I would like to introduce you to another of the beloved teachers at our school. He asked me not to use his name or show his picture, because the Burmese Army threatened him that if he told anyone about what they had done to him, they would hunt down his family and kill them. So we decided to use the name Paul, as he is a passionate warrior for Christ.
Paul grew up in Karen State in Burma. When he was about 18 years old, the Burmese Army (State Peace and Development Council) started using him as a porter (someone who has to carry all of there weapons/equipment/etc.). The Karen National Union (KNU) had put landmines around his village to protect it. The Burmese (SPDC) set them off one day, igniting a fury, and they attacked the village. Paul said even though being taken as a porter was very dangerous (porters are beaten frequently, used as land-mine sweepers, and often killed), especially for strong, young men, if you refused they would beat you with bamboo poles.
In 2008-2009, the Burmese had taken over the village and forced the people to work as porters everyday. There was no time for the people to work their farms or buy and sell, so the villagers had no food. Paul said he would try to sneak to the jungle to get food for his family at night, but as a consequence was beaten many, many times with bamboo poles.
If someone was rumored to be either in the KNU or a friend to them, the Burmese Army would tie plastic around the face of the accused and force water down their throat. Many times the water would fill the person's lungs; most of the people would die. Many people were falsely accused. Another form of punishment and entertainment for the SPDC would be to play drums and force the accused to dance for long periods of time- days at a time- and if they stopped, the SPDC would beat them. While the person was forced to dance, the soldiers would drink alcohol and smoke marijuana. When the people were allowed to stop, they would have health problems.
Paul said the people were allowed two days a week to work their land, but they were too weak. "Can only pray," he said. Children were only allowed to go to school if they could pay. To be allowed in grade five, the family would have to pay the equivalent of $50 while grade 12 equaled about $115. Unfortunately this amount of money is far beyond what most people would be able to pay.
Paul said as a porter he would be taken for weeks at a time. Sometimes people were allowed to return to their village only to be taken again in a month. Others never return. The SPDC finally told the village they all had to leave and either live in the jungle or find a new village, thus leaving their homes, land (and therefore, income), friends, and sometimes family behind. Paul decided to go to Thailand at that point to go to school and journeyed five days to reach safety. His family is still in Burma.
Paul lived in a refugee camp for several years and came to know God there. This is his first year teaching with us at Shekinah Children's Home, but from the get-go, Paul was quick to volunteer to lead worship, share the Bible and lead the kids. It is quite common to see him with his hands raised high above his head or clutched in fists near his heart as he leans his head back and cries out to God in worship. His knowledge of the Bible is limited, but he's hungry and eager to learn. Just two days before joining our school, he was married to a beautiful, blue-eyed Karen girl and they are expecting a baby early next year. Praise God for this amazing man of God and the family he will lead.
Pray that Paul will be able to be reunited with his family again, as they have only been able to contact each other twice in the years they've been separated.
No comments:
Post a Comment