Gospel For Asia Bible College Sheltering Cyclone Survivors In Burma

So far the death toll in Burma (Myanmar), a nation that has been brutally oppressing Christians, is over 22,000!

www.christiantoday.com/article/3/gfa.bible.college.sheltering.cyclone.survivors.in.burma/18608.htm

Christians Worldwide To Pray For Burmese Christians Facing Extreme Persecution

Christians worldwide to pray for end to Burma brutalities

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) will co-host a Day of Prayer for Burma in central London on Saturday 8 March as part of an international initiative to end the oppression of Burma’s minority populations, particularly the largely Christian Karen group.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is an annual event initiated in 1997 by Christians Concerned for Burma at the request of Burma’s democracy leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

It is hoped that several hundred people will join in the prayer day hosted by CSW, Partners Relief and Development, Karen Aid and the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP).

Speakers include Oddny Gumaer, author of a new book on Burma called Displaced Reflections and co-founder of Partners Relief and Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working with Internally Displaced People in eastern Burma.

Benedict Rogers, CSW’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia and author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma’s Karen People, will also speak.

Mr Rogers has made over 20 visits to Burma and its borderlands, including the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon peoples on the Thai-Burmese border, the Chin people on the India-Burma border and the Kachin on the China-Burma border. He has recently returned from visiting the Thai-Burmese border and Burmese refugees in Malaysia.

CSW’s Advocacy Director Tina Lambert said: “The Global Day of Prayer for Burma is a crucial event for focusing people’s thoughts and hearts on the crisis in Burma.

“With recent events including the regime’s brutal crackdown on protests last September, continuing offensives against civilians in Karen State and further human rights violations in all parts of the country, prayer for Burma is now even more vital than ever.”

CSW condemned the recent assassination of the Karen leader Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, and the regime’s efforts to rubber-stamp its rule by introducing a “sham constitution through a sham referendum which would exclude Burma’s major democratic and ethnic representatives”.

These developments combined “make it so important for churches around the world to remember Burma, and we hope many people will be able to join us in this important event in London”, she added.

On Sunday 9 March churches around the world are urged to pray for Burma during their services.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma will take place at the Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW (nearest tubes: Victoria and Westminster) from 10am-4pm.

Why You Should Care About The Persecution Of Karen Christians In Burma

The amazing thing about the conversion of Karen Christians in Burma is that it happened by accident. At the time that Christians were trying to take the gospel into Burma, the general missionary strategy of the day was to first target the upper classes for conversion. While class chauvinism did play a role in the development and embrace of that strategy, there were legitimate reasons: the importance of converting the political, economic, and social leaders in any given society with the hope of transforming the institutions, and the belief that the underclass would follow the elites while the reverse would never happen, and that the superior resources of the elites could be dedicated towards reaching the underclass.

Now from the upper class more modern Burmese, the primary missionary learned all sorts of negative things about the tribal Karens as regarding stereotypes concerning their low intelligence, moral inferiority, backwardness, and general unworthiness. Now the missionary happened to have in his employ as a translator and guide a Karen local, a former criminal. The missionary spent quite a few months trying to explain the message of the cross to this fellow, and was just about himself convinced of the prejudices against the Karen people as represented by this person that he had learned from the underclass when his guide finally comprehended and received the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The missionary continued his endeavor to convert the Burma elites, which while not a failure nonetheless produced only few converts. But his Karen guide began sharing the faith with his fellow tribesmen, and among them the faith spread like wildfire! In short order, the Karen tribe became overwhelmingly Christian. And of course, the acceptance of the religion by the despised people of such low estate gave the ruling elites still another excuse to reject the gospel for the most part, precisely what the missionaries feared.

So now you know what is happening with atrocities like these: Burmese Christian Woman Raped, Stripped Naked, Tied To A Cross … the ruling elites that rejected the gospel are oppressing those that accepted it. The superficial cause is longtime ethnic/tribal hatreds, but hatred of Jesus Christ gives the oppressors still more reason to persecute the Karens. So it is times like this that we western Christians with all of our wealth, leisure, and power and the theologies that naturally arise from them to recall the true gospel message: blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth. Please recall that when John the Baptist was in jail and challenged Jesus Christ concerning His Messiah – ship with “And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Jesus Christ responded “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Jesus Christ went on to say “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” This is contained within Matthew 11:1-6.

So realize this western Christian and humble yourselves. Realize that you as far as the gospel is concerned, you are a double interloper. You are first an interloper because salvation was first given to the Jews. And you are then an interloper because the gospel was for the poor. As far as the latter is concerned, you are in the kingdom of heaven ONLY because THE CAMEL ACTUALLY DID GO THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE FOR YOUR SAKES!

