Zau Lawt

Late this summer Zau Lawt and his wife “Lu Lu” arrived from the Kachin state of northern Burma.   They are refugees who fled their country migrating by way of New Delhi, India.   “Lu Lu” has a degree from a Bible college in Burma and Zau Lawt was a university student studying geology.  Both of them have a good command of the English language and were able to land jobs at High Point University.  We want to join together in saying “Welcome to America”.

Just Passing Through

We had a new Hahka Chin couple arrive in High Point two weeks ago.   Sometimes a newly arrived family gets in immediate contact with family in other parts of the US.   The couple pictured here called relatives in Dallas and were sent airline tickets by these relatives to fly out within the week to Dallas.  Our state department policy does not allow the refugee to officially designate their arrival point in the United States.  This is to keep from overwhelming any particular community and perhaps to foster the enculturation process into American life.

Hymns

Many of our Christian friends arriving from Burma have sung translations of our grand old hymns for years.   Missionaries who worked with the people over the years translated and published hymnals into Karen, Kachin, Chin and other languages of Burma.   So when I attend a Burmese led service I find myself humming the tunes.  The other day I pulled out an old hymnal to carry with me when I attend their cell group meetings.

Updates

We are closing in on 6,000 views of the blog since we went online in May of 2008.   Should reach it in the next couple of days.

We had a new Hahka Chin family arrive this week.  The husband was quite conversant in broken English.  They have a 10 month old son, met them this morning.

I have visited with Khual, another new arrival, a couple of times this month.

Khual and Naum

He arrived in Greensboro about four months ago.  He had been living with relatives.  Now he and his wife just got their own apartment.  House to House ministries helped to set them up with furniture.  Khual has a call to preach.  At our first home visit he said he just wants to find a place where he can preach every Sunday.  Pray for God’s direction in his life.  He has his Bible college training from a school in the Philippines.

Kachin Province Happening

Shen Malay Bo Ram Sing Nam, nicknamed (Es Lu Lu), told me a story that is unbelievable.   When I said I wanted to write the story down she said, it is not a story it is what really happened.  So here goes.

“Es Lu Lu” is a Bible college graduate, her father, Sing Nan Awng Te is a preacher born to a godly mother named Thu Raw (who lived over 75 years).  Es Lu Lu arrived in America about 5 months ago.  She speaks fluent English and is a frequent preacher for our Chin congregation.  Before fleeing her country she was an itinerant missionary preacher who backpacked through the villages of the Kachin Province of  Burma (Myanmar).   The Kachin Province is in the northern part of Burma sandwiched between China and India.  Her parents and brother are all ardent Christian believers.

Earlier this year Es Lu Lu’s brother, Zaw Nau was out clearing brush in preparation for a gold escavation.   This area of Burma is rich in gold and jade.  The nationals have to dig five to six feet and then they often find gold.  As Zaw Nu was clearing an area over a three week period, on two occasions he saw a vision of a tall white man standing near him among the brush.   Then one night when he was sleeping he had a dream of this same man.   The next day he cut away another log and brush and came up0n some remains.   Although there were no bones (probably carried away by wild animals), he found a wedding ring, several coins, a short rifle and the dog tags of an American soldier.   [To protect the family I will obscure the name until a later time.]   The dog tags had the name  “G. Barney James Jr.” written on them and a series of numbers.

Zaw Nau gathered up these effects and carried them home to his village.   Whereupon he became gravely ill.  It got so bad he was hospitalized.    His father, Sing Nan Awng Te, called for pastors, elders of the church, to pray for his son in the hospital and they sought the Lord.    They believe strongly in Jesus and know He has the power to heal.

Zaw Nu was not getting better so the father pulled together an offering equivalent to $100, a tremendous sacrifice, and thinking that “Barney James” might have been Catholic took it to the local priest and asked for prayer for his son.    Zaw Nu still did not get better so Sing Nan Awng Te gathered another offering of $100 and took it to the local Baptist church and asked for prayer.

Not knowing what else to do for his gravely ill son, the father went out to the gold field and prayed to God on behalf of his son.  He was perplexed  regarding his son’s illness and this dead man named “Barney James”.    He called out to God and made a promise that if God would heal his son, he would send the personal effects to America.

Subsequently Zaw Nu recovered, is healthy and they together are making plans to get these things to America.  Es Lu Lu has talked with them and told me this portion of the story.   I have suggested that they dispose of the gun but package the rest of the items and do what it takes to ship them to her house.   I have contacted a reserve military chaplain, Dr. Terry Eddinger, academic dean of CEDS and he is helping me try to get these things to  the right American home.

