It’s
hard to believe that Christmas and the New Year are already behind us. Like
many of you, we too find ourselves thinking about this past year and reflecting
about our lives. Thailand and Burma are places that have a combination of so
many extremes. Death and new birth. Sadness
and Joy. There is not a day that passes that we do not see or hear about people
working to change a desperate situation. Everything from migrant workers who
came all the way from Burma to do construction work and then when finished were
not paid at all; to a recent situation where a young family from across the
border who had been trying to set up a new way of life here, had their working father/husband
die suddenly in his sleep. (He and his wife and 3 children under the age of 4 had
all lived in a small single-room home.) All of these people now face one
thing in common here in Northern Thailand; they are now new targets for
trafficking, as defined by either labor abuses or human slavery. They have few
options as they live as displaced people in extreme poverty. And without citizenship, they have few if any
rights. Our hearts ache for them, but our spirits are also moved to take
action.
At this time of the year, we reflect on the similarity of what Joseph and Mary must have felt as parents to a child of impoverished, marginalized refugees. God’s intervention in human history, deliberately siding with the poor and oppressed of the world by embracing their vulnerability in the midst of a deadly empire is a story of action too. We are so grateful for your partnership with us, responding to the needs here on the border, and wanted to let you know how much your acts of prayer and support mean to us. This is the type of action Jesus modeled for us all.
I think
it is some of the realness of the situation here and what is at stake that
gives us purpose and allows us to face these injustices. Once you know someone
personally who is suffering from this type of oppression or see the impact of
deep poverty in an entire generation, you cannot push it out of your mind. And
this motivates us all to get involved. If we look closely, we are able to see
the divine unfolding of a plan that it is far more creative and encompassing
than we could ever orchestrate by ourselves. And we can say that this is simply
the work of God. We join together at
this time of the year to unite in this call to action both in the U.S. and here
abroad.
Finally, we'd like to express our deepest gratitude for all of the support we've received this past year from our entire faith community. Your prayers, visits, letters and financial support have made this a remarkable year for all of our projects. Look for another post next month on our 2011 ministry needs when we return from our visit across the border.
Blessings and Peace to all.