Weeks after Pastor Tad Sandford and a CFI team visited them all were allegedly massacred by government forces, who are fighting against the mainly Christian Karen, one of Burma’s largest ethnic minorities.
"I still remember that phone call in the middle of the night," says Sandford, 64, who now leads the CFI Vocational School for Karen orphans in Thailand’s border town of Mae Sot. "Our contacts in Burma told us there were yellow rivers…Those children in this yellow t-shirts were all butchered by the Burmese army and their bodies were laying in the water." Sandford interrupts the interview and starts crying.
"We believe at least hundreds of children died, although the final number may be thousands of villagers. Those same children to whom we tried to give hope, were among those killed…"
MASSACRES ONGOING
Although the incident happened several years ago, Sandford believes massacres are ongoing. BosNewsLife has established that government forces continue to shell villages in Burma. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) forces and their smaller ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), are fighting the Christian Karen despite promises of a ceasefire. As part of the policy, children are allegedly singled out for killings.
"I have obtained documents that show there is an official policy to kill the Karen children," Sandford adds. The Burmese authorities have denied human rights abuses.
Recently Tad Sandford and his wife June, 62, exchanged the relative safety of a life-long ministry in several American churches for the insecurity of running a school not far from refugee camps that in some cases have been shelled by Burmese government forces. The school teaches the Bible, but also down to earth subjects such as Math, Computers, Handcraft, English and Social Studies.
SAVING LIVES
Sanford says he came to safe the lives of at least some Karen and other Christian children from Burma, a country the military junta calls Myanmar. "The regime hates Christianity. I know of one recent trip where I was woken up by a Karen fighter who let me listen in to the radio. He said they shouted profanities about our Lord…"
Human rights watchers claim the SPDC, a group of generals which has ruled the country by decree since 1988, sees the spread of Christianity as a potential threat to its powerbase and ideology.
The CFI Vocational School now accommodates 32 children and teenagers, who it managed to get out of the misery from nearby refugee camps in Thailand.
Some tell BosNewsLife they may be forgiven for having difficulties to sleep at night. "When I was 3 years old, Burmese soldiers attacked our village," recalls 13-year old orphan Say Reh, who belongs to the Karenni, another persecuted minority. "Because we left so quickly we did not have time to bring anything from our home. When my father and a friend returned to our home to get some necessities they stepped on a landmine and were killed."
REFUGEE CAMPS
She and her brothers and sisters eventually managed to reach refugee camps in Thailand where she finally arrived at the CFI Vocational School. "Since my father died when I was very young, I can not remember his face. When other friends call their father, I want to call as well but I don’t have the chance…" Yet she looks beyond the clouds overshadowing her young life. "My hope is that one day I will be able to see him in heaven. I pray for my people and their suffering and I pray there will be peace in Burma," Say Reh says.
The children here say they can forgive the Burmese army as in their words "Jesus teaches us love and forgiveness." That’s not an easy task when your name is Way Nai Lin who says he lost his father at the age of six. The 15-year old explains how Burmese troops "kicked, beat and tied," his father soon after they overran their village. "The Burmese soldiers took him to jail. My father was there for a week before the soldiers tortured and killed him."
His says his family was on the run for weeks in the jungle "without food" while being attacked by mosquito’s, the main cause for cases of Malaria here. They eventually arrived in Thailand with their seriously ill mother where Wai Nai Lin, whose nickname is Mark, was allowed to join the CFI school.
"Sometimes I thought how the Burmese soldiers killed my father. But my mother told me not to worry about that as this is in God’s hands." He believes God "prepared" him for a mission. "When I grow up and have enough education I will help my family and others…"
MOTHER SHOT
Another teenager Naw Moo Nay Paw, who calls herself ‘Andrea’, lost her parents during the struggle in Burma. She says her mother was shot after Burmese forces entered Taw Au village. "While we were walking, soldiers started to shoot at a man who had escaped from a group of prisoners. One of the bullets came also through my mum," she adds in broken English. She takes a deep breath. "At that time I saw that my mother lay down besides me…But I did not know she had died. I called her and said: "mother, mother" and I tried to move her. I called her again and again but there was no reply…"
Andrea recalls how she saw her "father’s face full of sorrow" and despair. "At last we deserted our dear mother." She grew up with her grandmother and later arrived at the overcrowded Mae La refugee in Thailand. But her father stayed behind in Burma, apparently to support the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which defends the villages and dreams of an autonomous Karen state. Andrea soon learned her father had died as well.
"Before he died, he suffered. He was beaten [by Burmese soldiers] like people beat animals. When I received this message I cried…"
NO IDENTITIES
She often sings with her younger sister and other orphans about their hope in Christ, starting at 5.30 AM during morning prayers. But their future on earth remains uncertain, suggests CFI Vice President Vickie Koth, who coordinates the orphans program.
"The problem is that many of these children have no identities and are not allowed to get proper papers from the Thai authorities. In one way they remain on the run," she says.
Yet Andrea believes that will change some day. Like other children, she has written a letter to Jesus. "I don’t have my parents on this earth, but I have a good family in spirit who helps me…I ask you keep praying for me, for my people. Hopefully one day we will get freedom. That is my request."
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