Trip Photos Available at Flickr.com

I have uploaded the photos I took in Thailand and Burma to Flickr.com --- you can view them all (the good and bad, the in-focus and out-of-focus) by clicking on this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22991234@N03/sets/72157614930555510/

The Journey Comes to an End

We departed Yangon and flew back to Bangkok early on the morning of Tuesday, February 24. Waiting for me in our hotel lobby bright and early on that morning was Rev. Dr. Yah Ha Lay Lay La and his wife, Susanna (pictured above). Yah Ha is the Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Karen Seminary in Insein. He is also a very good friend of our congregation (having visited Utica a couple of times) and we share the bond of both being graduates of Eastern Baptist Seminary (he with a DMin degree and me with the MDiv degree). Seeing Yah Ha and Susanna just before we departed for the airport was a perfect benediction to a very memorable trip to Myanmar.

Upon returning to Bangkok most of our group spent the afternoon doing some sightseeing. Ed, Jeff, and I visit Wat Po, a Buddhist temple near the Grand Palace famous for it giant reclining Buddha. The photos below are of Wat Po.

The evening was spent enjoying dinner and saying our goodbyes before most of the team caught the 6:50 a.m. flight from Bangkok to Toyko and eventually various destinations in the U.S. I stayed an extra day. And, Peter Vogelaar remains in Thailand for a couple of weeks making contact with various NGOs involved in refugee resettlement and observing cultural orientation classes at the Mae La Refugee Camp.

In my next post, I will reflect on insights, learnings and further questions generated by my time in Burma and Thailand.

Photos of Irrawaddy Delta

Burma Retrospective - Part Three - Bogelay Visit

I arrived back in Utica late Thursday night (2/29/09). Since that time, I have been trying to overcome significant jet lag, reintroduce myself to my wife after a two week absence, and prepare for this morning's worship service. I also want to complete my narrative of my trip to Thailand and Burma.

A van from the Myanmar Baptist Convention Union met us at 5:30 a.m. at our hotel on Monday, February 23 to carry our team to a village in lower Bogelay Township. Bogelay is less one hundred miles from Yangon in the Irrawaddy River delta near the Bay of Bengal. This area is at sea level and was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in May, 2008. We were particularly interested to visit this area and view the reconstruction efforts of Burmese Baptists and their international Baptist partners.

It was an arduous journey. The twenty-five year old van that transported us (like every vehicle we rode in while in Myanmar) lacked functioning air conditioning. Consequently, we opened windows to combat the mid-90's temperatures and high humidity. However, most of the roads between Yangon and Bodelay were potholed black top, crushed gravel, or unimproved dirt lanes. Soon, all of the passengers and their possessions were covered with a thick layer of dust and grime. Once we reached Bogelay (pictured below) we transfered to two different boats that carried us a couple of additional hours to our final destination.

Our journey took a total seven and a half hours each way. We returned to our hotel at 10:30 p.m. dirty and exhausted. Yet, it was for me one of the most memorable aspects of our time in Myanmar.

The boat pictured to the upper left in the photo below is owned by the Myanmar Baptist Convention Union and carried us most of the way to the village we visited near the Bay of Bengal.

As we traveled by boat through the Irrawaddy Delta, we could see the after-effects of Cyclone Nargis: uprooted trees, rice fields turned brown by salt contamination, and the simple bamboo homes of the area covered with blue plastic tarps.

When we arrived at our destination we discovered a village of subsistence farmers and fishermen who live is simple bamboo homes. Electricity in this area is rare. However, this village has a small diesel powered generator for very limited electrical power. At the center of this village of three hundred stands the Baptist church (to the right in the photo below) and town hall (to the left). When Nargis struck, the many villagers survived by clinging to the roof, tower, and ceiling joists of the church. Currently, both buildings are being reconstructed with aid from Mayanmar Baptist Convention Union and international NGOs.

Sadly, more than eighty villagers lost their lives to the storm. Women and children were particular vulnerable to the destuctive power of the cyclone. In the days following the storm, bodies from neighboring villages also were found in the nearby waterways. The pastor of the Baptist church (shown below with his wife), officiated at funerals for all those from the village who died; as well as those whose bodies washed ashore in the village.

