Relationship that builds hope
So I just took my first relief trip. I went to Sittwe to serve the Royhinga people. What are my first impressions? Well, perhaps not what you would expect. I mean, I’ve been hearing about these people for a couple of years now. I’ve heard of their forced prisons (camps). I’ve heard how no one is working with them except for Partners.
But…to see it first hand is so confusingly clarifying. I mean, they live near the ocean; it’s beautiful. This could be high dollar real estate. But it’s not. It’s a prison that they can’t leave. It has no infrastructure and only a thread of connection to the outside world. Despite that, an economy of sorts is developing in some areas. Some people had money from before the violence, but not all. And when your access is so limited or you risk getting beaten if you try to leave the camp, it can make for quite a hopeless situation. And hopelessness is what I saw. My trip was right on the heals of Cyclone Mora. These camps are totally exposed with less then permanent structures, no warning of weather conditions and no where to go. I saw roofs ripped off structures and some homes completely flattened.
But I also saw smiles, joy and rebuilding beginning to take place. Why? I can only agree with my co-workers that it is a product of consistent and unconditional love and support. In the places where we have been able to regularly make distributions of food, we have also been able to distribute love and value, stability and remembrance, and thus some hope.
I have been on my own journey of where I fit in and what my values are. I’ve been thinking back to those jobs that were most satisfying. One of the common threads was relationship. I need it. Well, so do the Rohingya. I am honored to be part of a team that is investing into not only the belly’s of these people but also into their hearts. My prayer is that I will be able to continue returning and that we can continue to build in to their body’s, their communities and their souls as well.
We are planning on a Community Development Training in the months ahead. Through this we hope to not only continue to develop their physical world, but to empower the community to believe in themselves and the gifts that God has already given them. May God make His face known and may lives be transformed even in this extremely complicated and uncertain situation.
Please pray for the Rohingya. Please pray for the leaders of Myanmar to see that this denial of a people’s existence is not right. Pray that systems would change and that freedom can be known.
Brenden works in the technical development department of Partners and diligently practices learning to speak Thai.
