Father Brennan laid to rest close to ‘his children’ forever HM the King honors Father Ray by giving Royal Earth for his burial Anand Ongkanawisai, chief of the public prosecutions department region two, places Royal Earth and Garland on top of the coffin during the funeral ceremonies. Story on page 24-25 Father Raymond Brennan, the founder and former director of the Pattaya Orphanage in Thailand, was laid to rest last Thursday in Pattaya, after a funeral service attended by thousands of people from all walks of life, including many of the children whose life he had so profoundly and positively affected. Condolences poured into the orphanage following father Ray’s death on Saturday, 16th August at the age of 70, from literally all over the world. And the legend begins. The service for Father Ray, as all knew him, was held at Pattaya’s Catholic Church, Saint Nikolaus. It was presided over by Father George Phimpisarn, Bishop of the diocese of Udon Thani. Father George Phimpisarn is a member of the Redemptorist Order, as was Father Ray. The service was honored by the official gift from His Majesty the King of Royal Soil, which was to be buried with Father Ray, and was presented by His majesty’s representatives. Searching spirituality through scriptures. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej gracefully conferred a royal specimen of earth for the burial ceremony, the earth symbolizing that he has been laid to rest on Royal Ground. “Upon this Royal Grace and recognition of Father Ray’s contributions, we believe that Father Ray, who has left us in the here and now, would have highly appreciated His Majesty’s generosity,” said Father Banchong Chaiyara in his his eulogy as he accepted the royal gift. In a manger in Northern Thailand father shares the word of God. The funeral mass was awash with emotion and sadness at Father Ray’s death. All the children, the Redemptorist staff from the five projects, city and central government officials and the city’s charitable organizations came to honor this great man who had contributed so much to his adopted country. Father Brennan stands in the grace of Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn and Belgium’s Queen Fabiola. Eulogies from staff, members of the cloth and grown orphans told of the love that they had received from Father Ray and all prayed for his eternal peace. After communion, the procession ended at Father Ray’s final resting place to the tune of a song, written for him on his last birthday. Father Ray’s ordination to priesthood. These who came to say their sad farewells were from all walks of life and position, but were joined together by the common bond of love and respect for this legendary priest who had accomplished so much during his 30 years in Pattaya. During the funeral the church was packed as people from different backgrounds; religions and nations came to celebrate Father Ray’s truly amazing life. Walking against the tides of life, discovering his path. Following the service, Father Ray’s body was lowered to his final resting place in a grave in the Church’s cemetery. For over an hour afterwards tearful mourners filed past placing roses on the coffin. Arriving in Thailand as a Redemptorist missionary in 1960, Father Ray came to Pattaya in 1972, and shortly after founded the Pattaya Orphanage. From humble beginnings with little funding, over the years the orphanage grew and Father Ray expanded his vision to include schools for the deaf and blind, a vocational school for disabled youngsters, a job placement agency, a home for street children and even an old people’s home. Today more than 700 hundred individuals are taken care of and educated by different arms of the Pattaya Orphanage so that they can have opportunities for a full and productive life. Dalai Lama with our father. Almost 2,000 people converged on Pattaya to pay their respects to Father Ray, a humble man - a man of god whose actions spoke louder than words. As the royal earth and a wreath were placed on top of the coffin and it was lowered slowly as the thousands of people said their final goodbyes to Father Ray. May he rest eternally in the arms of the Lord.
Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn presents a token to Father Ray Brennan.
	Father Ray’s 70th birthday celebration.
Father Ray Brennan shares hopes with Mother Theresa.
	Father Ray and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai meet with mutual respect.
The children, our future, will remember love, devotion, and the hope of Fr. Brennan.

Father Brennan’s last newsletter

August Mid-Year Report 2003

Martial arts are very
popular in Thai
land, and the kids at the Orphanage love to watch all the kung-fu movies and then try to emulate all the movie stars. Every Sunday about 40 of our Orphans are taught Tae-kwondo. Most of them have now moved up from beginners white belt to the next level - a yellow belt. Recently, one of our younger teenagers, my little ‘Holy Terror’, was chosen by the instructor as the one student who showed some extraordinary talent. After several weeks of intense training, Keng was entered into his first ever competition, where after beating six other fighters he returned home with a gold medal. He has also been entered into an International competition, which will be held in Bangkok on August 29, and will include fighters from Taiwan and the UK. When it was mentioned to Keng that thirteen year olds from the UK are bigger than most thirteen year old Thais, he said “No problem, I will beat them”. And I am sure he will. But whether or not he wins his next fight, I’m personally very proud of him.

