Half a century ago, Pastor Stephen S.F. Lee swam across the sea from the China Mainland to Hong Kong…got free help by grace from a Western couple (including going to seminary), went to Canada, and eventually became a pastor and a church planter. It was in Canada that he first set up the Grace Foundation to provide accommodation for the elderly, but while he was in Thailand for a visit (that was more than 10 years ago), he came across the Golden Triangle, which borders on Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. This area used to be home for drug dealers and gangs, with a culture of drug addiction, pornography, and human trafficking permeating the whole area. But what Pastor Lee saw then, and had compassion for, were the many ethnic minority peoples living in this area who were bent on worshipping ancestors, ghosts and idols. It was clear that these unreached peoples desperately need the Lord.

Truly, the darkest place would need God’s divine Light to shine. Missionaries have come and gone in this area near Chiang Rai, Thailand. One of them, David Zhang, was an alumnus of Pastor Lee’s Seminary School in Hong Kong. More than 30 years ago, David Zhang arrived at the Golden Triangle on a white horse, and wherever he went, he set up shop on the streets to preach the gospel.

By God’s grace, Pastor Lee had a similar vision for the work laid before him. He recognized that this is a fertile missionary field. With like-minded Christians, he set up the Grace Missionary Training Center under Grace Foundation (Thailand), with a mission to minister to the orphans there by not only giving them a home, but also helping them to grow up into responsible individuals in their communities, bearing effective Christian witness to God’s grace.

This Grace Missionary Training Center is not a simple run-of-the-mill orphanage or missionary training center. It has a specific mission, i.e., to fulfill the vision of Apostle John as revealed in Revelation 7:9-10. Pastor Lee had read this passage many times before, but he did not realize until then that this vision was not only the last of Apostle John’s visions, but also the greatest. In it were the numerous peoples in white robes coming forward from different nations and speaking different languages to praise God and Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb for the salvation of mankind. The Grace Missionary Training Center emphasizes not only Biblical training but also training in languages (Chinese, English, and Thai) as well as practical living skills (as teachers, barbers, farmers, poultrymen, pig breeders, etc) before sending forth these ethnic-minority youngsters as missionaries, so that they are equipped to be both preachers and teachers in their own villages, sharing the gospel with their fellow villagers in their own mother tongues, while being able to make a living on their own. As Pastor Lee so often points out, “I think this is the most effective method of training missionaries.”  To this day, nearly 100 such youngsters (many of whom are orphans) have been trained. What a miracle! To God be the glory.

天恩基金會的歷史 – 基於李世勳牧師在70多嵗時的訪問/珮群

Currently, our founder, Pastor Lee is no longer actively pastoring in his advanced years, but he is never tired of continuing to serve the Lord and preparing the way for the Lord’s Second Coming.

半世紀前，冒險游水偷渡來港，得到毫不相識的外籍夫婦義助唸書，到加拿大建立教會、設立天恩基金會來從事敬老、開辦老人院……李世勳牧師一生人經歷神種種奇妙恩典，但70多歲的他從不言休言倦，反而愈侍奉愈得力。十多年前李牧師正在加拿大致力興建護老院，一次與師母到泰國旅行，機緣巧合下去了清萊府。清萊府邊境跟緬甸和寮國接壤，是著名的「金三角」地帶。過去是世界上生產最多毒品的地方。雖然政府已全面禁毒，積極打擊不法份子，但當地賭博、吸毒、色情事業、販賣人口等罪行仍然橫行﹔加上聚居了眾多山區遊牧民族和少數族裔，使當地盛行拜鬼、拜偶像等風族文化，人心敗壞。

最黑暗的地方就是最需要神亮光之地，多年來很多有心人都到金三角宣講基督的救恩。李牧師的建道校友張大衛就是其中一人：「30多年前，他騎著一匹白馬就去金三角地方宣教，走到那裏，就在那裏拉起布簾在街頭傳福音。」李牧師在清萊，經過一些宣教團體介紹，知道有一片可作宣教工作的土地。他有感福音泥土已鋤開，是收割的時候了。「我們就在那兒建立了天恩宣教中心，致力為孤兒提供一個家，幫他們發展前路。」這就是泰國天恩基金會的開始。天恩宣教中心並不是一個簡單的宣教中心或孤兒院，它有一個從神而來的使命，就是落實使徒約翰晚年時來到拔摩島所見的異像（啟示錄7章9-10節）。這段經文以前李牧師在讀神學時讀過很多次，卻沒有感覺，但有一天他忽然明白，末世使徒最大、最後的異象是：信主的人來自不同地方、說不同地方的語言。在清萊有24個少數民族，說著24種不同的方言，所以神給李牧師的領受是：招聚各個民族的青年到天恩接受訓練，待他們成熟，受造就後，就派他們回到家鄉，用母語向自己的同胞傳福音。「我認為這是最有效的傳福音方法，另外要培訓學生說國語和學中文，將來回到家鄉可以教中文，既能成為宣教士又能成為中文教師。

國際天恩基金會現有三個分會：

一、天恩基金會（加拿大）：事工專於敬老。廿多年前李世勲牧師和同工在加拿大溫哥華開始安老院。現有兩間安老院，照顧大約一百五十名耆英（平均年齡八十八歲）。因加拿大社會福利好，老人金可以支付安老院舍費用，又因爲經營得法，所以仍能有剩餘來支持泰國金三角天恩宣教中心的部份開支。在泰國，約一百人的生活和學習費用需要每月加幣一萬元，也就是每位加幣一百元（基建除外）。

二、天恩基金會（泰國）：事工專於扶幼 (領養孤兒) 和訓練宣教士。請參閲天恩基金會(泰國) 2017 年事工報告以及分享代禱信（pdf/docx attached）和附錄的兩項視頻。

三、天恩基金會（美國）：事工專於打通人力渠道（招攬語言教師、聖經與生活技能導師、醫護人士等）和財力渠道（鼓勵免稅的捐助），來支援泰國的天恩宣教中心。正由趙陳煖儀女士在籌備中。