Who are the Karen and why are they suffering?
The Karen are one of Burma's ethnic minorities, a hill tribe people although many now live in the delta area south of Rangoon and in the city itself. There are possibly 5 to 7 million Karen of whom 40% are Christian. This makes the Karen church one of the largest Christian communities in this strongly Buddhist part of South East Asia.
The gospel came to the Karen in 1817 through the missionary work of Adoniram Judson an American Baptist. The Karen believed in large numbers and immediately turned to evangelise some of the other hill tribes in the region. During British rule the Karen flourished and in World War 2 were fiercely loyal to the British cause although the majority Burmese sided with the Japanese. Despite their loyalty, the assurances that they would be given autonomy after Burmese independence were not honoured. Fearful that old scores would be settled a Karen National State was declared in 1949 and civil war broke out.
Burma has for decades been ruled by an oppressive military dictatorship with one of the worst human rights records in the world
There are one million Internally Displaced People in Burma. These are people who have been forcibly cleared from their villages to "relocation centres." The government seeks to harass in order to punish and crush the ethnic minorities in the country. Paths are mined, women raped, old men forced to do portering duties for the soldiers. Every day Karen people are being killed by the Burmese military. In addition to those in the relocation centres 200,000 Karen are in hiding in the jungle on the Thai Burma border, 120,000 are in refugee camps in Thailand and an unknown number are illegal immigrants in hiding in Thailand.
Burma (or Myanmar as it prefers to be known) is the world's largest supplier of heroin and despite being a land of great natural wealth is now one of the poorest countries in the world spending a large amount of money on the military.
What does the future hold for the Karen?
Only God knows what lies ahead but right now the Karen Church is building in hope. In Mae la refugee camp ( population 40,000) the Karen Bible College has nearly 300 young people studying God's Word. In addition to the usual courses there is instruction in leadership, computing, English language.
The church leaders believe that one day God will change the situation in Burma so that they can return. When they return from their exile they will be ready to exercise godly leadership and become part of a great missionary movement - a light to the nations of South East Asia. Men like Pastor Simon principal of the Bible College have dedicated their lives to this vision.
What can we do?
The most important thing we can do is pray for Burma and the Karen people. March 10th is a worldwide day of prayer for Burma.
Keep up to date with what is happening. Karen Aid produce a quarterly newsletter. Christian Solidarity World Wide have a very helpful magazine Response. Both of these are distributed in our church. There are also websites on the Karen's situation (see links).
Write to the Foreign Secretary about the situation in Burma. Burma operates a "closed door policy" towards journalists so that the atrocities there are "low profile".
Support the work of the Bible College. The College is a beacon of hope for the Karen. Money raised in Scotland can go a long way in meeting basic requirements, providing doctrinally sound books and training teachers. There are Karen Bible College collection boxes available in the church which can be used at home to collect loose change which soon adds up. In the past members of the congregation have travelled out with Ivor and this can be a life changing experience. There is a great need to help teach English.
Why is it important to support the Bible College?
The Bible College at Mae La and the satellite colleges planted in the other six camps are the only places where tertiary education can be obtained at present. In Karen State the unsettled situation makes education of any kind very difficult. The students who emerge from the Bible Colleges will be relied upon to provide community and spiritual leadership when democracy is restored in Burma and the Karen are allowed to return.
One of the challenges facing the church in South East Asia is the influence of liberalism in some of the seminaries. Were this to infiltrate the Karen Bible College it would have disastrous long-term results for the Karen church- witness the results of liberal and neo-orthodox theological training in UK.
Our response to this is as follows:
We are seeking to supply evangelical teachers to do intensive instruction in the college. At present four teachers of theology/missions travel out to the camp. Two travel from Scotland and two from Holland. We go out along with the team of eye surgeons in May and October.
We are providing evangelical and reformed textbooks for the College library and also for graduate packs for the graduating classes. Each year we bring out around £2000 worth of books. Beginning in 2005 we will supply each new student a copy of "Know the Truth" by Bruce Milne which we hope will become a standard text in time. We would also like to translate some key evangelical textbooks into Sgaw Karen. To translate one textbook and have a run published in Thailand is likely to cost £1000.
We would like to give able students the opportunity to do further study in seminaries which are theologically sound and which will equip them thoroughly for the task of teaching at the College. At present Boon Chu Pongdamrongsap is studying at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia having spent 15 months with us in Kilmuir and Stenscholl.