And keep in mind: the poor did not have the semi – exalted position in the time that Jesus Christ was preaching as they do now thanks to socialism. Back then, even in Judaism, the poor had no rights and were considered as deserving their station in life because of one deficiency or another on their part or on the part of someone in their ancestral line. So when the disciples responded “then who can be saved!” in response to the failure of the rich young ruler, it was because of the common Jewish belief at the time of associating wealth and power with spiritual virtue.

But realize this: the true Christians, the ones to whom the gospel was truly given and intended for, was the low, the humble, the hated, the rejected, the persecuted, etc. like these Karen Christians of Burma. Those are the people that we should identify with. We should, then, reject any Christian theology that causes us to identify with in any respect the oppressive political, economic, financial, religious, etc. systems that rule this very wicked world that not only rejected Jesus Christ but mocked, beat, and spit on Him before hanging Him naked to die on a cross.

Burma: Ruling junta to blame for murder of top Karen leader, says ITUC

albawaba.com middle east news information::Burma: Ruling junta to blame for murder of top Karen leader, says ITUC

ITUC OnLine):As evidence mounts of the Burmese junta’s involvement in last night’s murder of a top Karen political leader on the Thai-Burma border, the ITUC today expressed its horror and disgust at the assassination of Phado Mahn Sha, General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), representing Burma’s second-largest ethnic nationality group. Mahn Sha, aged 64, was killed last night, 14 February, by two Karen-speaking assailants who entered his house in Maesod, a town situated inside Thailand on the Burmese border. According to the Federation of Trade Unions – Burma (FTUB, an ITUC associate organisation), the 4×4 vehicle used by the assassins belongs to a Thai business partner of the DKBA, a proxy Karen militia controlled by Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The attackers reportedly climbed the stairs to Mahn Shar’s flat while he was finishing his meal, greeted him in the Karen language, then drew their guns and shot him twice in the chest. The victim died on the spot.

Mahn Sha was considered as the top leader of the KNU, an ethnic political movement supporting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and other democratic opposition parties in Burma. The KNU, which has struggled for decades to secure increased recognition of Karen peoples’ rights inside the Burmese federation, is widely known for sheltering and assisting victims of forced labour and other egregious human rights violations committed by SPDC and its proxy Karen militia, the DKBA. The so-called Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a para-military structure armed and controlled by the SPDC, has for over 10 years been denounced by the ITUC and its predecessor organisation, the ICFTU, as being responsible for murders, torture, rape, imposition of forced labour and forced recruitment of child soldiers in Burma’s Karen State, which borders Thailand.

“This wicked murder must be fully investigated by Thai authorities and the relevant international agencies and its authors, both material and intellectual, brought to justice, as soon and wherever possible”, said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. ”If, as we have every reason to believe, the SPDC is ultimately responsible for it, this killing should help prove to the international community that Burma’s corrupt and murderous regime is not in the least interested in bringing about even the slightest degree of democracy to the country and its citizens, whether through a bogus referendum, so-called national elections or any other deceptive method”, he added. The SPDC has last week-end declared it would hold a “Constitutional referendum” next May and organise national elections in 2010, an announcement widely denounced by Burma’s democracy movement and many foreign governments as a scam designed to relieve mounting international political and economic pressure on the junta.

The ITUC said Burma’s neighbours, particularly India, China and ASEAN member countries now had to face up to their historic responsibilities towards Burma and its 47 million people. China, in particular, has come under strong criticism in international circles for using its veto power to block UN Security Council resolutions aimed at compelling Burma’s ruling junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners and engage in a genuine dialogue with the democratic opposition and representatives of ethnic nationalities. In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, Burmese groups around the world have also increasingly drawn parallels between the situation in Sudan’s western Darfur province and Burma, pointing at China’s reluctance to use its considerable influence over both Sudan and Burma over their respective human rights crises.

The ITUC represents 168 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. Website: http://www.ituc-csi.org

Burmese Army Burns Christian Villages!

Father God please keep and protect your people in Burma, as well as all the innocent. May they hold onto you, and know that the evil that they are experiencing right now is not worthy to be compared to the glory that they will inherit through eternal life, and may they endure even unto the very end. Please lead Christians worldwide to pray for and advocate for them. May the leaders of Burma realize their evil and seek to do righteously. In the Name of Jesus Christ, amen. bosnewslife.com/asia-pacific/burma-myanmar/3198-news-alert-burma-army-burns-christian-karen

Chin Activist Testifies at UN on State-Sponsored Rape in Burma

Note that this woman came to New York and spoke of mass rapes by an authoritarian military regime, and it received no media coverage whatsoever. More evidence still that the media hates Christians, and is actually in on our persecution.

