OUR STORY
Naomi House is a Business and Discipleship House for At-Risk Women in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We equip and empower women to earn a sustainable fair-wage income for a better future.
When the brakes gave out, there were thirteen passengers riding in the open truck bed. One of the few to escape unharmed was Siriwan Trakunhan.
“During the accident I remember crying out to God,” said Siriwan. “I can’t die yet! There are too many children who’ve never heard about you!” She clung to the word that God had given her in Proverbs 22:6: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.” She begged God to spare her life, so that she might fulfill this calling.
After many years of fostering and discipling, God led Siriwan to serve at Multiply’s Chiang Mai office, and to teach the Bible at the Juvenile Detention Center with Carmen Owen and their team. It was the next step in her calling.
“These children are older,” said Siriwan, “but still vulnerable. Once released, many will return to their old lifestyles. But those that follow Jesus have a chance to live different lives.” Wanting to equip them for that life, Siriwan began a discipleship program called Freedom Trades, offering training in sewing, woodworking, baking and hairdressing. “They become leaders, witnesses to the transforming love of Jesus,” said Siriwan. “One day these girls will return to their villages, evangelizing the lost and encouraging new believers. Just as I was doing, the day the brakes failed.”
Naomi House began when a Multiply partner church from California sent a team to train these at-risk women in sewing and hair-dressing. As a result, a handful of women were ready for work in textile production, and a house in Doi Saket, Chiang Mai, was rented and named “Naomi House.” In August of 2020, Siriwan Trakunhan, national partner with ministries in Chiang Mai, received a community small-business certificate to employ women in the area of textiles production, and several at-risk women were employed. Partnerships with local artisans and a US company led to job security for the women, and Siriwan began discipling the women in their workplace.
Looking to the future, Siriwan hopes to purchase a plot of land and build a ministry facility. This would include housing for displaced women and children at Naomi House, a worship center, a salon and a coffee house, with room for people to share fellowship, and a shop to sell their beautiful handmade goods. Her vision is for the outreach of the house to expand and to see women who have suffered unwarranted trials in their lives and have never been free to work for income, would have sufficient work to resource the the needs of their families, and have sufficient time growing in Jesus that their lives and families are never the same. The hope is to see the entire community impacted with the Gospel message.
