Aung San Suu Kyi begins U.S. tour

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/18/world/suu-kyi-us-visit/index.html

Aung San Suu Kyi begins U.S. tour
(CNN) -- Myanmar democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi kicked off her 17-day tour of the United States on Tuesday by meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
.........

"We have this plan throughout the country that when refugees come, we try and find sponsors, and I don't know yet about Fort Wayne," Clinton told Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

"I'm looking forward to visiting Fort Wayne," Suu Kyi replied. "There's all sorts of interesting things happening in Fort Wayne."

As part of Suu Kyi's U.S. tour, she will visit the Indiana city, home to one the United States' largest populations of Burmese expatriates. Since the early 1990s, about 5,000 Burmese have carved out a life there.

De'ang/Palaung Tribe Outreach

In April 2002, Hope Student Center, an outreach work to the de’ang, was established. It is located in Mei Hang village. This village is two miles away from Lashio (Shan State) with an estimated number of 120 de’ang families.

The Center has a daily schedule session for prayers and Bible reading. The children were taught about the Bible and the Burmese language. Through the Bible teachings, the children have the opportunity to know God and understand about the Christian faith. The children are required to join in all the activities at the Center. When the ministry first started, the Center took in 20 Buddhist de’ang children and some children had became Christians.

This year, there are 60 children at the Center. Among them, 50 children are Christians. Ten unbelieving children belonged to the de’ang and Han people group. The religion of the de’ang is Buddhism whereas the Han are ancestral worshippers. Thirty children have dedicated their whole life to serve God.


The illiteracy rate of the de’ang is high as there is no school in their remote villages. In mid 2011, the Sponsor-A-Child ministry started to set up school in three de’ang villages, Kai Dui, Bang Kang and Na Hong.

Na Hong School will start the semester in September 2012. The de’ang students in Kai Dui (38 students) and Bang Kang (50 students) School are from Buddhist family background. Besides providing academic education, the schools organize evangelistic outreach activities to lead the children to believe in Jesus. Leading the children to Jesus is a bridge to win the adults to God.

A Student Testimony of Experiencing God’s Grace

I am Chen Zhi Wen. I am a de’ang and my native name is “Ai Tong”. My father is still around but my mother passed away when I was a very young and naïve boy.

Few years after the demise of my mother, my father learnt of Mei Hang Student Center through a friend. At the age of eight, my father sends me to Mei Hang Student Center. At that time, I was a very innocent child and did not study in school before. The Center arranged for my kindergarten studies at a school. Since then, I started to study year after year and now in grade five.

Since the day I stepped into the Center, I have every opportunity to hear of the gospel. Indeed, it is God’s grace. Now, it has been six years of stay at the Center. I go to Sunday school with my schoolmates and memorized Bible verses. But then at that time, I could not have a full understanding of the Bible. After three years in the Sunday school, I started to realize that Jesus loves me. Jesus is the redeemer of all mankind in the world. I accepted Jesus as my Saviour with a sincere heart. In June 2011, at age of 13, I received water baptism. I have decided to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Since then, my life was filled with peace and joy. Glory to God!

Since I came to the Center, my father did not visit me and it is already five years. When I grow up and completed my studies, I wish to share the gospel to my father, my brothers and close friends. I do not know where my home village and to commit this matter to God.


Prayer Items

- Mei Hang Student Center and the SAC schools as a good rapport and platform for
the gospel outreach.

- The life of the coworkers (student center) and school teachers as a strong witness of the
love and grace of the Almighty God. Good health, wisdom and strength to serve.

- The de’ang students are weak intellectually. Need God’s wisdom and strength to
cope and learn well in their studies. Hearts to be receptive to make the decision to
receive salvation.

- The thirty children that dedicated their whole life to serve God. Faithfulness and
commitment for this decision made to God.

- God’s guidance that Chen Zhi Wen (student at Center) will reconcile with his father and
brothers.

Note: Article from Partners Internationals (CNEC Myanmar) 2012 Report. Pictures are taken when I was there in 2008.

Bay Area Burmese Churches and Fellowships Funfair and Concert

Ethnic Violence in Rakhine State: Analysis and Updates

Storify by LinkAsia
After two weeks of intense fighting that left at least 50 dead and displaced over 30,000 people in Myanmar's Rakhine state, an uneasy calm has descended on the region. This Storify looks at the root causes of the violence, and updates the unfolding situation on the ground.