A young Chin woman activist from Burma spoke today at a United Nations conference in New York, on state-sanctioned rape in Burma.

Cheery Zahau, Co-ordinator of the Women’s League of Chinland, presented evidence of the widespread, systematic use of rape by the Burma Army throughout the country. She referred to past reports of the use of rape in Shan, Karen, Karenni and Mon states, and presented fresh evidence of rape in Chin State.

She highlighted 38 cases of rape by the Burma Army against Chin women, five of which involved girls under the age of 18, including a victim of 12 years of age. Almost half were gang-rapes.

“Often the rapes have been carried out with extreme brutality and in some cases they resulted in the death of the victim. In one case, a woman was stripped naked and hung on a cross, in a deliberate act of mockery against her Christian religion,” said Cheery Zahau. “This indicates that sexual violence is being deliberately used as a weapon to torture and terrorize local ethnic populations into submission.”

“There is a collective understanding among the troops that they can rape with impunity,” she continued. “About a third of the rapes were committed by officers, sometimes in their own army camps.”

The conference was organised by the US-UN Office, at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Cheery Zahau urged the United Nations Security Council to continue to address the crisis in Burma, and called on China and Russia to reconsider their position and support a resolution on Burma, which they vetoed in January. She urged India to reconsider its policies of economic and military engagement with the Burmese regime.

“We are convinced that only genuine political change to democracy, restoration of the rule of law, establishment of a civilian government through free and fair elections, and a withdrawal of Burma Army troops from ethnic areas will bring an end to the systematic sexual violence in Burma,” said Cheery Zahau.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said: “We are delighted that Cheery Zahau was chosen to speak at this conference. We stand fully behind her and other such brave activists who are involved in the difficult and dangerous work of documenting gross violations of human rights, and informing the world.

“The Chin people are among the most forgotten people in the world, and we will do all we can to raise awareness of their plight. The grotesque use of rape as a weapon of war by the regime in Burma must be brought to an end.”

Burma Army Launches Fresh Attacks Against Karen Civilians

The Burma Army has launched fresh attacks against villages in northern Papun District, Karen State in recent days, killing at least three people and displacing more than 1,000, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). On March 20, Burma Army troops attacked Tha Da Der and Hta Kaw To Baw villages, causing more than 400 civilians to flee into hiding.

On March 18, villages in Toungoo District were shelled, and on March 15 troops from Burma Army Infantry Battalions 379 and 380 attacked Saw Ka Der in southern Mon Township, causing at least 600 villagers to flee into the jungle. According to the Free Burma Rangers, “These are the most recent examples of increased Burma Army activity throughout the three northern districts of Karen State: since the end of February it has launched multiple attacks in villages, boosting supplies to its camps, increasing its use of forced labour and severely restricting the movement of people in villages under its control.”

On February 21, troops from Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 590 killed two Karen men, Saw Echo Win Naing from Paw Pi Der village and Saw San Myint from Htee Htaw Loh, close to the Shwegyin River. Three days later, troops from Light Infantry Battalion 378 shot and killed 22 year-old Saw Mah Sha Htoo, a student, and wounded his brother Saw Hser Nay Say as they were returning home from buying rice. The Free Burma Rangers report that villages in the area are running low on rice supplies, and are facing increasing extortion and demands for forced labour. Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: “These reports reach us almost daily. The situation in Karen State, and in other parts of Burma, is desperate. We would urge the European Union to strengthen the Common Position on Burma, when it is reviewed next month, in order to send the regime a strong, clear message that its current behaviour – the killing, the rape, the torture – cannot go on.”

Burmese Christian Woman Raped, Stripped Naked, Tied To A Cross

A new report documenting the use of rape against ethnic women in Burma was launched this week, as the country’s regime marked “Armed Forces Day”.

Unsafe State: State-sanctioned sexual violence against Chin women in Burma, published by the Women’s League of Chinland, documents 38 cases of sexual violence committed with impunity by the Burma Army throughout Chin State – located in western Burma near the border with India. Almost half the cases documented were gang rapes, and at least a third were committed by officers. Sexual violence is typically accompanied by extreme brutality, including severe torture and murder. One woman was stripped naked and tied to a cross, in “a savage act of mockery against her Christian beliefs”, the report claims.

