Chapter 7: The Karen, Burma, and all that lies between
Sorry for the delay, a lot has happened. Currently I am in Pattaya waiting to go back to America tomorrow. I have had a lot of things on my mind, so I have written those out and I will post them tonight. Tomorrow, I will post the day-to-day minutia, and then when I return I will give my final thoughts.
By the way, I would ask that you keep Thailand in your prayers. Tomorrow is Election Day and there is a very good chance that violence will break out afterwards. That is why we are leaving early.
So I’ve talked about Burma, and the Karen people. But then I realized that I have never explained the situation in Burma, and I’ve never talked about who the Karen people are…yeah not one of my smarter moves.
No country is ethnically “pure,” so to speak. For example, France has French people, but there are also Germans to the East, Spanish to the West, and other Europeans such as the Roma as well. Though they live in France, they are not French. Though Burma has Burmese people, not all people in Burma are Burmese. In the south and in cities like Rangoon it is primarily Burmese. But to the north, west, and east, there are many different kinds of people. One of these groups is the Karen. They are a people that live in the mountains along the Thai and Burma border, but mostly in Burma. They live in what is called Karen State, one of the provinces of Burma.
Burma has been inhabited and ruled for a very long time, but we will keep it short and simple. From the 19th century to WWII, Burma was a British Colony. It was during this time that many of the ethnic minorities had a certain degree of autonomy. During WWII, Burma was invaded by Japan, and many groups fought against the Japanese. In 1945, Burma was given its independence by the UK and the ethnic Burmese were given control of the country. There were some tensions, but a somewhat stable democracy emerged. In 1962 there was a military coup that overthrew the government. In order to assert control throughout the country, Burma has sought to bring to heel all the ethnic minorities of the country. This has been carried out via warfare, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, forced migration, and genocide. Because of the civil war in Burma, over a million people have been displaced. The Karen have been affected greatly, and many have sought shelter in Thailand in refugee camps.
In 2010, Burma held elections that were considered by many in the world to be neither free nor fare. Nevertheless, Thailand has decided to use that as an excuse to begin pushing for the closure of the refugee camps, citing that democracy has come to Burma. Should the camps close, the Karen and other peoples would be forced back into Burma. And what would await them are villages covered with landmines and the Burma Army. The death toll from such a return would be in the thousands. Right now, there is no easy solution to Burma, and so it is my prayer that one can emerge. Of all the peoples in the world, none have been more loving and kind than the Karen. They do so much and expect nothing in return. When I was in the No Poe refugee camp, I saw what true love and compassion is. I never want to see another one of them hurt by the conflict in Burma.
Chapter 8: Meditations on the world
So as things wind down to a close, I have had many thoughts run through my head.
A million things go rushing by, and yet none of them make sense.
A politician says something stupid, a Coke is purchased, the Bachelor is on, a cat rides a unicycle on the news, someone eats a hamburger, a car drives by, the soft sound of rain is heard, the sun rises, the sun sets, a man plays a guitar, a student goes to Facebook, and a book page turns.
Life
We move in and out, the quiet dance of our routines push forward and forward. We wake up, go to work, come home, and go to bed. The routine of life, it is universal whether it is in America, Italy, China, Thailand, or Swaziland. Interspersed is the little things that brighten our day. And nothing really changes. Technology improves, but the nature of life does not change.
Repetition
Even a hundred years from now, it won’t change. Someone has to file the papers, make the coffee, harvest the vegetables, sell the merchandise, and make the money.
Monotonousness
Our lives get boring; we yearn for something different to shake things up. We take the two-week vacation, go on the retreat, and take a sick day when we are not sick. And then it returns to normal. And the boredom returns. We yearn for something more, but nothing changes really. And we move live looking forward to the next thing, the next vacation, the next retreat, and the next sick day. We live life almost as if we are merely collecting one experience after another. Is this truly living?
Escape
Are we truly blessed, gifted by living in America? Sure we have more material wealth, but has that made us happy? Does God bless people with money, cars, houses, stock options, or anything of tangible wealth?
Refraction
Many Karen have little. In Burma, the Burma Army continues to inflict horrible atrocities. In Thailand, the government does little to help those that escape from Burma. And though the government allows refugee camps, those camps might be shut down, and the Karen people will be forced back into a warzone. The west barely cares about them. In fact most Americans know little about the Karen, or the civil war in Burma, or that the Thai government are actually considering sending thousands of people to their deaths. And yet, I have never met any group on this planet that has been as warm, kind, gentle, welcoming, and caring as the Karen. Despite the realities of their situation, they opened up their homes to us, gave us so much, and treated us like honored guests. And even though they have little, they are truly the ones who are blessed. Their lives are filled with hope, even in the midst of the crisis. They are the ones truly living.
Daybreak
I think that is the essence of what this time in Thailand has been for me. It has been a process of understanding and realizing that which we must do to create a better and gentler world. And in fact the answer has been staring us in the face the whole time. I think the expectation of a missions trip, and indeed the entire Christian message, is to get out and make more Christians. As a student of history, and one that has studied Christian history, the path to make more Christians may have been a bit…messy…to say the least. Frankly, I think that a missions trip, and the goal of Christianity itself, should and indeed has very little to do with converting people (though some would disagree). Instead it is about loving and caring for one another. And that means loving the whole being of the person no matter how different and how distant they are.
And so, this is my hope and prayer; that we may find ways to grow with one another and make manifest God’s love in this world.
