Reach out to rescue the war-torn northern Myanmar
Photo courtesy/WIRI Ethnic Minority Mission
The needs of mountain people
Myanmar borders mainland China and Yunnan to the northeast, India to the northwest, Thailand and Laos to the southeast, and the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean to the west. It is geographically important. At a time when the international situation is changing and major powers are competing, Myanmar is close to mainland China, which is experiencing rapid economic development, and has nearly 2,000 kilometers of coastline to the west. It is the sea area through which bulk shipping cargo from Europe and Africa travels, and has become a target of attraction from major powers. In recent years, due to the One Belt and One Road policy, mainland China plans to build an oil pipeline from the Kyaukpyu Port on the west coast of Myanmar, directly through the Myanmar mainland to Yunnan, which increasingly highlights the key to Myanmar's strategic location.
The World Indigenous Research Institute (WIRI) has been serving the Kachin ethnic group for many years, mainly in Kachin State, Myanmar. The end point of the aforementioned oil pipeline seems to be between Kachin State and Shan State. Kachin State is rich in natural resources. The land was originally fertile. However, due to the geographical isolation, unknown historical feuds among the mountains, and various ongoing events, the land has rapidly lost fertility due to large-scale planting in the past, and it is now difficult to plant. A bountiful crop.
It is common for ethnic minorities in the mountains to travel across the border. They are originally the same ethnic group, but are separated by national boundaries. For example, the Kachin people are called the Jingpo people in mainland China. The Myanmar government’s attacks on the Kachin began around the end of 2010. At that time, I heard a co-worker tell me that the Kachin people were at war in Myanmar and were about to have nothing to eat. They wanted me to go see how to help them. So I went to find out what was going on, and started serving Kachin refugees until now.
During this process, many overseas Christians showed love and assistance, and generously helped the unfamiliar Kachin people. After the gathered love and offerings reached a certain level, I went to deliver the offerings and share God’s words. I was able to go to the Kachin refugee camp. In addition to God's mercy, companionship, and everyone's prayers, I also relied heavily on the cooperation and assistance of local colleagues. They are very grateful to the outside world for providing help in times of need, and are willing to participate in serving their own people.
▲The refugee camps on the northern border of Myanmar, nestled among the mountains and hills, are facing unprecedented difficulties.
At the beginning of the Kachin people's persecution by the government, their homeland suffered great changes, and many refugees gathered in several refugee camps. The war was ravaging the country, and food was scarce. At the beginning, everyone was in a panic and had nothing to do, so I suggested planning medical stations, schools and churches first. Later, at their request, WIRI helped build chicken coops and sheep pens, and donated chickens and sheep so that they could have a source of protein, which was then left to the refugees to manage themselves. Before the war, they lived a self-sufficient pastoral life, raising only three or five chickens. However, when managing chicken flocks, prevention of infectious diseases must be taken into consideration, and the chickens must be vaccinated. However, vaccines are expensive and difficult to obtain, so operating a chicken house requires more sophisticated financial revenue and expenditure and management. We hope that we can continue to work towards this goal when the situation becomes more stable in the future.
Most of the supplies we provide are medicines, non-perishable rice, and crops such as potatoes and radishes. Due to the large number of people and limited funds, there is really nothing they can do about meat and it is difficult to fully meet the needs of the refugees. They have no choice but to go out to look for game at the risk of being caught. The refugee sites are all in mountainous areas, and some of them are particularly high-lying. When the winter is snowy and cold, it is difficult to find plants or meat in the wild, and there is a serious shortage of heat sources. Usually the services at this stage must be tailored to their needs, otherwise they will not be able to survive the winter.
Especially in the winter of 2020, co-workers wrote to me saying that it was very cold and that I could hardly survive. I quickly dispatched overseas co-workers to deliver charity supplies and told them to send them to refugee sites at high altitudes. These places are located in deep mountains, and resources are usually difficult to reach. When they received the supplies, they were moved to tears and couldn't help but thank everyone for their love and dedication. In addition, gout often attacks the elderly at this time. After we sent out prayer letters, we received donations of medicinal materials, but the freight was not affordable and we had to wait until the epidemic was resolved before we could bring them.
Who knows the pressure and pain caused by living in instability for a long time? Some refugees leave their families and camps to work in the city in order to make a living, but they are often bullied or deceived. Those who are in a better situation can return, but some may not be kind. It is very sad to hear this. It is a real dilemma for these refugees to stay in the camp and feel that the war will never end, and to go down to the mountains to work and be alone and helpless.
▲The school opened in the refugee camp hopes that the younger generation can get the opportunity to turn their lives around through education and faith.
Unease after the coup
In 2021, under the shroud of the epidemic, after nearly ten years of democratization in Myanmar, a military coup suddenly occurred. A few days after the coup, I received a call from a co-worker. He mentioned that the Internet and power were cut off, and the social atmosphere was tense. He asked us to pray for Myanmar and believed that Heavenly Father would have mercy.
At that time, Taiwan was in an atmosphere of preparing for the Spring Festival. I was already preparing to return to my hometown for the New Year. When I heard the news, I quickly changed my schedule and stayed in the office for two or three more days. I urgently made a video to appeal to the Christian community to support the refugee situation due to the coup. And to add insult to injury, pray for help. Since then, news has spread one after another. The smoke of military roundups has spread to the mountainous areas. Teachers or key colleagues in the refugee camp were arrested on the way to school for possessing radio communication equipment. The same reason as Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested. In fact, military operations have always been carried out against refugees, but now they are even more aggressive in arresting them.
