Malaysia and Singapore have come and lived for a period as missionaries with the community at Care Corner. 

Care Corner maintains and rears its own chicken, duck, and geese. They recently embarked on an agricultural farming project.  The children participate where they discover life skills and hobbies that they can use for their working life in the future.  The crops are grown organically with very low chemical fertilizer and no pesticide. Having their own source of food supply helped them tide over during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.     

Pr Ricky and Lay Hwa have never forgotten that Care Corner was a calling the Lord had placed upon their hearts. Beyond the material comfort and needs, life at Care Corner is shaped around bringing the children to know the love and person of Christ. Besides meals, school, and chores, the children’s spiritual development is not neglected. Life at CCO is centered around the children. The day typically begins with devotion at 5:30am and there is a daily chapel service at 7pm, as well as weekly connect groups within Care Corner and with the local community church, where they serve in the worship team, hospitality team, and as leaders in the children’s ministry. The children also participate from a young age in outreach programmes, school outreach, and Mercy Ministry.

Rainbow Home

In addition to Care Corner, the Lord would lead Pr Ricky and Lay Hwa to establish a home for HIV-positive children in August 1997. Besides providing a home, Rainbow Home’s function is to be a care center for children unable to attend school because of their condition of being born with HIV.

‘There are many people who may look at them with pity,‘ Lay Hwa expressed. ‘Seemingly they have short and painful lives with no purpose in society. We do not agree. We believe that God loves them and that they are a part of society. Because we know this, we are committed, and our staff is united with us in loving them and enabling them to experience all the joys and activities of a normal childhood.’ As medication has improved over the years, the Rainbow Home children have since integrated with the rest of Care Corner Children and many have graduated and joined the workforce.

Care Corner and Rainbow Home are filled with many stories; that of Khawtee, abandoned in a hospital and dying from AIDS at six years old, she is now married with a daughter and on staff at Care Corner; of Nipha, sold by her mum to a prostitution ring and rescued by Pr Ricky and adopted and raised in Care Corner; and of Suwanna, who came from a family broken by poverty and given new hope and a new future, and who now has a happy family in Germany. 

The Mission of Care Corner Orphanage Foundation

Pr Ricky and Lay Hwa shared that more than just providing shelter, they want to make Care Corner and Rainbow Home places where underprivileged Thai children can find a loving home and discover the love of Jesus. 

‘We believe that Jesus has a life-changing message and that this message has the power to influence and bring hope into every corner of Thai society,’ they conveyed. ‘Even more, we believe that the children can be a transformative force in their society. As such, we do not just want to merely provide them a place to live in. More than material comfort, we want them to know their lives have purpose and value and to grow spiritually in knowing Christ. Along the way, we provide education, health care, and moral guidance, and we are always looking to create jobs and micro-enterprises so that the children can have an established future as they transition into adulthood and go out to make an impact of their own when they become tent-makers or full-term servants for God.’

‘In the early stage, we had many challenges with the language barrier and the culture of the people we worked with,’ Pr Ricky expressed. ‘By the grace of God, He equipped us in establishing the ministry till this day. We thank God for a new generation of leaders who are serving at Care Corner Orphanage Foundation. Almost all of them grew up from the orphanage.’

Many of the children at Care Corner have their own aspirations. If it weren’t for the calling the Lord has placed upon the hearts of Pr Ricky and Lay Hwa, the underprivileged children would have led lives without hope. 

The prophecy was given in Singapore to a Malaysian who is now, with his family, serving the Lord and bringing hope to others in Thailand. It is coming to hear about ministries like this that the adage of the Kingdom and Body of Christ being a global one that transcends cultures and borders comes to the forefront.