RCMI 2018 E-newsletter No.01E

God’s love has no boundaries

the call from Myanmar

Late November of last year, RCMI, Nexus Mission and a couple of local Chinese churches visited and served the refugees living by the border of Myanmar, also known as Burma. The refugees in Myanmar have often been heard of, but this is the first time we were actually reaching out to them.

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Where are they from?

In the past decades, due to various historical and political reasons, regime conflict arose between the Myanmar government and various ethnic minority groups (one of the most active groups is known as the Kachin tribe); which evolved into a civil war. In order to escape the war, the Burmese people flocked to and lived by the border of Myanmar, close to China. As a result, numerous refugee camps have been built along the China-Myanmar border in these years.

Recently as the war has become more severe, hundreds of thousands of civilians have to escape to the over 3,000-meter high mountain area and live there. The area is desolate, summer temperature is usually around 20 degrees and winter is freezing with snow at times. The refugee camps, being built with the help of voluntary organizations, are only crude and rough wooden huts which can barely resist rain and the chilling cold wind in winter. Dozens of such kind of refugee camps can easily be found along the borders between Dehong of Yunnan Province and Myanmar.

Who are they?

The relationship between the Kachin tribe (Jingpo tribe) and Christianity: The Kachin tribe, one of Myanmar’s many ethnic minority groups, has the same origin as the Jingpo tribe in China, despite their different names. Both tribes are deeply related to Christianity in their roots and history. Missionaries first came and preached the gospel to them in 1882. Only 7 people of the tribe accepted Christ that time. Then the missionaries started to build schools for the tribe and invented “Jingpo written language”, which led to a quick and widespread of the gospel. Today after more than 100 years of preaching and spreading the Christian faith in the region, Christianity has become the major and traditional religion of the Kachin/Jingpo tribe. According to unofficial statistics, Christians now make up 90% of the population in this ethnic group.

Owing to its complicated historical background, this ethnic group is found living across both Myanmar and China and as a result, the war has also inevitably affected China. Part of the refugee's camps have to be relocated constantly and even moved across the border into China, whereas some refugee camps have settled down and become a village, with a population varying from dozens to thousands of households.

Entering the refugee camps:

After a tough 4-hour drive along steep and winding mountain roads from Ruili of Yunnan province, we arrived at our destination. What laid before our eyes were refugee camps of all shapes and sizes, all painted in blue and spread over the mountains. To overcome the language barrier, a translator joined us throughout the trip.

We visited 4 camps of different sizes, the person in charge of the camps and the local ministers shared with us the refugees’ current situation:

Since the camps are located over 3,000 meters above sea level, the refugees are often faced with extreme climatic conditions, and due to insufficient supply of clothings, many people especially children could only tremble in winter….

Some camps are in an even worse situation: they lack clean water and only have enough food supply for 2 weeks.

Due to the prolonged fightings and battles, mountains have been turned into barren land no longer suitable for cultivation. Only a handful of refugees can go to China’s border and work illegally to earn about RMB 20 to 30 dollars a day to help buy some food. Yet working opportunities are few and not stable.

However the more miserable thing is that the war just broke out all of a sudden and led to separation of many families, many children thus suddenly became orphans. Fortunately, a beam of light shone in the darkness - temporary schools were set up and voluntary teachers were willing to risk the danger of coming to teach them, giving the children an opportunity of receiving education.

The medical facilities in the camp are very basic and can only handle minor ailments; those of serious illnesses have to travel a long way to China to get medical treatment.

In the past, some worldwide voluntary organizations had helped the refugees and built some facilities. But when they could not see what the future could bring, they moved out and left the refugees to survive on their own.

A living faith

Since the majority of the tribes are Christians, there is a church in each campsite, but not each of the campsite church has a pastor or minister, The ministers in general also have not received formal theological training. Despite all of these, the refugees from generation to generation are still willing to follow their Saviour. They might complain about the harsh environment, but they never have any grudge towards God. Without slacking, the children here appreciate every moment spent in the classroom learning about worship, and the adults that are not working join the Bible study diligently.

Looking into their eyes, one would not only see physical hunger but also spiritual hunger - a deep desire to fill not only their stomachs but even more for Jesus’ love to fill their hearts, to take away the fear, worry, disappointment and grief from losing their loved ones. With hope in their eyes, despite having nothing and in such misery, they continue to lead a life of worshipping God and studying the Bible. Holding the same belief as you and me, they live by faith and trust that all things are in God’s hand and still believe despite the present situation they are facing.

Our provisions

Before leaving for Myanmar, we prepared some food and supplies to support the current needs of the refugees. Of course, the supply provided is far from enough compared to their need.

What the Burmese refugees need

The Kachin refugees are our faraway brothers and sisters, believers in Christ who worship the same God as we do. It is their wish that the wars will end and they can return home and to reunite with their families again. However life is difficult now with not enough food, not enough clothings, no job, no family, no way to lead a normal life!

Can we walk with them?

We are planning to provide travel expenses for voluntary teachers, to help repair water pipes and provide nutritious food for their children. The Burmese refugees definitely need our prayer and support! If you wish to be a part of this, please contact us and we will let you know how you can take part in this meaningful ministry through your support and donation.