Month: March 2023

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Scott and Tan February 2023

It looked like the year was going to be just a lot more of 2022 and things started rather slow and dull.   It was probably just  me that was kind of slow and dull.  I had been sick since the week before Christmas and was frustrated because even 2 weeks into the year,  I was still feeling yucky.   

The Thailand Karen Baptist Convention’s relief effort we have been helping as they provide food and relief to the Internally Displaced People (IDP)in Karen and Kayah States of Burma was still going on with no end in sight  and the IDP numbers were reaching 500,000 in Karen State alone.  Some of these people have been displaced again and again as they have no place safe to stay and the Burmese military continues to shell and bomb them.   If we are getting ‘relief fatigue’ ,  I can only imagine how the IDPs feeling.   We hear that the trauma has been unbearable for a lot of people -hearing the planes everyday never knowing which one will drop bombs on them.     

Then suddenly a number of developments have taken place in the first two months of this year that have kind of kept us on our feet.  The top leadership of  one of MMF – TKBC’s funding partners came for a visit and wanted to see the border.   During the trip they proposed that MMF play a significant role in the management of their Burma program.  They have staff in Burma and resources to apply,  but can’t manage it since the country is falling apart.   They want to continue with the relief work, but they also want to see progress in the area of peaceful change.  What a challenge!  How do you bring about peaceful transformation when the country is embroiled in a civil war?  So we appreciate your prayers on hearing God’s will for us on this one. 

And then, as is typical for Burma,  when things are really bad, something strange happens that doesn’t seem to make sense.  In the midst of a country that has descended into chaos,  the Burmese military government just opened the  Northern land border between  Burma and Thailand last week.  I got a message from a friend who lives on the border today saying that I, as a foreigner,  can go to Kengtung on a border pass again now!  Our friends there, whom we haven’t seen in 3 years, are able to cross over to see us and we plan to see several of them in the next few weeks.   We will decide about going up Kengtung to see them on that side later.   So on one side of the country,  the continued fighting and struggle causes millions to suffer and be displaced while on the other side, the Eastern side,  life is normal,  business is booming and the border is open for us to travel back and forth like nothing is happening.   The military wants to bring in investment and show that life is normal.   But as soon as we begin to believe them,  something happens – like a bomb goes off in the streets or the bus station, or another church leader gets arrested and we realise life is not normal. 

 So we pray for wisdom to know how to move ahead and support our friends in Burma.  

Thank you for your prayers and support.  We also remember  to pray for you.  

With Grateful hearts,

Scott And Tan 

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Mylinda Bates Update March 2023

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. -Hebrews 12:1-2

I hope this note finds you well and experiencing God’s grace and peace in your daily life. A week from today I will be heading to Ecuador for the second time. Invited by Baptist Peace Fellowship friend, Eloy Alfaro and  RECONPAZ (Continental Network for Peace), I will join 10 others in a pilot project called Global View, a global immersion experiment for students, social change agents, and faith communities to learn from diverse community leaders in the Amazon and the Andes. In preparation, I have been preparing  my heart, head and hands through prayerful ponderings, challenging reading, and the creative process. Two books I’ve appreciated and recommend are: Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth  by Darcia Narváez and Wahinkpe Topa and Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity’s Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. 

As part of the program, we will be offering gifts to our hosts as a tangible reminder of our gratitude. I figured I could make some original art to share. I have been exploring the idea of our cloud of witnesses and the people, places and processes that shape who we are and what we bring into every new encounter. Playing with layers of paint, photographic image transfers of the forest where my feet are currently local, and an ancient Celtic symbol that has become a metaphor of encounter for me, these images arrived. In response, I wrote a poem in Spanish, translated it into English and hope to have help translating it in conversation with our indigenous hosts into their heart language. I share these with you not as a show, but rather to ask for your solidarity, support and sacred curiosity of the wisdom and care that can be nurtured and

shared through these encounters. Thank you for being part of my great cloud of witnesses. Without you, I wouldn’t be me.

In gratitude and grace,

Mylinda

Encuentros en el Camino

Por M Baits

El encuentro en el camino conocido

Caminando acompañada

Rodeadas por ancestros antiguos y amigas nuevas

Sostenidas por la tierra santa, el viento respirado, y la compañía compartida

El encuentro en el camino desconocido

Descubriendo fortalezas escondidas

Acompañadas por aprendizaje y apapacho 

Sorprendidas por las memorias destapadas, la belleza regalada, y el alma tocada

Hagamos un camino nuevo

Tejiendo nuestras historias, cicatrices y celebraciones

Invitadas a aprender, imaginar y crear un paso a la vez

Animadas por los cantos, colores y conversaciones sobre la marcha


Encounters on the Way

By M Baits

The encounter on the known way

Walking accompanied

Surrounded by old ancestors and new friends

Sustained by holy ground, wind breathed in, and company shared

The encounter on the unknown way

Discovering hidden strengths

Accompanied by learning and soul’s embrace

Surprised by the memories revealed, the beauty gifted, and the soul touched

Let’s make a new way

Weaving our stories, scars and celebrations

Invited to learn, imagine and create one step at a time

Encouraged by the songs, colors and conversations along the way

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Message from World Relief Officer Lisa Rothenberger 2023

The War in Ukraine – One Year On

During a recent interview, Rev. Igor Bandura (vice president of IM’s Baptist partner in Ukraine) shared, “There are more generators running in Ukraine than anywhere else in the world.” This is just one reality of life one year into war.

