NOTEWORTHY EVENTS

         As the work of the New Life Center has become better known within Thailand and internationally, we have been blessed with many expressions of interest, concern and support. These have come from Christian groups, the media, international aid agencies, visiting dignitaries, and even from similar organizations in other countries who wished to share ideas. Some highlights:

• In March 1993, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Chuan Leekpai, presented Rev. Lauran Bethell with a special award for her work with the New Life Center.

• In 1993, we participated in a major BBC documentary, "Dying For Sex", which focused on the AIDS epidemic in Thailand. The New Life Center was shown helping girls who became HIV positive after having been tricked into the sex trade industry.

• From June to October 1993, a choir made up of 15 tribal girls visited the U.S. , travelling more than 17,000 miles through 16 states and presenting 141 concerts. The visit was a tremendous success in helping Americans become aware of the New Life Center and the issues it deals with.

• In October 1996, the CBS news program "60 Minutes" did a feature on American sex tourism in Thailand . The feature, hosted by journalist Ed Bradley and entitled "R&R in Thailand", showed the New Life Center as a program designed to help those young women who were being exploited.

• In February 1996, Dutch National Television aired a 25-minute documentary produced by Jan van den Bosch about the Center and the work of Rev. Bethell. It dealt with the issues of the young women, both those in the prevention and rehabilitation categories, and also described the Christian ministry of the Center.

• In November 1996, the First Lady of the United States , Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited the Center. After returning to the U.S., she wrote movingly of her experience there in her syndicated column and her recent autobiography "Living History".