UPDATE 6.25:
An uneasy peace has descended on Myanmar's Rakhine state, yet some of the region's biggest problems are just beginning. Authorities have to deal with 90,000 displaced citizens, simmering tensions, and the smoldering ruins of Sittwe's neighborhoods.

As Violence Dies Down in Rakhine, Real Struggles Begin

http://storify.com/LinkAsiaNews/decades-of-tension-erupt-in-rakhine-ethnic-violenc/elements/4fe8e2b0156367cc2f25c038

East Asia 2012 - A Conversation with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi, Beyond Myanmar’s Borders

Links View From Asia |By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW| May 30, 2012, 1:12 am

The last time Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, traveled internationally, it was 1988 and the Berlin Wall was still standing. That year, she flew back to Myanmar from Britain to care for her ailing mother.
Today, the lawmaker and leader of Myanmar’s opposition is in Thailand on a historic – and politically sensitive – trip, the first outside her country in nearly a quarter of a century. As The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based news magazine set up by exiles from Myanmar, put it, “Only now does Aung San Suu Kyi really seem to feel free.”
To get a sense of the historic nature of this trip (and just how long it’s been since the Nobel Peace laureate was last about in the world), consider these facts, from a story by The Associated Press: In 1988, Ronald Reagan was still president of the United States, Libyan terrorists blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and Prozac was introduced to the market.
In June, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Switzerland, Britain and Ireland, where she is due to appear on stage at a concert by Bono, who has been an outspoken supporter. She will also travel to Oslo for her Nobel, awarded in 1991 but never received by her.
Most significantly, her presence in Thailand signals that the woman who cared so passionately about bringing democracy to Myanmar that she endured many years of house arrest, even missing the funeral of her husband in Britain, is confident that the government of President Thein Sein is serious about the democratic reforms it began last year. Until now, though she could probably have traveled at times, she stayed behind, fearful that the generals who ran Myanmar wouldn’t let her back in.
The trip “signifies a strong vote of confidence on Suu Kyi’s part in the seriousness of the reforms underway in the country,” Suzanne DiMaggio, the Asia Society’s vice president of global policy programs, told The Huffington Post. She wouldn’t take the risk of leaving “if she wasn’t absolutely certain she would be allowed to return,” Ms. DiMaggio said. ........

Love4Burma (2011)： A Letter from a servant's little dream

Thanks for supporting the Love4Burma non-profit organization with your love and prayers.

This year (2011) the political atmosphere in Myanmar has changed a lot. We hope that the openness of the new power can bring a new future for the people of Burma. Hillary Clinton’s visit on 12/1/2011 marks a new era of US-Burma relationship.

Two images kept popping up when I thought of Burma. One of the images is the rice bowl of the student. It was 1998 my first visit to Lashio. We were conducting a Winter Camp with students of Sheng-Guang Chinese school. I had a chance to eat with around 10 of them in a student table setting. I heard that day is the day the short term mission team donated some money for their dinner so they can eat well. That day we were having a happy time with them because they are very excited to have some meat in their rice bowl. I am not a picky person in eating. I ate with a taxi driver at the road side of MaeMiao without any problem. That day’s meal is delicious for me even though it is very simple. Two days after that, one night I happened to walk by the student’s dining area. I saw they were eating. I glimpsed to see into a boy’s rice bowl. It was just rice with a little greasy oil on top. I realized that is their normal life.

The second image is the hopeless eyes in a student boy. That was a night when we were about to leave. I talked to a boy. He is very shy and not any confidence in him. I asked him what he would like in the future. He said Taiwan is their dreams, but they need to work very hard and pass some examinations. If not, if lucky, they can go digging in the jade mines for their life. No excitement for their futures.

Later, I happened to know some Palaung. I realized poor is a relativity. They are even poorer than those Chinese students. The worst part is that they had been looked down for centuries. The poor looked down the poor in a survival world. They lived in the mountain and perceived as a lazy people. They all know that there are these poor people. Even worse, no gospel of Salvation had ever reached them. Not only in Burma, in Yunnan of China as well.

I don’t know how Love4Burma can do. But, this is a little dream hoping that Love can be delivered without prejudice. God love can be known everywhere and glory to God alone!

May God bless you all!

Wen-jen Chen