The Real Burma

Hey friends! I just bought a book that I thought you all might want to hear about.

Did you know that the political dissidence happening in Myanmar (Burma) is nothing new? The Burmese millitary has one of the top land armies in the world. Know what they are doing with that land army? Oppressing their own people, and even more, they are systematically killing the Karen people.

Shocking?

Didn't know about it?

Well, thanks to the monks and the students protesting recently, the problem actually made it to the mainstream media.

Don't ask me why its been kept under cover for such a long time. I'm not political enough to know those answers.

However, I know that human life is much to precious for a people group to be exterminated. Unfortunately that type of behavior didn't end with the holocaust.

One of the highlights to our trip to Thailand was a visit to a Karen village. That is where we went on an elephant ride to a Karen church.

See, the Karen migrated from China, down into Burma, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. In fact, there are more Karen people in Burma than Thailand.

Such a beautiful people. Such wonderful smiles and joy. To think that just a few hundred miles away from where I stood at this church were more beautiful people like these being forced to flee for their lives into refugee camps.

I met Steve Gumar a few years ago when he spoke @ my church about his ministry. He risks life and limb, going into the trenches of land mined areas with his helpers. They are like warriors communicating with walkie talkies or something like that....keeping each other posted on the millitary action that's taking place all around them.

On his website I read that a man he knew quite well was brutally murdered in April. You can read that story on his website. http://partnersworld.org/index.html

We can't know everything that goes on in the world. We can't save everyone. But we can pray, we can educate ourselves and we can care.

Again, what's happening in Burma has been going on for two decades or more.

I bought this book that Steve's wife wrote. I didn't even know she wrote a book! http://partnersworld.org/usa_cart/product_info.php?products_id=32

I bought a t-shirt too, a pink one. I thought it would be good to support his work there and that possibly people would ask about the shirt and then I could tell them what little I know about what's happening in Myanmar.

If i was a good spitter I could have spit on Myanmar soil last January.

This is a real place.

It is a real country.

These are real people.

They are suffering.

They are being persecuted.

They are being systematically destroyed.

The lucky ones make it to refugee camps but even these aren't safe.

I'm not asking you to save the world, nor do anything, just read about it. Know it's real and tell people about it.