FBC Missions

the following is a letter from Brett;

I left you last time telling you we would be visiting a clinic in Mae Sot and the leaders of the Back Pack Medic teams, another eye opening day. For some perspective…

Karen who have medical needs in the Karen State in Burma only have 3 options for treatment. First, if they are living in the jungle in hiding as over 1/2 million are, they must wait for a back pack medic to reach them… if they can get word to the medics. If they are close to one of the bamboo hut clinics scattered through out the State they can walk to the clinic, zig zagging between Burmese army outposts. If the medics or the clinics cannot be of help, their last option is to walk out of Burma to Thailand, sneak into Mae Sot and find the Mae Tao Clinic.

The Clinic is best described as a large slum treating about 100,000 Karen people a year. The treatment is done by “trained medics” and a handful of doctors, most on 6 month volunteer rotations from the West. It is hard to describe how grim it looked, felt and sounded. But the amazing thing was the resolve in the faces of the Karen people and those serving them. Since the clinic is located in Thailand, all the Karen are illegals, but the government turns their head and allows the work to continue. Next year will be it’s 20th year of service.

(photo below; Team visits an In-patient ward at the Mae Tao Clinic.  Notice the bare feet; shoes are not worn indoors)

NGO’s are everywhere in Mae Sot, and lots of Westerners in town serving in these international organizations. They are able to address needs in Thailand, but it is “illegal” for most of them to fund or resource any needs in Burma. That is the tragedy, very few are willing to help the people of Burma.

We met with a courageous group of men and women who comprise the Back Pack Medics. Most are young Karen men who come from their villages in Burma to receive basic first aid training. We were able to meet with the leader of this group and watch a training session in progress. The session was led by an ER doc from California, a team of ex military medics from Australia and an Indian dentist from California.

The young trainees will walk back into Burma and serve from a bamboo clinic for months at a time, some of the “walks” take up to 8 weeks! They pack rice on their backs and forage in the jungle for the rest. The new recruits are paid 500 Baht a month ($15) and the senior members are rewarded with 1,200 Baht. For reference… our dinner for 7 last night cost 1,200 Baht! These young men (and a few women) will be faced with land mines, gun fire and ongoing hunger. They will be asked to amputate legs, and carry people back to Thailand. I am overwhelmed with their courage and compassion.

All that was yesterday, today we ventured into Burma and visited two IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps and a military outpost. More on that later.

I could not ask for better traveling companions, no complaints and willing to venture out. We have each been struck with the overwhelming nature of the dilemma and how little money it takes to make a HUGE difference. The medical clinic the church built is not made of bamboo, but instead of Teak… get this hauled by elephants over the mountains of Burma to the river and then floated to Thailand. It is a substantial building that will stand the test of time… this clinic cost $3,500 US Dollars!

Listen, I need to quit and meet the guys for dinner. I will jump on again tomorrow and tell you about the camps in Burma and more.

In Christ,
Brett, for Steve, Todd and Bill

The following is a letter from Brett;

We’ve settled in and been on the move since we arrived.

Yesterday we spent a great morning in the Karen Baptist Church. I was expecting to preach and ended up preaching, dedicating a baby and serving communion. Todd gave his story how he met Christ and sat on the platform with me through the whole 3 hour service. We had a great interpreter who emulated the qualities of his name, Tender.

After church we had lunch with the whole congregation, it was great. This church is primarily comprised of displaced Karen people who have emigrated or been driven from Burma. Some legal, but most illegal. There was also a smattering of Europeans who work in local NGO’s.

After lunch we met with the pastor and elders of this great little church. They informed us of their efforts to serve the Karen people and evangelize their community and even more remote parts of Thailand. I must say I was impressed.

First they have a program much like an ongoing VBS that attracts about 300 kids. They teach the Bible and share the gospel, they have computer classes and offer piano lessons. This is all done in a building about the size of your garage, assuming you only have a 2 car garage.

Second, they have adopted a village in a more remote part of Thailand, (I won’t even try to spell or say the name) where they have built a small church and have one person in place to reach out into the village. As far as they know there are two Christian families in the village, the rest Karen who have historically been Animists. It is their goal to place about 7 more people in this village and surrounding villages.

