thailand
4/10/07 - LWMI Partner letter
E-Update
October 2007
The news has been filled lately with stories out of Burma where the ruling military junta has seemingly quenched the civilian protest. Pictures of mass protest in Rangoon and Mandalay leaked out of “secretive” Burma before the government pulled the plug on Internet service nationwide. Once the Internet portal was shut, civilians and Buddhist monks were slaughtered in the streets. CNN did a fairly good job of portraying life inside Burma this past week.
Much press was given to UN envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, who met with the junta leaders this week. Gambari also was allowed two visits with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been under house arrest by the Burmese government for almost two decades. Aung San Suu Kyi was elected in a landslide victory to be the president in Burma back in the late ‘80’s.
Sylvester Stallone returned from Thailand just before the military crackdown happened in Burma. He is filming Rambo IV (believe it or not!). The theme of the movie will be mercenaries traveling up the Salween River to rescue missing Christian Aid workers. Sylvester Stallone and his film crew were up and down the trails and rivers and in villages where we have been ministering for the last 20+ years!
Sylvester Stallone gave an interview Monday, October 1st. “I witnessed the aftermath – survivors with legs cut off and all kinds of land mine injuries, maggot infested wounds and ears cut off. We saw many elephants with blown-off legs. We hear about Vietnam and Cambodia and this was more horrific.” Stallone went on to say, “This is a hell hole beyond your wildest dreams. All the trails are mined. The only way into Burma is up the river.”
My comments to this are… “Welcome to the mission field Rambo!” I sit in my office today reminiscing through the years; our machine gun escorts into Burma, the death threats that came as we conducted mass evangelism outreaches among the Karen refugees. The horrid night escape over the mountains when the Burmese forces captured our bible school back in 1995. Our bible school director “snuck through on elephant back” and brought our video supplies and generator across the mountains to safety in Thailand. I recalled the threat of the Burmese forces to torch a refugee camp with 10,000 refugees if we did not cancel our evangelism program. We went forward with our event, they tried to torch the camp that night, but the winds reversed and the Buddhist temple ended up being burnt to the ground instead of the refugee’s huts. And now…it’s coming to the Big Screen!!! (Rambo IV is due to be released in January.)
Stallone noted that the Karen people have been especially hard hit by this repressive regime. Much of our ministry is focused on the Karen people that have been displaced by the Burmese military. We are currently caring for over 40 orphans whose parents were killed by Burmese soldiers. These 40+ children are among the 350 children that attend our Living Word Mission School that we have been operating for over ten years close to the Burma border.
Our evangelism – church planting teams are working predominantly among the Karen people on the Thai side of the border and throughout the northern provinces of Thailand. Churches are being planted and revival is breaking loose in many locations. Medical clinics are being conducted on a regular basis among the Karen people. Over the past year, 110 refugee children and six of our teachers from Living Word Mission School have been relocated to United States and Australia. They are quickly replaced as hundreds of children are waiting to get into our facility.
Sylvester Stallone said he is grappling with the question, “Am I making a Rambo movie or a documentary?” He went on to say, “This is full scale genocide. I want an “R” rating and I want the violence in there because it is reality. It would be whitewashing not to show what is over there.”
CNN…United Nations … Rambo IV. Is the message getting out?
Pray for the people of Burma.
Pray for the Karen people.
Pray for us…as we continue to reach out to these precious people with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Bless You Richly!
Back to Current news
Back to Project Archives