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