Colorado Burma Roundtable Network

Colorado Burma Roundtable Network
Annual Newsletter
May 2008 - Download Word Doc (40 KB)

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7).

CBRTN would like to highlight some of the key events during the past year:

On the anniversary of our first year, it gives us great pleasure to thank you for your cheerful service. We thank you for your thoughts, for your prayers and for your many efforts. It is a joy to labor with the saints in this work.

For a year now, we have worked together to make the lives of displaced people in Denver and in Southeast Asia a little better off. We have done this entirely through volunteer labor in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the process, we have found what we already knew, that God's power far exceeds our own. Consequently we have been blessed and humbled to be afforded this opportunity.

Tax-Exempt Status - Making limited resources go further: In May 2007 we applied for a business license with tax-exempt status. We were subsequently awarded 501c(3) status retroactive to the application date. Our deepest thanks go to Trygve E. Kjellsen of Kamlet, Shepherd & Reichert LLP for providing the pro bono legal services that have made this possible.

Financial Grant Awarded - God's work being done: Thanks to Denis and Marilyn Perlman, and missions director, Kathy Peterson, we were awarded a grant of $25,000 by the Waterstone Community Church. This grant was designated for church planting. In accordance with our proposal, we have been able to spread the money around.

First, we directed $15,000+ to partially fund the construction of a Thai Karen church in Mae Sariang, Thailand. This includes salaries for a Karen evangelist team, Panyaa and Ratraphi and for a pastor named Chua who is planting a Christian church in Hang Dong. Sunday evening Panyaa and Ratraphi phoned excitedly from Mae Sariang. They had just returned from the mountains where they had held church services and ushered 6 Buddhists into Christianity! Amen!

We also designated $9,000 for the Denver Karen Baptist Fellowship Church Fellowship to meet their church-related transportation needs. We have used some of the money to buy a 65 passenger school bus. The remainder of the $9,000 will be used to train Karen drivers for their CDL licenses and permits (air brakes, passenger rating, etc.), to buy insurance, and provide a year's supply of fuel. With this type license, bus drivers will also become qualified to drive commercial rigs like bobtail dump trucks, and cement mixers. Job training!

Several Missions to Thailand: Taking the love of Christ and practical aid to where it is most needed: Our teams have made two trips to Thailand during the year, and God willing, different CBRTN teams will make another this May, and yet another in October and one in November. Our goal is to bring aid and encouragement to Thai ministries, as well as to Karen in the refugee camps, and to the most endangered group, the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Burma.

Each team member pays all of his or her own expenses, plus help raise cash and medical supplies to give away during their trips. Medical supplies are obtained from World Vision Ministries where we work prior to our trip to take advantage of their wonderful Gifts In Kind program. We figure that over the years World Vision Ministry has donated several thousands of dollars in supplies which we have taken to the ministries who provide medical aid to IDPs in Burma. Thank you, World Vision!

This year God has provided openings into churches and other places in the community where presentations and the Karen Choir have helped to raise more than $30,000 in cash. We take this money to Thailand where we give it to the Free Burma Rangers and Karen Refugee Committee, and the KNU Medical staff to buy rice and medicine in Burma. These are trusted agents who make their way past danger to tend IDPs in hiding.

Everyone has been truly blessed by our team doctor, Diane Barnes. On her own volition, "Dr Diane" has obtained funds to buy large quantities of medicines and with her God-given skill treated thousands of Karen in their villages. Most of the hill tribe people in Thailand are Animists (i.e., Ancestral Spirit Worshipers) or Buddhists. Christian Karen comprise only 25% of the total population. It is therefore a great comfort to see how Diane's medicine has opened the doors for follow on evangelistic visits by Panyaa and Ratraphi. It has not always been so, as P & R have been threatened at gunpoint when they preached the Gospel in certain villages.

Then there was another mountain village where it seemed we walked forever to reach. Our starting point was a broken bridge spanning the river below. Pastor Tong Dee of the new Mae Sariang Church was called by the village elder to come and bring medicine. There are no Christians in this village. It was a tough walk, but because of this effort Tong Dee has had a number of chances to go back and take P & R with him. We are invited to bring the medical team in October. Praise God for this opening!

Ei Tu Hta: Ei Tu Hta is an IDP camp located in Burma, on the Salween River. It is a camp for Karen who've fled their homes and villages from deep inside the country. Many residents have lost family members to bullets or landmines. Nearly everyone walked across jungle mountains and for weeks, or months to get here. One can scarcely imagine the conditions that they must have endured. If not for the Godly assistance of organizations like the Free Burma Rangers, these people may not still be alive. We just don't know. They come here for safety.

Once inside Ei Tu Hta, IDPs just want to live normal lives. However, normalcy is scarcely one of their choices. Though they currently live in peace, they are surrounded on three sides by the Burma Army. Army battalions are a scant 2 hour walk from camp. On the one remaining side, the mighty Salween River blocks speedy retreat.The first time our team visited Ei Tu Hta there were only 500 IDPs. Three weeks later there were 800. The next year there were more than 3,000 IDPs, the camp's physical limit. Ei Tu Hta serves as a terminus for those who have reached the limit of human endurance. It can hold no more, so additional camps are forming, elsewhere.

Over the course of our association with Ei Tu Hta, the refugee camps and the KNU, we continue to be privileged to receive a number of requests to support the IDPs in Ei Tu Hta, and elsewhere. We thank God for His always making funds available for these requests. His Providence greatly blesses everyone, both the giver and the receiver. From our vantage point, it is the giver who receives the greatest blessing.

New Teeth! It's sometimes the simple, little things that make the biggest difference in life. A Karen refugee, Jai Nar needed help with dental work. Sue Rairdon led the effort to get dental assistance for this sweet lady, and a recent photograph of a beautiful smile served as testimony to Sue's efforts and that of the dentist who supplied her services at a much discounted rate. The total costs for extractions and dentures: only $1,200 and $600 of this will be paid for by Jai Nar herself!

ESL Classes: The Colorado resettlement agencies supply a critical part of the assimilation process for the Karen. Learning English is a high priority. Thanks to Steve, Linda Garrity, and Marilyn Perlman we have been able to supplement these English as a Second language (ESL) classes. This is important because long-term, sustainable employment almost always will require basic English skills.

Food Requests for Thailand/Burma IDPs: Karen who hide in the jungles, also keep their Bible Schools open. Thanks to Heritage Evangelical Free Church, we will send $1,500 to Pastor Robert for IDP Bible School support. If you would like to donate to this great cause, please use the address at the bottom of the next article.

URGENT! Food Requests for Denver Refugees The food stamps program here in Colorado (administered by Denver County) is having difficulty providing timely assistance to our refugees. Logjams can be more than a month. There is a tremendous strain on the refugees to feed their families. After a refugee family pays their rent, they simply don't have enough money for food. The need is urgent and large! CBRTN has been helping by economically purchasing food at an Asian Food Warehouse. Please consider making an immediate contribution to CBRTN for this cause. Send your checks to the address below, and include a note stating "Food for Denver Refugees".

Colorado Burma Roundtable Network
C/O Greg Watkins
3622 S. Balsam St.
Littleton, CO 80128

...Or contact Jack Johnson (303-646-9503)

May the Lord continue to bless you in your walk with him and in all you are doing. May His Peace be with you all!

Cordially in the King of Kings, Jesus Christ
CBRTN