Lastly, they have opened a dormitory for Karen kids who need access to education and their parents are unable to support this effort. The dormitory houses 50 kids, all who sleep on the floor! They feed, care, educate these kids 10 months a year and they return home between semesters. All of these projects are ambitious and reveal a real heart for God and the lost. They asked us to consider partnering with them, both financially and with volunteers, more on this later.

(photo below -  FBC Team and Mae Sot Church “family”

Most of you know, but I will take a little time to explain the reason we are here. The Burmese government is systematically driving a minority people out of Burma, the Karen. When Great Britain left Burma this put those people who were supportive of their occupation at great risk. The Karen were left the most vulnerable. In essence, this cleansing has been taking place since 1948 but has become much worse since the late 1990’s. Now most Karen are living on the run being pursued by the Burmese army. Many try to flee to Thailand, but they are not welcome, hence they are really living in no man’s land. Robert has been working to meet the needs of the Karen by coordinating his efforts with others who are committed to this good work.

Our purpose in being here is to gain a better understanding as to how 1st B can be involved in a meaningful way.

Yesterday after church we met with a group that is best described as the Karen National Health Association in exile. These men and women served the health needs of the Karen State and have now moved their headquarters to Thailand to be able to continue their efforts. In short they establish small clinics in the areas of the Karen State that are stable enough to allow a small bamboo building to be constructed. In areas that are not stable, due to impending military invasion, they send in back pack medics to do their best to meet the pressing needs of the people. Our church has supplied the money to establish one clinic and we have supported the efforts of the back packers as well. In fact on this trip we brought amputation saws, forceps, suture, stethoscopes, dental tools and money for this great group of men and women.

We met in a “headquarters” that would best be described as “beyond depressing” if one only looked at the trappings… concrete garage in a slum, people sleeping on on the ground in garages all around the office, cooking in the street, poverty like this fat guy has never seen. When we entered the office we were greeted by well educated, articulate men who have given their lives to serving their people. The inside of the bunker was filled computers, maps and files, smiling people who man this headquarters 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Their leader showed a very compelling and professional done PowerPoint that explained in great detail their strategic efforts. Needless to say we were impressed, humbled and motivated to find a way to make a difference.

Today we visit a clinic and the leader of the backpack medics, more on that later. Lots more to say but have to run, off to visit a clinic built to meet the needs of the Karen here in Mae Sot that have no other options. Then we meet with the director of the back pack medics and learn more about that branch of the effort.

In Christ,

Brett for Steve, Todd and Bill

The following is a letter from Brett;

Greeting from Chaing Mai, Thailand.

The trip was long but uneventful, I sat next to Bill Voorhees on our 15 hour flight from SF to Hong Kong, great guy but we are both are a bit wider in the shoulders than the average traveler to Hong Kong, so sleep and comfort escaped me… Bill slept like a baby. Next time I will sit next to Todd or Steve and have plenty of room.

All the medical supplies made it through, gigli saws, forceps, suture, stethoscopes and assorted other small tools. We are humbled when the tools we bring to help in amputations from land mines are so treasured and welcomed. It gives a guy a little perspective on how blessed our lives really are. We hope that our time here can make a difference in the lives of others.

We will leave this AM for Mae Sot which will serve as our home for the next 8 days. We have a number of treks planned to see works already established and ministering to the needs of the Karen people. Keep us in your prayers and we will try to keep you updated.

In Christ,

Brett for Steve, Todd, Bill

the following was written by Angee Langenburg for the Northern Thailand Team;

We are in Chang Mai now and are staying right in the heart of the city.
We got to see the “Barefoot Doctor” program today which was fun and Dr. Jim was able to teach the students about abdominal pain. All of the team members got to act like a patient presenting each different abdominal issue (appendicitis, gallbladder etc…) which gave us a chance to “ham it up a bit. We had fun as the students asked questions to try to determine what was wrong with each of us. Most of the answers Dr. Jim had to whisper into our ear and then we got to pretend like we knew what we were talking about We had a lot of fun with that one.

