At the Mae La Refugee Camp there is a thatch dorm for handicapped Karen men who suffered land mine accidents and violence at the hands of the Myanmar military. I was invited to visit these men. On my arrival they rallied and sang to us wanting to give something to us. After their music, wanting to give something to them, I talked about faith, hope and love in the midst of the brokenness of life then we prayed with them and visited each one. One member in our group who had come to visit the camp that day, a writer from Sweden, an unbeliever, was greatly moved – on account of their courage and serenity; and the thoughts of faith hope and love in the depths, when life appears beyond redemption. He had come to Thailand for fun but decided for a day off to visit this camp. I ate lunch with him after our meeting it was clear he was stirred and shaken. The fullness of the ‘empty’ and the emptiness of the ‘full’ had wedged itself into his mind.

These are seniors at KKBBS College at the Karen Mae La refugee camp 67 Kilo from Mae Sot, Thailand. I was their teacher for 2 weeks. I’ll remember this class for their questions.  For instance, they wanted to know the right relationship of Christians and the church, to political power.  A large percentage of the Karen people are Christians so much so Christian and their ethno-cultural identity have merged. The political fortunes in Burma/Myanmar are shifting and they are keen to know if and how as Christians they can move the process along in their direction.  The Karen groups that were run over and fled are now, more than in times past, flirting with hopes of a return to their homeland. In the not-so-recent past the Karen carried on guerilla warfare in defense of their towns and villages, which had been overrun by the military. I urged them to play with new images of their future in the emerging Burma, less separated as before whilst no less distinct, or true to their values, customs and culture. I quoted Chalcedon “union without fusion distinction without separation”. It maybe that for the Karen people not only is hope needed but the transformation of hope  – a new solidarity with distinction, distinction with solidarity. The old hope – the return of highly separated almost parallel peoples within the new Burma may be dated. Hope, like all prayer, rarely if ever returns to us from our God-sent petition in kind. Do we receive our answers in the same form we send them to Him? More often than not, Life teaches us otherwise. These are seniors and they were feeling the weight of their impending futures, soon they will graduate and then what, where, how? At the close of my two weeks with them they took over the class and ask me to sit.  They proceeded to have one of their musicians play the guitar and sing to me while they filed by one by one and shined on me blessing me and thanking me.

These are juniors at KKBBSC (Karen Kahoolawe Baptist Bible School & College in the Mae La Refugee camp. They are all Karen peoples from Burma living and studying in the camp. While many have been in the camp several years, the energy and beauty that these youth introduce into the camp life is irrepressible. Every morning they emerge from little thatch dwellings (lean bare dwellings with the meanest cleaning grooming facility) looking like a million dollars -always downed in their traditional ethnic dress. They reminded me of a Proverb in Scripture “sons grown up in their youth, daughters polished after the similitude of a palace”. Here in this remote camp on the edge of nowhere one stumbles upon rare grace and maturity. I looked forward to this class because they were so spirited and totally present.