There are many birthdays at the Orphanage and it is impossible to celebrate everyone’s birthday on the actual day. We recently had a first birthday party in the baby room, and the smaller children feasted on BBQ, fresh fruit, cookies and chips, and one of our volunteers made three chocolate cakes to go with the sponge cake that our cooks made. As you can imagine there was more chocolate on their faces, hands and legs than what was actually eaten. Even the walls were covered in chocolate, but the children enjoyed it so much.

One of our older boys will soon be leaving the Orphanage to start a new life in the real world. This young man recently graduated from University with a degree in English, and is now working as a teacher at a very good school just north of Pattaya, in Sri-Racha. He arrived at the Orphanage when he was just nine days old, and now 25 years later we have fed him, clothed him, educated him and made him ready to be able to take care of himself. He will always know that this is his home, and that he is always welcome to return. Like any parent I feel a bit sad when the day comes when it is time for my kids to leave home.

Every year the handicapped students from the vocational school volunteer to take part in the ‘Clean Pattaya Campaign’. This year the students went to the local beach and spent a whole morning cleaning all the rubbish, and generally making the beach a cleaner place. It does not matter what disability our students have, they all do their best to do whatever they can. This year one of our female students got her wheelchair stuck in the sand, she was a little embarrassed, but made no complaints when two of her handsome male colleagues picked her up and carried her to safety.

This year’s annual Pattaya marathon took place in July, and our projects were well represented. One of our teachers from the vocational school took part in the full marathon, and seven students and teachers took part in the wheelchair marathon. One of our ex students came third and one of our electronics teachers came in fifth. In the children’s race we had several orphans and street kids taking part, as well as four students from the blind school who were led round the course by a teacher.

August 12 is a very special day in Thailand. It is the birthday of HRH Queen Sirikit, and it is also Mothers Day. Although our children are not with their birth mothers, there are many here who play the role of ‘Mother’. For them, they will be honoured by our children just the same as children honour their mothers all over the world.

There is a tradition in Thailand that to pay respects to the Queen, people clean their houses and wear new clothes. All our children will wear new clothes and make sure that their rooms are clean, the classrooms will be cleaned, and last year the older boys painted the wall that surrounds the Orphanage.

Our Street Kids home for girls has been open just over one year now, and we have almost doubled the amount of residents, Progress on the new boys home is going well, and I hope nothing holds up the building work and every week we are welcoming more and more kids into our home.

In early July, a sad, but typical, street kids case came our way. We were approached by a nice young Thai couple who had shepherded in two young children, a boy of 10 and his sister, aged 7. The young couple had come from Bangkok to spend the weekend in Pattaya on the beach in order to paint some of the scenery. They were approached by the two kids who were begging. Taking a look at the condition they were in, they took pity on them and escorted them to the nearby police box for help. The police recommended they take them to a local government-run Home for Boys. When they arrived, they found out that they would accept only the young boy, but there was no question of them being separated. Remembering having seen our sign on the road they brought them to us. All they had in their possession was the clothes they were, wearing and a small blanket with a smaller pillow. They couldn’t even identify themselves other than by their nicknames.

The story came out that they had run away from their home about fifty kilometres from Pattaya because of abusive parents who had forced them into begging and never sent them to school. Not having much success begging in their hometown, they came to Pattaya in the hope of being able to fare better among foreign tourists on the beaches here. Their luck was not better until the young couple met them and brought them to us.

After several months of living at our Street Kids home, another ten year old boy decided he wanted to leave and return to the streets where he had lived for four years. Knowing the dangers he could face being back on the streets, our outreach workers went to Bangkok to try and find him. After searching for many hours the young boy was eventually found with a gang of homeless kids. All the kids were high from sniffing glue, and the young boy was shocked to see the workers from his former home. After another several hours of trying to persuade the boy to return to the home Pattaya, he agreed to travel with the workers. Another five young boys came along at the same time. Once back at the home they are given help with their addictions, counselling and will hopefully be able to return to having a normal childhood again.

Without your continuing help we cannot give these kids the start in life that they deserve.

Thank you, and our prayers are for you every day.

Fr. Ray Brennan (Still semi retired)

Fr. Philip Banchong Chaiyara, Director