From Rod & Ruth Matthews, Australia and New Zealand

Our Karen
Brothers and Sisters
in Christ--True Sojourners

By Rod Matthews

BURLEIGH HEADS, Australia—Many years ago, in the middle of a civil war in Myanmar (Burma), God looked upon some families in the middle of the conflict with great favour and called them to himself.

We honour their faith and responsiveness, but it also brought them physical difficulties. Today they are refugees in Thailand, basically stateless, not permitted to work officially in Thailand, and largely dependent upon the United Nations agencies, non-government organizations and the church for physical support.

Most of our people now live in one of five refugee camps established along the border area of western Thailand to house refugees from a number of ethnic groups displaced by the war. This camp is a small city of about 38,000 people who live in small houses constructed from bamboo and teak timbers, with thatch roofs made of teak leaves, all spread over many hectares of hills and valleys along the main road serving the border area, about nine kilometres inland from the actual border.

Small lanes run between the buildings, dusty and rough, gouged with the evidence of the occasional heavy rains that turn the dust to mud and the roads to streams.

The U.N. and other non-government agencies such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) help with basic services such as food allowances, financial assistance or material to construct basic houses, medical services and a water supply—which means a few water collection areas from where water must be carried to the homes, with the water running only for a couple of hours a day.

Limited schooling is available for the many children, including several schools established by a few of the larger denominations, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, which charge fees to cover some supplies and the cost of supporting a better quality education. Small stores in the camp are available for those who have the funds to buy additional food and supplies.

On a visit to the camp earlier this year with Yong Chin Gee, our Malaysian senior pastor, I found with delight that our brethren had purchased some land and built a church meeting hall. Fifty-seven people attended the Bible study we conducted there. Many were beautiful and attentive children.

Lah Shi translated my message into the Karen language, since only a few of the brethren can understand English. But expressive smiles, handshakes, signs and hospitality are a universal language of their own. We ate a fine lunch they had prepared of local dishes at the home of one of the member families. It was a hot day, but we were refreshed because we were among family.

We have 21 baptized Karen members, most of whom live in the camp. Our elder, Lah Shi, conducts regular services and looks after the physical and spiritual welfare of the members. He manages the distribution of the assistance money sent each month from the Australian churches that helps the brethren with medical supplies, supplements the food available so as to look after their general health, and enables the parents to send their children to the schools, which better prepare them for a future of freedom and a return home that they hope will become a reality in the near future.

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