In February, all I saw in the news were reports about the number of lives lost among the Bamar people; among ethnic minorities in remote mountainous areas, WIRI colleagues had a total of 70 teachers missing or killed. The military targets intellectuals and pursues colleagues who are engaged in education among refugees, in an attempt to interrupt refugee education and the inheritance of faith. The political persecution suffered by the refugees, which began in the early years with expulsions, bombings, or small-scale conflicts, has become more and more intense today, and most of the unarmed people can only be slaughtered by them.
In the next few months, contact with my co-workers was intermittent, and I had to wait until co-workers took the initiative to contact me when communication was restored. Once we get through, we usually hear more arrests, requests for our prayers, etc. Since the beginning of 2021, in addition to regular needs such as food and medicine, five second-hand four-wheel drive vehicles and ten sewing machines have been needed; the former is to quickly rescue the injured, and the latter is used to make anti-epidemic cloth masks. In April, the goal of a four-wheel drive vehicle was reached and the purchase was completed. As the new coronavirus variant is raging and more contagious, and the border crossing between India and Myanmar is routine, it may affect them. It is also imperative to purchase a sewing machine to make reusable cloth masks.
Since April, the military government has been bombing the mountainous border more intensively, and refugees have begun digging underground air raid shelters to prepare for hiding at any time. In May, co-workers reported that the military government began to randomly enter homes and arrest young people. When they saw young people, they took them away for questioning and ordered them to hand over their mobile phones to check whether there was any information related to gatherings and demonstrations in order to find out those who had participated in the gatherings and demonstrations. The consequences for those detained are also disastrous. The once bustling markets in Kachin State have become deserted, people are panicked, and the refugee camps are also noisy. According to co-workers, the situation has escalated to the point where neighbors and relatives are picking on each other, and close confidants have become enemies who grab each other's pigtails.
▲When one limb suffers, are the other limbs willing to lend a helping hand? The picture shows the author (second from left) leading ethnic minority colleagues to serve in refugee camps in the mountainous areas of northern Myanmar.
aid to suffering limbs
From 2010 to May 2020, WIRI's service to Kachin refugees was already full of challenges; so far in 2020, the various dangers faced by local co-workers have escalated, and intellectuals and pastors who preach have become targets of arrest. The epidemic and Myanmar's military coup have made it increasingly difficult to freely enter and leave the area, but the demand for supplies has never stopped. After knowing the difficulties faced by this group of people far away from the sea and deep in the mountains, please pray for WIRI and local colleagues in serving the Kachin refugees, especially as they still need funds to purchase four four-wheel drive vehicles. vehicles and ten sewing machines.
The importance of Myanmar in the international situation has gradually emerged, which has also affected the rise and fall of the political landscape of various countries and the layout of related industries. Globalization has affected the whole body. This coup seems far away from us, but it is not. Just like a "Changci" cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal, blocking the navigation of hundreds of ships and affecting the livelihoods of countless people around the world. A thing in a corner of the world, no matter how small or inconspicuous it is, can set off a raging wave that rushes to the other side.
For Christians elsewhere, the persecution suffered by Kachin Christian refugees is actually the suffering of members of the Lord. “If one member suffers, all members suffer together; if one member is glorified, all members suffer together.” and rejoice together." (1 Corinthians 12:26)
Could it be that the military coup in Myanmar occurred because some people who had lived a comfortable life were killed or arrested in protest against the coup in order to fight for a different system that they believed was right? The scripture reminds us: "If the Gentiles who have no law do the things of the law according to their nature, even though they have no law, they are their own law. This shows that the function of the law is written in their hearts, and they The minds of right and wrong bear witness together, and their thoughts contend with each other, either right or wrong.” (Romans 2:14-15) The mountainous ethnic minorities have been persecuted for a long time, and some were killed for persisting in their faith, but their faith did not. and therefore became extinct among them. Is this enough to make us reflect on our own beliefs and how much we can sacrifice for the righteousness of Jesus Christ? How long will it last?
How many people have suffered from the war in Myanmar? What can you and I do? I hope you and I can stretch out our hands of prayer and pray that the righteousness of Jesus will come to Burma and that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I hope you and I can lend a helping hand and send love and help to Myanmar through practical actions.
To learn more about the "WIRI Minority Mission" ministry, please visit the websitehttps://wiri.org.tw/.
Dr. Rumav Damabima, a young man from the Bunun ethnic group in Taiwan, because of his Christian faith, decided to dedicate his life to those ethnic minorities that are often forgotten by the world. He began to travel frequently to India, Nepal, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Laos and mainland China, helping more than 500 evangelists. ethnic minorities in unreached areas, and leads various humanitarian aid efforts.
In 2012, Rumav began long-term work in the refugee camps on the northern border of Myanmar, leading ethnic minority workers to build houses, cultivate crops, mobilize resources, and conduct missionary work. He used architecture, ethnology, theology, past administrative experience and native knowledge to help local refugees, so that the refugees could stably support themselves in the organization and gain solid hope from the gospel.