“These horrors are being sanctioned by the state in Burma,” said Cheery Zahau, a spokesperson for the Women’s League of Chinland. “How can the civilised world accept this junta among their ranks? And how can countries like India and China be arming these rapists?” The Burma Army has quadrupled its military presence in Chin State in recent years, and the militarisation is expected to increase further if plans go ahead to export natural gas from the Burmese coast by pipeline through Chin State to India. Stuart Windsor, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) National Director, said: “The Chin people are among the most forgotten people in the world, and their suffering is horrendous. The use of rape, accompanied by religious persecution and forced labour, should not be tolerated. It is time for the international community to act.”

Persecution Watchdog Testifies at European Parliament on Burma Violations: Calls EU Position Weak

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today presented fresh evidence of the continuing human rights violations in Burma at a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels. CSW’s Advocacy Officer for South Asia, Benedict Rogers, was one of three speakers at the hearing, alongside the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, and a representative of the Karen Women’s Organisation, Blooming Night Zan.

Benedict Rogers, who has visited Burma 17 times, recounted some of the horrific stories he has been told by refugees and Internally Displaced People. He told the European Parliament’s Sub-committee on Human Rights that on his most recent visit to the Thai-Burmese border, earlier this month, he met a woman whose son had been beheaded and another woman whose husband had been severely mutilated, tortured and killed.

“The suffering of the people of Burma has gone on for too long with too little attention or action from the international community,” he said. He called on the European Union to strengthen its Common Position on Burma when it is reviewed next month. “The current EU Common Position is too weak,” he argued. “It is essential that the EU send a strong signal through the Common Position that the regime’s current behaviour is not acceptable … The EU should declare support in the Common Position for another attempt to secure a UN Security Council resolution on Burma.” Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: “We are very grateful for the opportunity to testify at the European Parliament and to provide a voice for the people of Burma whose suffering has been overlooked by the international community for too long. We hope that this hearing will galvanise members of the European Parliament to push the EU to strengthen its Common Position.”

London Holds Day of Prayer for Burma

The 2007 Day of Prayer for Burma will be held at St Michael’s Church, Chester Square, London on Saturday 10 March. The event will form part of a global prayer initiative for Burma. Speakers include John Bercow MP, who will be speaking on the British Government’s Burma policy, and John Perry, former Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford and Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Deputy Chairman.

Representatives from the Karen, Karenni and Chin ethnic groups will also share their experiences and provide a taste of their cultural heritage. Benedict Rogers, author of the recent report ‘Carrying the Cross: the military regime’s campaign of restriction, discrimination and persecution against Christians in Burma’ has just returned from a visit to the region where he visited Karen internally displaced people (IDPs) and the Mon people.

Rogers will speak at the Day of Prayer event and other presentations will include an overview and update of the state of human rights in the country, and resettlement and health-related issues in Burma. Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962. There are an estimated one million people internally displaced inside Burma, while an estimated 10,000 people a year are killed by the Burma Army.

The Day of Prayer has been arranged by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Karen Aid, the Karen Action Group and the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People. Stuart Windsor, CSW’s National Director, said: “Alongside campaigning and lobbying activities, the power of intercession is indispensable when seeking peace and healing in this suffering nation. I fervently urge as many people as possible to join us in prayer to win this spiritual battle for the people of Burma.”

Burma Silencing Christian Media, Increasing Persecution

Burma News International, a network of ten Burmese news organisations, has urged Indian authorities to immediately re-open the main office of the Mizzima News Group in New Delhi, India, which was sealed off on Monday.
Aung Naing, development officer of BNI, said, “It is crucial for democratic country like India to have access to independent news sources like Mizzima”.

BNI tells Christian Today that the office of the Mizzima News Group, one of the network members of BNI, was sealed off because it was a business operating in a residential area. However, Soe Myint, Editor in Chief of Mizzima, has said there are suspicions that the raid was related to Mizzima’s coverage on Burma. In particular, his role as translator for the 34 Arakan and Karen rebels currently on trial in Kolkata, India, for allegedly supplying weapons to Indian insurgents, is thought to have upset authorities.

Myint explains that the rebels claim to be freedom fighters opposing the Burmese junta’s iron-fist regime. The editor of Mizzima News Group, Sein Win, said, “Mizzima’s editorial operations have now been severely hampered. It appealed for international support, even as it sought the understanding of its readers in anticipation of further interruptions in delivering its news products.”

