“To The Golden Land...and Back Again” Rev. Bill Haley ARDF November 13-20, 2013 Blogging Burma and Southeast you wear the mask during the 360 Asia Tour?). Much more deeply, my heart was captured by James Mawdsley’s Dear friends and fellow-pilgrims…In a life and witness, recounted in his week’s time, I’ll be traveling to Burma amazing book The Iron Road: A Stand and Singapore, and writing about it on for Truth and Democracy in Burma, our blog, and I hope you’ll come along which I read when it first came out in for the journey! Following the pattern 2002. I’ll devote a blog post to why of mission reports from Congo and this was one the more influential South Sudan, and Israel and Palestine, books of the decade for me then. And I’m grateful that Coracle is providing a then there’s the work of Benedict venue to tell stories about the world Rogers, a dear brother and friend, and what God’s doing in the world. which has kept Burma on my screen Yes, Spiritual Formation and and close to my heart. He’s worked Kingdom Action. closely for years with Baroness Caroline Cox, patron of ARDF, often And once again, I’m grateful for the specifically on Burma. fabulous ministry of the Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF) So Bill Deiss and I will go to Burma, to for the opportunity to go on this see what God is doing through the mission. I’ve written about ARDF Anglican church there in an before, and once again Bill Deiss, overwhelmingly Buddhist country, chairman of ARDF US (and Coracle and explore how ARDF can be a part board member) will be my traveling of it, and how we can facilitate local partner, or vice versa! parish connections within the Anglican Church in North America Burma, or Myanmar, has been on my back here. We’ll meet for several days heart for a long time for several in country the Archbishop there, The reasons. On a more surface level, it’s Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo, hard to have been U2 fan in the last and several bishops decade and not been swept up in Bono’s passion for the life and witness But we’ll also engage the whole of the and efforts of Aung San Suu Kyi, Anglican church in Southeast Asia by Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991 (did engaging with the Anglican Province of Southeast Asia with Archbishop Bolly Lapok, and especially the With Half of the World Dioceses of Singapore where we will spend some days in meeting with We arrived after a full day’s Bishops, and then Bill will go on to journey from Washington to Malaysia. I look forward to Singapore, 28 hours from door to door explaining how the Anglican church is via Tokyo, Japan. Flying over organized in Southeast Asia in a Southeast Asia, the little flight map on further blog post, especially after I the plane showed us the cities that lay understand it better! And I look sleeping below...Taipei, Taiwan; , forward to reporting on what God is Manila and the cyclone ravaged doing in Southeast Asia, where Philippines; Saigon, Vietnam; Phnom Christianity remains for the most part Penh, Camobia; Kuching and Kuala a minority faith in the context of Islam Lumpor, Malaysia; and so many more and Buddhism, where the light of the smaller cities and villages, hundreds good news of Jesus needs more light. and hundreds of millions of people I look forward to sharing what work in 35,000 feet below. the world still needs to be done in that Some months ago I bumped part of the world, and understanding across this article in the Washington it myself. Post that simply told in a remarkable graphic why God cares so much about So, I invite you from time to time to this part of our globe. check the blog from around November 13-November 21, and see what we’re seeing and feel what we’re feeling. John 3.16 will be much on my mind that whole time, “For God so loved the world…” Please pray for us, for safety, for Divine Connections and deep fellowship of the Spirit with these brothers and sisters in Christ. Personally, it would mean so much if It’s an amazing picture, isn’t it? you could pray for my family while I’m Mind-boggling and overwhelming, away, for God’s help and comfort, for with a sobering and joyful implication. Tara and the kids, and for my father- God loves this part of the world in-law Bill Scherer and Gail. Recent so much because so many people live updates on Bill’s battle with cancer are here. It’s fair to say I think that if we here. say we love the world, we get to love Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Grateful to you, to God, to Coracle, subcontinent. and to ARDF! Thank you! So we’ve come, to see how God been difficult to visit by people like is loving this part of humanity through me, a foreigner. I can’t wait to hear the work of Christians here, and how and see and learn, and to meet the much more there is to see happen and Burmese living in Burma. even participate in. With some I’ve been grateful for Benedict notable exceptions like the Rogers’ recent book, Burma: A Nation Philippines, Christianity has yet to at the Crossroads, which I’ve brought take to firm and lasting foothold in along as my guide to understanding this part of the world. This means the last 70 years of Burma and the there are hundreds and hundreds of years to come. Ben’s been a friend for millions of people who have yet to a long time, albeit from great distance, fully receive the message of God’s love and he’s the closest thing I personally in Jesus, and witness the life-giving know to an expert on this country, and power of the Kingdom of God when it I deeply appreciate the Christian faith influences a whole society. that grounds his insights, hope, and I feel privileged to be here, work. Most of what I’m learning where ‘the other half’ lives. It’s true about Burma I’m learning from him to say as well that where I live is ‘the (augmented by a lot of web research other half’, just spread out over a and reading). If there are unascribed whole lot more of our shared planet. quotes in the writing that follows, they’re from him. If you’d like learn more about Burma and understand, I Into the Tragic Underknown highly recommend that you get Ben’s excellent book. “For years, Burma’s plight was And tomorrow we’ll learn from one of the most under-reported the Burmese themselves. tragedies in the second half the At the onset I don’t want to twentieth century.” Benedict Rogers, opine too much, or look forward too Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads much, or even try to describe the current situation. Rather I’ll just list I’ve been aware of just how little some learnings as I try to get my head I know about Burma as the days around a very unfamiliar land. before entering near. The world is full • Burma has between 56-60 million of just so much tragedy and injustice, people, the world’s 24th most violence and sorrow, and for too long populous country, and a time the decades-long suffering of geographically is the second the Burmese peoples has dwelt in that largest country in Southeast Asia, category of my prayers “God help (fill and 40th in the world. It’s no in the blank) and bring peace to that small place with no small land...please bring an end to the population. bloodshed and horror there.” And so • The major ethnic groups, which it feels like a deep privilege to be able fall roughly along geographic to visit this place that for so long has lines, are the (dominant majority at 68%) Burman, also the Karen, ethnic groups to protect Karenni, Shan, Mon, Kachin, themselves from it, and despite Chin, and Araken. And then many popular protests from there are many sub-groups of within the majority Burman peoples, 135 total separate ethnic population, often led by students, groups that are recognized by the and always brutally put down government. with great bloodshed and loss of • Buddhists make up 89% of the life. The military regime has also country, Muslims 4%, and been pro-active to stamp out Christians another 4% resistance throughout the • The British conquered and country. For example, “between colonialized Burma from 1996-2011, over 3,700 villages in 1824-1885, which was a main eastern Burma were destroyed by battleground between the British the military, and more than a and the Japanese during World million people were internally War II, and then was freed from displaced.” Among the British rule on January 4, 1948, dictatorship’s primary strategies modern Burma’s independence has been to sow constant division day. between the minority ethnic • For the first ten years of groups. independence, there was a fragile • That said, democracy groups and democracy led by civilians, which the minority ethnic groups have was replaced by military rule by made their own mistakes along generals in 1958, which returned the way, but on a very different to civilian rule in 1960, and then scale.