Despite the material poverty of their lives and the terrible losses they experienced in last year's cyclone, we found people of hope and faith working together to rebuild their church, community, and lives. This largerly Baptist community is eager to reach out their neighbors in compassion and concern. They welcomed us with with warm smiles and a small feast for lunch cooked from locally grown produce, fish, and freshly caught mice (yes, mice!).

The mouse paste with chilies is on the upper right corner of the table, next to bottle of ketchup, in the photo above. These folks make use of every last bit of the bounty of the earth God offers them!

Despite our differences in cuisine, it was a great honor to be welcomed by these brothers and sisters. They are truly remarkable people. It was well worth the long and challenging trip to witness their faith and hope and experience their generous and welcoming hospitality.

Burma Retrospective - Part Two - Photos

The internet connection at the Tokyo Airport was somewhat fussy this morning. I was unable to load several photos related to the last paragraphs of my previous post.  I am now at O'Hare Airport in Chicago awaiting my flight to Syracuse - which happens to be on about a half hour delay.  The photos above document our dinner at the House of Memories, the Shewdagon, lunch with members of the Asho Chin Baptist Church and me preaching at the morning service.  Yes, they're in reverse order.  Enjoy!

Burma Retrospective - Part Two

I am currently sitting in Toyko's Narita Airport with a three hour layover before the next leg of hour-long flight is behind me. The bad news is that I have another twenty-one hours in planes and airports ahead of me before I touch down in Syracuse (and then an hour drive to Utica). So, I thought I would redeem the time by bring you a little more up-to-date on our visit to Burma.

Saturday, February 21
We spent the morning touring the facilities and meeting faculty of the three Baptist seminaries located on “Seminary Hill” in Insein. They are: Myanmar Institute of Theology (an English language MA, MDiv, and DMin granting school), Myanmar Institute of Christian Theology (a Burmese language bachelor level institution), and the Karen Baptist Seminary (a Sgkaw Karen language school that awards a bachelor degree).

I also hoped to see the Dr. Yah Ha Lay Lay Lah, an Eastern Baptist Seminary D.Min. grad, Professor of Pastoral Theology at KBS, and good friend of our congregation. However, Yah Ha was out of the city ministering at the church he pastors. However, I was pleased to meet Lily Kawdoe, registrar and professor at MIT. Lily teaches ecumenics and inter-faith studies and was a visiting scholar at my DMin alma mater, Hartford Seminary, last year. The photo below is of me with Dr. Kawdoe.

After a delicious lunch at MIT, we spent the afternoon meeting with some of the various regional and ethnic conventions which comprise the Myanmar Baptist Association. We met with the leaders of the Pyo Karen Baptist Convention, the Asho Chin Baptists Convention, the Mynamar Baptist Convention Union. As the pastor of a congregation with so many Karen, the highlight of the day for me was meeting over the dinner hour with the Karen Baptist Convention leadership. Here I am pictured with the convention’s general secretary.

Sunday, February 22
On Sunday morning members of our team fanned out to attend and/or preach at various Baptist churches in Yangon. Peter Vogelaar were invited to join the Asho Chin Baptist Church. Peter prayed and I preached! We were very warmly received by the growing church of about 150. Afterwards, we were treated to another feast, this an authentic Burmese meal, featuring a variety of curries (chicken, beef, pork, and goat), a salad of raw prawns and vegetables in citrus, fish paste and chilies, and of course, rice.

During the afternoon we visited the Shewdagon, the most famous Buddhist temple in Yangon, if not in all of Burma. Unfortunately, much of the site was covered with scaffolding for repair and regilding. We next visited Scott’s Market --- which includes a wide variety of stalls selling everything from vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat to handcrafts, jewelry, and clothing. We concluded the day with a relaxed dinner at the House of Memories, a restaurant housed in a historic home that served as General Aung Sung’s office during World War Two.

