During my month in Thailand I got to stay in Mae Sot. This town is right on the border of Burma (Myanmar). But there is actually a strip of land between the border of Thailand and the river that is the border of Burma that belongs to no country. It’s called ‘no man’s land’, and desperate people live in anarchy there.
You see, Burma has been torn apart by civil war and genocide for years. Though now the country is moving forward and coming out of devastation, the people still are seeking to get out to better care for themselves. Many of these refugees find themselves in no man’s land just trying to get by, just trying to live one more day and hoping to improve their lives in some way. Unfortunately their traditions and methods of farming are lost knowledge. Their education is exceptionally behind. They have nothing that is sustainable, they have no way to grow.
When I saw this, when I walked along the Thailand border looking at their houses made of scrap wood and their small shops set up right on the edge to sell whatever they can to the people in Thailand I could barely take it in. I never would have thought that there was land on this earth that didn’t belong to a country, and the land is so small that you wouldn’t see it on a map, so who would suspect?
These people, they are unseen. Few would even consider them. They are fighting for their lives and for the improvement of their homeland, and nobody is paying attention. Their struggles and sufferings are real, and until last month I was clueless. But now I know, and I’ve seen their plight. And when I realized that this has been their reality for so long I felt guilty that I didn’t know.
But I realized, God sees them. He always has. He sees their situation, and He knows each of them individually, personally, and intimately. He LOVES them. And now my prayer is to see God take care of His children, to see Him send workers to teach the refugees and the people in Burma how to develop in a sustainable way, and to bring them the knowledge of the joy of knowing and having a relationship with their Father.
