Have You Heard About Burma?

Written by Steven - Serving in Thailand

While I'm serving in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I've been learning a lot about Burma, also called Myanmar. They are our closest neighbors in Chiang Mai, and because of the civil war that has stemmed from ongoing military conflict dating all the way back to the 60s, there are many Burmese people here. Many grew up here because their parents fled Burma before they were born, but there  are still many children who were born there and have moved here in recent years, having to adjust to a completely new life. I knew very little about them and the history when I first came here, but we actually interact quite often with people and organizations that try to help those injured or displaced by the fighting. I would be remiss if I did not share how Myanmar shapes my ministry.

This month, I have started teaching at a Burmese school/tutoring program in Chiang Mai. They are connected to a local Burmese church, and it is part of their ministry as well as evangelism effort. Education is an important service to the kids because many of them do not know how to speak or read Thai, so going to Thai public school is not a great option for them. It also helps to reach kids and parents who may not know Jesus, but would come so their kids can receive a good education. The program teaches all K through 12 grades, providing them all their important subjects, Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and they have many elective choices. I help out once a week with the high schoolers. I lead them in worship, a short devotional, and help the other instructors monitor/check the students' work and study.

At the wheelchair project, we also partner often with Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF). They provide lots of advanced medical support for people who otherwise would not get the surgeries or treatment they need. We work to train them in wheelchair fittings and repairs and provide them with medical equipment ranging from patient lifts to hospital beds, as well as our usual specialties like wheelchairs, rollators, crutches, etc. We have built a close relationship with them over the years, and this month, they have at least 4 different visits with us for things like equipment pickups!

They can take supplies into areas we don’t go, or at least don’t often go, which helps extend our reach and output. Like I mentioned last month, we have so many chairs we don’t have space for them all! And because we are limited in distribution events by our staff, transport ability, and partner hospital/church availability, we really appreciate it when other organizations want to train their teams to be able to do what we do, and go do it somewhere we are not! (There’s some kind of gospel parallel in here, isn’t there?).