Yesterday we got to ride elephants and drive oxen carts just like real Thai rice farmers…and you just can’t beat that in my opinion! Several of us on the team had always dreamed of riding elephants and so it was a literal dream come true!

Please pray as we begin our ministry with the church here and the Barefoot doctor program. We pray for wisdom and patience and that God would use the few days we have here for His glory.
Thank you for thinking of us and lifting us up in prayer.

Angee and the Thai team

the following was written by Angee Langenburg for the Northern Thailand Team;  

Hi Everyone,

Today is the second day of the “Esther camp”. It has been amazing so far.

A couple of days ago, we had the chance to go to a Mong village about 100 miles south of the Chinese border. The journey up to the village was an adventure to say the least.  The team all piled in to the back of three trucks along with some of the girls from the HOB that are of the same tribe as the village we were visiting.

As we began traveling up the road got more and more narrow and the towns began to be few and far between.  Once we began the drive up the mountain there were many places where the road was 6 inches wider then the truck that we were driving in.  It was beautiful country, as rural as any of us had ever been before.

When we arrived we were presented with an amazing experience that none of us will ever forget. The people in this village were full of joy and so content.  We played the Jesus film in Northern Thai, did a program for the children and a medical clinic headed up by Dr. Jim.  It was so amazing to watch as the girls from the HOB took to the children in the village.  They were singing songs, teaching dances and loving them the entire time.

In the clinic we got to see lots of patients that God gave us the ability to serve by helping with their medical problems, but more importantly each and every patient was prayed for. We even got to meet a 100 year old woman, who spoke next to no Thai, stood about 4 1/2 feet tall and who will be stuck in all of our minds forever.

We were able to get a tour of some of the villagers’ homes, and their hospitality was humbling. One of the homes was of a girl from the HOB whose brother had died two years ago.  As we sat and listened to their story, the mother softly stroked the picture of her late son and the father wept silently in the back of the room.

This same family has donated a plot of land for Pastor Sayan to build a church in the village that will hopefully begin construction this year.

While we were there we got to lead two people to the Lord, and the joy on their faces was worth this entire trip.

Then the rain came. It came and came and came and it was harder then anything we’ve ever experienced.  The rain on the tin roof of the school was so loud that we had to shout to hear the patients talk about their symptoms in the clinic.  The rain was big, cold and came in sideways at times.

The thought that was going through all of our heads was the story Pastor Sayan had told us before we left.  The last time they visited this village they had to walk up the mountain because the rain was so bad that the roads were not safe to drive.  And sure enough, shortly after the whole village had bid us farewell, the first truck got stuck.  And then the second.  And then the third.  It turned into a two hour; stop, get out, push, run and get in adventure.  We had so much fun singing and laughing with the girls that you would hardly think that most of us were covered in mud and freezing cold.

That same narrow road that we drove up was the same one that slipped and slided all the way down, at times a small wall of mud was all that kept us from sliding down to the valley below. The girls were such a blessing as their first reaction was to pray and then sing songs.  So we sang and sang and sang all the way down the muddy hill home.

Esther camp has been great.  The first night “Mamma Gayle” spoke on Eve, this morning I (Angee) spoke on Mary’s visit from the angel, followed by Raemie speaking on the Magnificat.  It has been a humbling experience to get to sit at the feet of these girls and learn from their innocence and purity.

I can’t believe that we leave the HOB tomorrow.  It has come too soon.   We are so eager to share this story with all of you back home.

Please pray for peace as a few of us have yet to share our testimonies, as well as a couple of other sermons.  Also pray for the girls who will be graduating from the HOB this year and need direction as to where to go from here.  Some will go to college, some back to their village, some to other adventures.  Please pray that they would seek God’s hand for their lives. 

At the Esther camp we are teaching them attribute of strong Godly women.  Please pray that they would seek that out for their lives.Thank you for keeping us in your prayers, as the week goes on we are increasingly tired and weary, but increasingly blessed. Please pray for rest and nourishment.

From,

Angee and the Thai team

p.s.  We made a quick stop to donate some books to the high school that the team from last year had the chance to visit and made a much needed contact with our friend Sisipau.