Final Reflections

(See link to photo album at left)

I'm home again, still a bit jetlagged and knowing that little bits of memories and insights will continue to pop up at random times (like 3:00 a.m.--see reference to jetlag above). But I like to neatly tie up loose ends so I'll go ahead and officially finish this blog with what I've processed so far. Overall, I'm left with a long prayer list that I'd like to invite you to include in your own prayers--maybe not all at once since that can be a bit overwhelming, but remember each of these items occasionally and that will still get the job done. For one thing I was vibrantly aware of while we were worshiping in the refugee camps was the power of prayer, the beauty of prayer, the efficacy of prayer. One person's prayers can change that person--a multitude of prayers joined together can change the world.

In no particular order...

1.) Thai citizenship issues. Visiting the various NGO offices, New Life Center, and the House of Love brought home repeatedly to us that for those displaced persons who have moved into Thailand as illegal migrant workers, who have been trafficked, or those hilltribes who are unable to prove centuries of habitation of their Thai land, citizenship is a huge problem. Thailand has something like 27 levels of citizenship, several of which state boldly that the person at that level has no legal rights. It is these levels which many hilltribe peoples and those running to Thailand from Burma (outside of the refugee camps) fall--which makes them easily exploitable and locks them into cycles of poverty. The newly elected Thai government is likely to be even more conservative on these issues than the previous one so there are tremendous fears the situation will worsen. Pray that there may be reform of citizenship laws for the protection of all.

2.) Refugee registration. Refugees in the camps must be registered by the Thai government before they are added to counts for food rations and other supplies; they may only apply for resettlement if they are registered. The government stopped recognizing new refugees in 2005, so any refugees who have arrived in the camps since that date are unregistered. In addition, they only ran registrations in camps on occasion, so if someone wasn't present the day of registration, they are also unregistered. This means that numbers of actual residents in the camps are far above those that are officially registered: i.e., Mae La has something like 45,000 registered residents but in reality there are well above 50,000. This means that the camp only receives enough food for 45,000--the communities share with those who do not receive rations, thereby lessening the amount of available food and supplies for all. Families are divided as some members are registered and others not--a wife and one child may be, the husband and another child may not be. Pray that the registration process may be renewed.

3.) Missionaries. We met faithfully committed people doing hard work in God's realm throughout Thailand. Pray for the Dieselbergs and the other staff at NightLight Ministries; for the Browns and their work at the seminary and other ministries; for Karen Smith and Kit Ripley and the other staff at New Life Center; for Kim Brown and the staff of the House of Love/House of Blessings/Tribal Health Project.

4.) Landmines. While at Mae La, we entered a building labeled as the handicapped ward and were confronted with many men missing arms or legs--limbs they had lost to landmines. Both the Burmese army and the resistance have used landmines--they pepper the countryside of Burma. We heard many accounts of children playing in the dirt around their village and tripping a mine, or the Burmese army forcing men from captured villages to walk in front of the army in rows to "sweep" for mines (in other words, stepping on them first so the troops wouldn't). Even after the battle has long descended into the annals of history, the landmines will remain a constant death-threat for all. Pray for the global cessation of landmine use.

5.) Budgets. A perennial problem--needs exceeding available resources. We're well aware, of course, that our missionaries and missions can always use more funding. In addition, however, there aren't nearly enough English classes to go around in the refugee camps due to limited funding by the US government and the NGOs own tight budgets (to choose one example). I was also reading an article today from the Fort Wayne, IN, newspaper online about the influx of Karen refugees there and its impact on local health care and social services budgets--an issue in many cities (and not just in terms of Karen refugees, either--it simply highlights the pre-existing issues of poverty and health care in the US). Pray that the government will attend to appropriate allocations of funds to meet the needs of refugees both in the camps and here in the U.S., and that our missionaries will have the funding they need to do their crucial ministries.

6.) Refugees themselves. There is a long list of needs but since I figure you can imagine many of them (health care, food, lack of adequate employment possibilities, etc), I'll highlight a couple that perhaps are less obvious. When we met with the cultural orientation team, they shared with us many of the fantastical rumors about life/resettlement experiences in other countries (especially the U.S.) that have flown through the camps and the ways the team works to dispel them; when we met with the camp committee at Umpiem, they told us of misconceptions about life in the U.S. that we tried to dispel in the very short time we had. Pray that refugees will have adequate, true information so they are able to make informed decisions about resettlement. When we met with the community leaders in the camps, they consistently told us that one of the problems they confront in their communities is the sense of hopelessness many have. They don't know what their future will be and it seems as if every obstacle is in their way. While we were inspired by the hopefulness of worship and the work of the leadership in the community, we were still aware of how hard-fought a battle it is to maintain hope. Pray for hope to be restored, renewed, or instilled. To go hand-in-hand with the hopelessness is drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence--as people are torn from all that is familiar and is theirs and thrust into limbo, or facing all the struggles of resettlement, incidences of substance abuse and domestic violence rise. Leaders in the refugee community are hard at work to educate their people and protect victims or potential victims but need our prayer support. Pray for those who seek solace in the wrong places and for those who lash out in their frustration--pray for the victims and family members. All of the refugees that we met, or that I have worked with here in Rochester, simply want jobs. They want to be able to support their families in the camps and after they've resettled. Some in the camps will put themselves at high risk for exploitation--or willingly enter exploitive situations--because their desire for self-sufficiency is so high. The NGOs and camp leadership do all they can to make as many employment opportunities available in the camp as possible but, as you can imagine, those jobs will only go so far. Depending on the cities they get resettled into in the U.S. or other countries, jobs may or may not be readily available. Pray for unemployment globally, and that those at risk for exploitation may find safe, healthy means of income.

7.) The war in Burma. It truly is a horrendous situation. The stories have not been exaggerated or sensationalized (Rambo notwithstanding). Torture, murder, systematic rape, villages burned down, men forced to carry heavy loads for days on end with no food or to "sweep" for landmines...it all happens. Nearly as fast as the current refugees are resettled, new ones arive to take their place. Take the time to educate yourself on the subject--google "Burma war" or "Myanmar", read the information on http://www.karenkonnection.org/ or http://www.freeburmarangers.org/ or other websites on the topic, set up news alerts for Burma...and pray over whatever you read. Find out if there are refugees from Burma coming into your community (they're currently being resettled in something like 140 cities across the U.S.) and build relationships with them. Pray that peace and justice will be restored in Burma.

I guess my hope in sharing my experiences of this trip with you is that you'd not see this as a travelogue so much as perhaps a call to action. Your action may be prayer, it may be resource support, or it may be political or social-justice activism. God puts people in front of us that we are called to care for, God shows us faces of those in need, God brings situations to our attention in which God needs our partnership. I don't know what those things are for you; I don't even know most of the time what they are for me until I'm in a situation where it's suddenly, blindingly, and sometimes even embarrassingly made clear. But just as some of the things I experienced in the last two weeks are whispering in my ear and nudging my attention in certain directions, perhaps something you've read in the words of this blog will do the same for you. May God be with us all as we pass through the steps of our daily lives, opening our eyes to what God would have us do.

(P.S. March 9, 2008, is being promoted by the organization Christians Concerned for Burma, related to Free Burma Rangers, as a Global Day of Prayer for Burma. Consider planning your own day of prayer for Burma--on March 9 or whatever day fits your church calendar. Gather facts about the war and the refugee situation, create a prayer list. Google "Global Day of Prayer for Burma" to find possible resources.)