Tag: Myanmar

Tragedy in Myanmar. Mass starvation caused by a plague of rats.

TBLeave a comment

Just yesterday, the World Health Organization announced that the swine flu outbreak was now a pandemic. While we now much about the danger this outbreak poses, there are deadly threats that have, so far, gone under the radar. From Food for the Hungry comes this report about the Chin people in Myanmar:

About 200 villages in the Chin State in Western Myanmar are suffering from extreme food shortages due to a rat infestation. The phenomenon known as “maudam” occurs about once every 50 years when flowering bamboo trees produce a fruit that nourishes the rat population. The last time it struck was in 1958, preceded by incidents in 1911 and 1862. Rats feed on the fruit, multiplying by the millions until the fruit supply disappears after which the rodents ravage local rice and corn crops.

Eyewitnesses report barren fields and empty seed bins. In addition, as many as 100 children and elderly have already died from malnutrition and of the 100,000 Chin people who remain, many are weak, thin and sick. Without intervention, the situation will only worsen.

Nova has produced a documentary for PBS that is good in getting an education on how the disaster has spread. Because this is happening in a nation most people can’t find on a map and isn’t worldwide, it may be hard to be moved. Yet, there is a need and an opportunity to put your faith into practice. Go here to help.

HT: Desiring God blog

Myanmar didn’t go away

TBLeave a comment

Last week I posted about the tragedy in Myanmar and how, although reported on the by the media regularly, we tend to turn away from tragedies that occur out of our comfort area. Well, it’s still there and it still a major tragedy. I posted a link the American Red Cross, but there are several organizations out there reaching out to people who are needy.

\One such organization is a Michigan-based group called Christian Freedom International. This group’s mission is based on Hebrews 13:3, which says: “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” Thousands upon thousands in Myanmar have been affected by the effects or Cyclone Nargis. Among those are the Karen Christians. Even among the suffering, these are singled out. This from CFI:

Residents in the Irawaddy Delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone that tore through the country on May 3, 2008, are now claiming that the Burmese military is diverting aid from areas heavily populated by ethnic Karen villagers — a claim consistent with the government’s longstanding history of discriminatory practices against the Karen, the largest and mostly Christian minority ethnic group in the country.

So, for those who call themselves Christians, how does that make you feel? Bad? Uneasy? Something? How do you explain it to your children? Do you? Maybe there’s more you could do. Perhaps you might show them that a little sacrifice for the good of the body is really not a sacrifice but a way to honor God.

You want more examples? Perhaps you may want to consider the Macedonians from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (II Cor. 2:1,2 and 8 ) when he was taking aid to the starving believers in Jerusalem:

We want you to know brethren about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part . . . I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.

OK, you get the point. Go here to Christian Freedom International and see what you can do.

Are you comfortable? Should you be?

TB1 Comment

Last weekend, Cyclone Nargis raged through Myanmar, causing widespread damage and killing at least 22,000. Twice as many people are missing. Let that sink in. 22,000 people. Gone. And, there are thousands more who have not been found yet. From the Associated Press comes a report from Yangon, Myanmar:

Hungry crowds of survivors stormed the few shops that opened in Myanmar’s stricken Irrawaddy delta, where food and international aid has been scarce since a devastating cyclone killed more than 22,000 people, the U.N. said Wednesday.

Corpses floated in salty flood waters and witnesses said survivors tried desperately to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails. The U.N. said some 1 million people were homeless in the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma.

“Basically the entire lower delta region is under water,” said Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid.

“Teams are talking about bodies floating around in the water,” he said. This is “a major, major disaster we’re dealing with.”

Suffering is all around us. We can’t escape it. But we try hard. After all, I had a good night’s rest, woke up to see my family and live comfortably in a nice house. In my local paper, Myanmar is a place far away, buried on page 8. The message is clear: If it doesn’t happen in my back yard, it is filed way back somewhere in that category of tragedies that happen to people I don’t really know. Besides, we have problems of our own. We aren’t making money as fast as we used to be. It costs more money to put gas in our cars. Our lives are not as comfortable as they could be.

We all are happy to thank God for our blessings. But God did not bless us to live more comfortable lives. We are blessed so that we may bring more glory to His name and show that we live for him and not for our own comfort. Sometimes I need to ask myself, “Would I trust God as much if I didn’t have food, clothing, a house, my health?”

I came across this from John Piper about ways to react to the tragedy in Myanmar. These are all good things to consider. For a great meditation on why God allows suffering of this, or any, magnitude, read this. The point is, we can’t ignore suffering. See it, react and tremble before God.

Here’s one way to help right now: The American Red Cross