Here are some clues we are working with.  There was a wedding ring engraved with some initials,  also 18k, and the date 10/12/41.   The last number on the dog tags was ‘44.  We believe that was the enlistment date.   At the end of the dog tag are two letters A and something else.   We think that is the blood type.  The name on the dog tag was usually last name first so this may have been “James Barney, Jr.”   Other numbers on the dog tag back then identified the regiment.   He had a 1921 US Silver Dollar, a 1943 US 1/2 dollar, a 1945 Indian Rubi, and a King George VI coin.   When these items get safely to America we will photograph them and work with some contacts to check their veracity.  Then we will find an agency that may be able to help us find the family of this World War II soldier.     Stay tuned for more details.

Karenni Bible

I want to recommend a trusted web address for you to get connected with progress on the release of a new Karenni Bible.  Just click on this link to check it out.

Or here is the URL for those who want to write it down or copy and paste to your browser

http://karennibible.weebly.com/

- John

Fall Harvest and Heartache

This week, the Chin fellowship of FWC had two memorial services.   Van Zel, whose baby we dedicated a couple of weeks ago lost his mother.  She had suffered a prolonged illness in her Chin village and then passed away early this week.  She is survived by her husband who still remains in Chin, Burma and several children around the world (Germanany, High Point, Rangoon and other parts of the Chin state).

Also Hlamay’s brother who had traveled to India to get into a hospital for treatment of a stomach condition, passed away.  We memoralized him at a Saturday night fellowship meeting.  We certainly share the grief of these families so many miles from their close relatives.  Pray for God to comfort them.  Although it brings heartache to lose loved ones it is a blessing to report that both of these individuals were believers in Christ.

Harvest – We planted Ceyenne peppers to share with our Burmese friends.  We have had an abundant harvest, so we are picking a good portion every few days.   They tell me that the good ones are really red, so I have been waiting to pick them in the red stage.  The other day I saw a Burmese young man take a pepper and eat it like I might eat a carrot.

Carolina Evangelical Divinity School Library

About three weeks ago,  Peter, Day Rey and Sei Meh assisted a team of volunteers assembling and installing new library shelving for the Carolina Evangelical Divinity School (CEDS).   CEDS moved to their Greensboro location a few months ago and have been making arrangement for access to their library at their new campus.  Here is a picture of the shelving.

Burmese help assemble Seminary Shelves

Online Bible Translations for Burmese

I don’t know if I have ever posted about the Myanmar Bible Society.  Here is some information.  A lot of the Burmese refugees had to learn the national language called Burmese so they are bi-lingual.  Also the Bible society has many Chin translations, Kachin, Karen and other translations.

I have extensively used the Myanmar online Bible website to get scripture in front of the Burmese.

Click on the online Bible then click on the Parallel Bibles option.  Then you will see English and Burmese text side by side.  With a little practice you can navigate around the Bible  You need to try Judson Burmese and S’gaw Karen translations to see if your family can read either one.  You can copy and paste the Bible text to a word document.   You will need to download the PadaukOT font to your computer, install it and you will be able to see the Burmese characters on your screen and print them.  If you can’t figure out how to do this, ask a young person, they are always adding fonts to their computers.

Here is the Bible Society website

http://www.myanmarbible.com/

Font Download Information:  http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=nrsi&id=Padauk

Blessings among the Burmese

We prayed for Chaw White to find a job last week and he has started working for a different company on a trial basis this week.  It may turn into a 40 hour a week job for him.

The new header on the blog is from the church picnic at City Lake Park in Jamestown.   About 50 Burmese attended the event along with the anglo church family.

A couple of the Burmese are using their computers to type in Burmese.   They have to use  a keyboard cheat sheet and a special font to create their documents.

The rice drive continues to receive residual rice donations.   We should see the total for the drive go over 1500 pounds.

Day Reh, Leh Rey, and Peter moved the Rice

I received a note from a missionary who lives in Greensboro and has worked with the Burmese for over 20 years.   I look forward to setting down for a visit with him.

This year will mark the second time we have encouraged and helped some of the Burmese to attend the First Wesleyan Church costume carnival.  It will be held on Saturday night October 31.

First Rice

Naw Marien, Saw Ku Moo Day Moo and Eh Kree Nay

On Sunday First Wesleyan Church of High Point, had a rice drive.   The missions committee of the church planned and organized an opportunity for parishioners to bring rice for distribution with new refugee families.

In the refugee camp, Dee Ray, and his family of seven, lived on 31 pounds of rice per month.  He said that at the end of the month they had just enough for each of the five children to have a little and they, as parents did not eat.

When Burmese families arrive it takes 7-12 days for them to get a regular supply of food.  First Wesleyan will help feed these families for the first few days.  The missions team plans to  provide 50 lbs of rice for arriving refugee families so that they can relax and know it will be okay, there’s food in America.

