Last month we lived in the center of Myanmar, in Yangon, the country’s big city. Now, in Thailand, we’re working for the same country, but calling it Burma. For those that don’t know (me up until fairly recently) Burma is in a civil war. The government, under the regiment that renamed the country “Myanmar,” is systematically destroying local ethnic groups in Chin and Shan state. Those regions are rich in natural resources—rubies, gold, jade—and occupied by minority ethnic groups. The easiest way for the Burmese government to get to those resources is through the removal of local populations. Hundreds of thousands of people have become refugees as a result.
We’re working with the Free Burma Rangers (FBR)—here’s a link to one of their videos that explains the organizations more: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=NAsYDoZuwt4 it’s super sick. They work to raise awareness and relief for Burmese refugees. The organization works on two fronts. At the frontlines, FBR takes individuals from the local ethnic groups in Burma and puts them through training. They receive medical and security training from ex-special forces officers, they receive video and journalism training to bring awareness to human rights violations, they receive missional training to bring the gospel back with them in their cities and villages. The only requirement to become a Ranger is to be working out of love, regardless of religion or ethnicity, and to be morally and physically courageous. That’s on the frontlines.
In the back offices in Thailand, refugees who need special medical attention are brought for surgery and recovery. The FBR’s base is in Thailand. It’s there that awareness is raised through events and social media, and where everything logistics takes place. It’s also here that our team has been placed.
A lot of our jobs are fairly low level tasks—organizing and digitizing paper files, talking with businesses about a 5k run FBR is holding, and cleaning rooms stored with medical and educational supplies. On our first day of ministry, we spent several hours preparing bracelet kits with five beads and a piece of nine inch string. It was mundane work, but we were preparing bracelets to let children impacted by the war make at an FBR summer camp. Mundane, but really meaningful. On some days Nick and I plan events, bible skits, and games for a summer camp. On other days we plan outings for the patients who have been brought back to Chiang Mai for medical attention. The work here definitely consists of serving in what can seem like trivial ways, but it also carries a lot of impact both for the workers at FBR and for the people they impact.
So that’s what we’ve been doing. Ministry is going really well! We’re happy here and enjoying as much of Thai culture as we can before leaving for Africa.