Many Ukrainians—those who remained and those who left—continue to live in the middle space between deep grief and deep gratitude. What Rev. Bandura shares most about is the gratitude. When Russia invaded on February 24, 2022, IM’s supporting congregations, individuals, and the Baptist worldwide family responded quickly with generous donations that have provided for sustained relief activities.

You generously gave $1,366,000 in the past year through One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS)–Ukraine Relief. Your gifts combined with others around the world to provide more than $5,700,000 in humanitarian aid. You helped meet basic needs: food, shelter, heating, transport, and psychological assistance. The aid has been delivered by Baptist partners in Ukraine and neighboring countries; by your International Ministries global servants, including Carmella Jones, Becky and Larry Stanton, Amanda and Jon Good, Pieter and Nora Kalkman, and Kristy Engel; by Church World Service staff in Moldova; and by L’Arche staff in Ukraine.

One of the many challenges of ongoing war is that some of the same needs continue as long as the war continues. After a hurricane, the damage and needs can be readily assessed. Immediate needs can be met and longer-term planning can begin. Ongoing war presents a very different challenge, as many of the needs remain the same for an extended period of time. Today, sporadic shelling across the country continues, with Russian troops increasingly targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure. This makes returning and beginning the long process of rebuilding impossible.

We face a long road ahead. Rev. Bandura asks for us to “think in terms of staying with Ukraine for the coming eleven years.” Your continued giving to OGHS-Ukraine Relief will enable us to do just that—be there not just for the time of war, but for the time of rebuilding.  

Lisa Rothenberger
World Relief Officer

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Nzunga Mabudiga Newsletter March 2023

Spanish School has Started (and it’s hard)

Dear
Dear Loved Ones,
Greeting. We are both now officially students at language school in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic. Monday Feb 27, we both went to bed early at 9pm to be ready to face our first day. At 3 AM, we were ready. [like children for the first day of school.] At 5 AM we ate our breakfast; a piece of delicious papaya and we were among the first at school.

At 8:30, our first professor entered the class. I prayed deeply for the end of her period. When the second professor came in, the situation worsened. The two young female professors were speaking Spanish as if we all graduated from the same Spanish school. Never in our life we have heard Spanish roaring in our ears like a tornado. 

Our classes are from 8:30 until 11:30 each morning. While in class, if one speaks another language other than Spanish, they pay 10 pesos. If you are late, you pay 25 pesos.

Since we were delayed in our arrival, we are one week behind the others.  The professors are giving us each 1.5 hours extra for us to catch up.  The first day we did not get home until 2pm.

We are adjusting, our brains are full of words we long to understand easily, and we are exhausted by the end of the day.

We need a miracle.

Thank you for your prayers.
Yours in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Nzunga & Kihomi
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Gabhart’s Newsletter March 2023

Definitely an Interesting Time

This is definitely an interesting time to be serving at Missionary Flights.  MFI has experienced an increase in both passengers and cargo even while the situation in Haiti has not improved. A few weeks ago, one of the pastors that MFI serves who works in the more rural part of Haiti was kidnapped and is being held for ransom. Missionary Flights is taking as many precautions as possible that each flight can be accomplished without incident, but the situation on the ground is much more dynamic than it has been in the past. Please continue to pray while MFI supports those God has called to serve in an increasingly unstable country.

As I am learning the Load Master position, one of the responsibilities is flight logistics: when do items fly and what else goes on the plane. MFI’s general procedure is first in, first out. Sometimes we get items that work well with that process and other times not. Recently, Go Build Love, an MFI partner organization, acquired 21 pallets, 8 feet tall, of buckets. This is an awesome gift for their ministry. They use the buckets to make home water filtration setups. With the cholera outbreak, clean water is a huge need.  This ministry is able to provide each home with a filtration bucket, and as a result, God has blessed them with opportunities to introduce many families to Jesus through filter buckets. Watch this video to hear how the partnership with MFI is changing lives.


Buckets to change thousands of Haitian lives

Buckets, food, and hygiene kits
To make the buckets easy to handle, the receiving department processes them in stacks of ten as shown in the picture. The picture contains eight of the pallets that Go Build Love has brought to MFI thus far. The logistical problem is that each stack is 18 pounds. To send them all on one flight will fill the airplane space-wise and barely touch the 6,000 to 8,000 payload that the DC-3 can carry.  So we send buckets in batches and offset their “fluffiness” with items that are more dense. I’m very grateful for this time to learn the nuance of flight logistics before it is my daily responsibility.


Scheduled engine change

Pre-dawn departure
In February, MFI suffered a tragic loss. The MFI Port-au-Prince mailroom leader, Jean Charles, was traveling on his motorcycle and was in an accident. Unfortunately, he died from his injuries.  Please pray for his wife and young children as they adjust to their new life without him. Also, please pray for the community to whom he was ministering to have someone step into his place.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we serve at MFI.

James and Sam Gabhart