Chin Employed

At the same time that our national unemployment rates are growing, I can report that all of the Chin men attending our church have found jobs.   To God be the glory for what He has done, this is nothing short of a miracle.  Among the Karen Burmese two men who had not yet gotten steady work, will start training next week.  That leaves Chaw White, I ask you to join with me in earnest prayer that he might find a steady job.

Yesterday I traveled to Rockingham to meet Eh K’lu and help him to get his green card.   We had to go the Dept of Homeland Security in Charlotte because he had missed a prior appointment for fingerprinting.  Now he has that resolved and will be processed toward getting his green card.  When the refugees first come they get an official temprary letter stating they were approved by our state department as refugees.  After about a year the arrival has to begin work in getting their green card.  Every Triad Burmese has to make a trek to offices in Charlotte where they are processed with fingerprinting, photographs and documentation.

Life Story: Saw Ler Phaw

Saw Ler Phaw grew up in the village of Te Tah Klo in the Deh Moss Soe region of the Kayah State of Burma.  He has a brother and sister who still live there.  His wife grew up in Dar Tah Klay village in the Pru Soe region.  Their families were farmers primarily raising crops for sustenance but did harvest peanuts for resale.

In 1984 Saw Ler Phaw moved to the Thai/Burma border region so that he could travel into Thailand as a migrant worker.  He lived there from 1984 until 1996.  During that time he was active in the Karenni National Association and their resistance army.  They were fighting the Burmese government for freedom and autonomy as a state.

During this time, in 1992, he met JB.  This man had moved his family to the Thai/Burma border to learn the Kayah (or Karenni) language.  Saw Ler Phaw became his teacher.  JB recruited Saw Ler Phaw to help translate the Bible into the Kayah language.   They worked together on this project from 1994 to 2004.  This monumental project has yielded a first time New Testament of the Bible in the Karenni language.  Always before they had to hear the Bible in a foreign language.

In 1996 Saw Ler Phaw fled the Burmese military with his family into a refugee camp in Thailand.  He lived in the refugee camp from 1996 until he came to America in June of 2009.  Two of his three children were born in the camp.

Saw Ler Phaw was taught to type on a computer and began translating the Bible from the Burmese and Karen texts.  He would read it then write it in the Kayah language and then check it with his fellow countrymen for accuracy.   JB would check the translation for alignment with the original Greek and Hebrew texts.     In between, while working on this major project, Saw Ler Phaw  translated some 34 children’s books out of Burmese and Karen into Kayah.

Saw Ler Phaw’s mother, Beh Ah Mah died in 1974 and his father, Yo Peh passed in 2008.  Saw Ler Phaw’s wife, Hla May is the seventh of twelve siblings.   The rest of her family remain in Burma where they farm rice, corn and many other vegetables.  Saw Ler Phaw and Hla May have three children named Soe Me, Saw Reh and Sher Mei.  Hla May has skilled in using fabricating with her hand loom which she is able to utilize in her home.

Saw Ler Phaw wants to begin using the completed first translation of the Bible in studies with his people.  We will be exploring ways for him to put this gift of the Word to work.

Clothesline

Last week Dar Mo asked me for a length of rope over which she could hang the clothes she had washed by hand in cold water in their bath tub.  I ran over to the Family Dollar and got her a line and some clothes pins.  On Saturday when I went by the house they still had not hung the clothes line.  So I took Peter (the husband) outside and showed him how to tie up the rope and use clothes pins to attach the clothes.  We didn’t need a translator, the family just needed my time and interest.  Now down the road we can work on a wash machine for them and then get their hot water working in the house.   “The need is great but the laborers are few,  just pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers.”

Update:  I checked in on October 5 and they now have hot water for use by this large Kayah family

Chin State is Center of Wesleyan Work

This week I talked with H. C. Wilson, head of Global Partners for the Wesleyan denomination  and he said that he had just visited the town of Kalay in the Chin state of Burma (see second met, the very top).  He said that is the headquarters for the Wesleyan work in Myanmar.  Our denomination’s Myanmar district has 58 churches, and a large medical clinic.  The largest church numbers 800.   I was talking with Vena, one of our parishioners in High Point,  and he said he has an uncle and cousins that are all a part of that Wesleyan work.

Here are two maps, the first locates the Chin state in Burma.  Notice it shares a western border with India and Bangaladesh.  The second map is a close up of the Chin state with labels of key regions and language groups that are a part of our First Wesleyan Church.  Biak is from the Hahka region, Peng Len is from the Matupi region, and Vena is from the Mizo region.