I’m writing from Peter and Cavelle’s condo in Bangkok, hours from our Thailand departure.  I’ve been a bit more thoughtful in these final days, contemplating the situation in Burma, wondering about the future.  If you don’t mind, I’d like to share these thoughts with you.

I’ve learned that that the first major wave of refugees to cross the border came in 1984.  Approximately 10,000 came to Thailand at that time.  Refugees came as early as 1975 (13 years after the military coup), but it wasn’t until my Grade 8-9 year at M.E.I. in Abbotsford that families fled to Thailand en masse anticipating a short stay.  The first humanitarian agencies to help were Christian groups – this is often the case worldwide.  And they only helped with rice…because that is all the refugees thought they needed.

Yet here we sit in 2010 with about 500,000 Burmese IDP (internally displaced people) having fled their homes but still living somewhere inside Burma, while another 150,000 have fled to refugee camps on the Thai side.  That doesn’t include the 70,000 in Mae Sot, or the thousands more who live in other towns and cities, in this apparently temporary situation.  25 years of temporary…

Last week was an emotional week.  We visited 40 schools to say goodbye.   We also said goodbye to our Karen neighbours across the street.  We hope little two-year old Nao Mai will somehow understand why we left.  We will travel 17 hours to the other side of the world, a part of the world that has been largely unaware of the crisis in Burma. In fact, before we came here, we had no idea either.  I could almost find Burma on a map and while I knew about humanitarian crises in Africa, Eastern Europe, and parts of Central America, Burma was non-existent to me.

But not anymore…

Something has happened to me.  Like individuals throughout the centuries who have come face to face with injustice, I have become a witness.  As a witness, it has become my obligation to share the stories and to keep the flame of knowledge alive, so that injustice cannot continue to prevail and so that people with the ability to help cannot plead ignorance any longer.

What has inspired me this year is the amazing compassion I’ve witnessed from those who have heard the story…people like YOU!  As I write this 28th blog update, I marvel that you helped send us here, and that you’ve tracked with us, prayed for us, visited us, sent money for our family and for projects, and created awareness in your own settings.  You’ve become witnesses as well!  11 months after our arrival, 1000’s of children and their families are drinking clean water, preschool children are receiving a better education, boarding house children have heard the life-giving message of God’s love for them, and orphans are slowly working through a process of becoming officially and legally recognized.  Their lives will never be the same because we worked together.  Whether here in Mae Sot or 17 hours away, together we helped make a difference.  The flame has gotten brighter.

And so I have hope.  I dream of a  free Burma and and wait for political change.  Sooner or later, when the refugee camps and the streets of Mae Sot empty and the children of Burma resettle in their own country, they will be more ready and able to lead their nation back to freedom.  You have helped ensure the survival of Burma.

Thank-you for all that you did.  On behalf of the little baby we brought to the Mae Tao clinic last week…on behalf of the students at Hsa Mu Htaw who gave a dazzling traditional Burmese dance performance to our family and visitors…on behalf of New Light’s headmaster, his wife, and their two little girls who keep handing me their stuffed animals to hold and kiss…on behalf of the 50 preschool students Ellie was able to teach this year at Hle Bee…thank-you.  You’ve helped so many people.

As most of you know, we will continue to work with Imagine Thailand 50% of the time…from West Kelowna. Let us continue to work together in the months and years to come.  Let us keep the flame burning until it is a light that the whole world can see.