Thoughts on Burma
During the past few weeks of being here in Thailand and Burma and being directly involved in helping the Karen people who have been experiencing the ruthlessness and of a military regime for decades, it has been very eye-opening. Unfortunately, very few people are aware of the genocide and injustice that is happening in Burma. And those that are aware seem somewhat powerless to do much to change the situation because of the iron-fisted, totalitarian power that the Burmese Junta Regime wields.
In our brief time at several orphanages scattered along the Burma/Thai border which have taken in dozens of orphaned Karen children, the Lord has begun to break my heart for these people. I never thought I would even come to Asia, much less get a heart for it. The Karen people is a beautiful people with so much richness in their culture. Their hospitality is amazing, and the children are adorable.
It has been such a privilege and honor to be able to bring Jesus' love to the Karen people, but I'm hungry for the nation of Burma to be changed. God has a solution to the problem, and we need to seek Him for that solution and bring it down from heaven to earth. There are heavenly solutions to every problem and impossibility we face.
Looking at the crisis and genocide in Burma from an earthly perspective is enough to make even the biggest optimist hopeless. But I believe that from God's perspective, there is hope. Yes, untold hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have been killed innocently by this regime, and many more thousands have been forced into harsh labor conditions to create infrastructure for this military. But it's not too late to see a nation changed in a day.
What would happen if every one of the 11 or 12 military juntas (generals) of Burma (who essentially run the country) would have full-on encounters with the resurrected Jesus? As Charity, Jackie, and I have talked and talked about Burma, there are a few thoughts that stand out to me. I remember Charity saying that maybe the answer to solving Burma's crisis is NOT imposing sanctions, embargoes, and boycotts on Burmese goods and trade. (In fact, lots of these strict economic measures often hurt the common people more than they would the militaristic government). Charity pointed out that what if we handled the conflict in Burma like we would handle any other conflict with a friend? For example, by addressing it without using punishment. I don't claim to know how that would work with a ruthless government which has no concept of human equality. BUT there must be a way to do this that doesn't involve punishment. Hmmm.
Jackie also has shared with me her strategy. Transporting in the Spirit to the head general's house or office, and releasing an encounter on him so that his whole life is changed in a second. That would definitely have a domino effect on the rest of the nation.
Pray for Burma, and especially for the Karen people. The more time I've spent with them, the more I see how beautiful they are. Pray for the Burmese military too. Pray for officers and generals to encounter God. It happens all the time in Islamic nations where missionaries are very sparse. Let's release heavenly encounters into the lives of these people who are oppressing and killing thousands of innocent people. Paul was a murdered when Jesus encountered him. Grace is deep and wide...plenty big enough to swallow up and redeem the lives of heartless killers who are committed to ethnically cleansing their nation of all minority people groups such as the Karen.
Pray also for justice to be released. For the wrong to be made right. For those without a voice to be heard. For the orphans to be cared for. For the widows to be loved on. For the families that have been torn apart to be mended.