Mizzima, which was founded in August 1998, is an independent and non-profit news agency producing independent news and commentary on Burma. It has reported consistently about the human rights situation in Burma, including violations against the media and journalists by the Burmese military junta. In addition to covering Burma, Mizzima also reports on Southeast Asian and South Asian politics that impact on the military-ruled country.

Persecution By Burmese Military Government Forces Closure of Red Cross Offices

See link here. Father YHVH in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, please protect these Christians and their good works. May Your face shine before them, and go out before them, and send Your guardian and warrior angels to defeat the forces of darkness and evil so that Your people may go back into Burma and do even more good works and be used by the Ruach Hakadosh to bring even more people to salvation through Yeshua HaMashiach than before. Amen.

Congress Considering Bill That Would Open The Door To Making Preaching Against Homosexuality Illegal!

It is HR 254. Get this: the bill was submitted by Sheila Jackson – Lee, who represents a large number of black Christians in her Texas district, and it is proof of how the liberal left just pretends to be concerned with black people so they can use the “black leaders” that they select to push their own agenda. This bill won’t become law – this time. Even if it passes the House, there are about 40 conservatives left in the Senate that would filibuster it, and George W. Bush would veto it. I know, I know, I bash George W. Bush and the religious right as a bunch of frauds and call the whole thing a scam, but there are some levels to which even they have not sunk yet. But before you use this as another excuse to continue your religious right political activism, realize that the only reason why the Democrats are in control of Congress to begin with is because they refused to do things like deal with immigration, Donald Rumseld, the minimum wage, health care, or the Mark Foley scandal, which makes me certain that they did not WANT to hold onto Congress. Hey, it’s a theory anyway.

But do not be deceived. Once this bill fails in Congress (it would get struck down by the Supreme Court anyway), it is just going to be the beginning of a long public relations campaign to convince people of oh how terrible it is that we do not have this legislation. We will be bombarded with this legislation in the news and in the movies and on TV shows day and night, and versions of it will pass on the state level. Then, the “moderate” Republicans will come out in favor of the bill, then the “moderate conservatives” will come out in favor of it, then the “moderate” evangelical and fundamentalist Christian megachurch and political lobbying pastors will come out in favor of it, and by that time all politicians and Christians who are still against it will be marginalized as extremists. In other words, the same time – worn tactic that they trotted out during “the civil rights movement”; and it works every time because no one wants to appear to be on the side of the people standing in the schoolhouse door keeping cute little seven year old black girls with pigtails out, let alone on the side of the state troopers who put the dogs, fire hoses, and billy clubs on the civil rights marchers. This is possible because our public schools and media and entertainment industries as well as our colleges – and finally our churches – have spent the last 50 years teaching us to unconditionally worship the civil rights movement and to unconditionally reject and hate everyone who was on the other side, no matter the reason. So, you never hear about how so many people in the civil rights movement were radical subversives, and even when you do, then the inevitable conclusion CAN ONLY BE that being a communist subversive wasn’t so bad after all, and opposing communism HAS to be equated with supporting black people beating beaten in the streets and lynched in the fields. Well, the day is going to soon come when being a “fundamentalist Christian” will mean the same as “Matthew Shepard murderer.” When that day comes, will you ready? Will you stand and contend for the faith? Or will you follow the crowd? And though you may claim to be a Christian, who has been baptized, was “raised in the church”, and go to church every weekend, have you accepted the deity and Lordship of Yeshua HaMashiach? Do you have a personal relationship with God YHVH through Yeshua HaMashiach? If not, change that desperate condition of uncertainty and fear that you are in right now: follow The Three Step Salvation Plan (if you need to read our doctrinal statement first, do that here). And if you are a homosexual or former homosexual who wants to change and is struggling to get out of that lifestyle, well remember, we are here to help you, to show you that he who Yeshua HaMashiach has set free is free indeed!

Now understand me: I oppose violence against homosexuals. It is SIN, after all, and OF COURSE I oppose sin. But this has nothing to do with preventing violence. It has everything to do with making it unacceptable to oppose homosexuality for any reason, especially by continually linking it to the sin of racism. They take something that ISN’T a sin and try to directly associate it with something that IS a sin. And this bill will be something neat and handy to use against every Christian that preaches against homosexuality or tries to convert a homosexual: you know discriminating against homosexuals is a HATE CRIME. And after this passes, the next one will be a law making it a crime to “intimidate” or “harass” homosexuals. Preaching the gospel to them will be called “creating a climate that incites hate crimes.” (Please realize that the Supreme Court decision upholding laws against the satanic practice of burning crosses on the justification that it creates a climate of fear and intimidation and may incite violence opens up the door that one.)