Burma Retrospective - Part One

As my trip draws to a close (I board my flight back to the United States at 6:00 a.m), I want to look back and bring you up-to-date on the one portion of our journey through Thailand and Burma I was unable to document as it was happening. That portion, of course, is the five days we spent in Burma.

We arrived in Yangon late on the evening of February 19. Our passage through immigration and customs was complete routine and uneventful. To be truthful, this was somewhat anti-climatic after the horror story we have heard from other western visitors and former citizens. Several staff members from the Myanmar Baptist Convention, the national Baptist body in Burma, were at the airport awaiting our arrival. They whisked us off to our twelve story hotel (Panda Hotel) and ordered a feast of Chinese food for us at the attached restaurant.

The next morning we met with the General Secretary of MBC, the Reverend Dr. Zaw Win, and the other officers of the convention. Following another feast for lunch, we met with the dozen or so department heads of the conventions various divisions. We also toured the MBC’s substantial property.

Above are photos of their property. The modern building is awaiting a government permit for an elevator before it can be completed and occupied. However, the convention does not know when (of if) the permit will be issued. The older building is Cushman Hall which dates to the missionary era and was constructed in the early 1900's. The statue pictured is dedicated to a young missionary who gave her life in Burma. It bears the inscription from the hymn, ". . . to thy cross I cling . . ."

Throughout the day, I and others were impressed by our Burmese Baptist friend’s core commitments. They are proud of their Baptist heritage and identity. Adoniram and Ann Judson are revered by Burmese Baptists who celebrate the Judson's arrival in Burma on July 13, 1813 with Judson Sunday on the second Sunday of July each year. They are very patient and skillful at negotiating as a very small religious minority within a majority Buddhist nation. They are very creative in their ministry strategies. They have forged partnerships with the NGOs, international Baptist organizations, and even the government to address challenges as diverse as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, community development, and Cyclone Nargis relief. They combine this commitment to the social welfare of the neighbors with an equally strong commitment to evangelism and church planting. Consequently, the various regional and ethnic conventions that comprise the Myanmar Baptist Convention are adding new churches and seeing existing churches grow.

Of course, the day ended with yet another feast! If there is one thing that unites Baptists the world over, it maybe our love of fellowship around the dinner table.

Back from Burma

We have safely returned from our all too brief visit to Yangon, Burma (Myanmar). My impressions of the city and country from our short stay are of the striking contrasts and contradicts of the place and its people. The best roads and streets are pitted with pot holes. In places it appears that both the roads and the buildings that line them have been unrepaired since the end of British colonial rule. Those who can afford the extradordinary expense of a private vehicle drive rattling, twenty-five to thirty year cars.

Our hotel had two large electrical generators by its front door that frequently fired up as the city's electical system periodically failed. The universities are all closed in response to last year's uprising. The various government ministries that dot the metropolis are shuttered after the ruling junta relocated to the hills a hundred miles north of the city. By western standards, Yangon is impoverished. The city contains many square miles of squalid slums. It also is a city of great, if somewhat tarnished, beauty with broad boulevards, landscaped parks, and historic Buddhist temples.

Despite the daily challenges of living under a caprious, corrupt, and inept political system, I found the people I met incredibly resilient and hopeful, with well a developed national sense of irony. They are generally friendly, quick to smile, and curious about foreigners.

The Baptist leaders and church members we met welcomed us with overwhelming hospitality and generosity. It seemed that every time we sat down we were provided with a feast. They are proud of both their national identity and special relationship to American Baptists as the spiritual heirs of pioneering missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson. Our Baptist brothers and sister stold us that their conventions and churches are growing as they reach out to their communities in wholistic ministry that attempts to address the spiritual, physical, and social needs of their neighbors.

This morning we returned to Bangkok by plane. Most of the team returns to the United States early tomorrow morning. I return the following day. So, today is being spent doing some last minute sightseeing before our departures.

The photos above are of Yangon and Burma. I will post additional reflections and reports about my time in Burma in the coming days.

Mae Sot to Bangkok to Yangon

This morning we visited the Mae Sot office of the International Organization for Migration.  We received an introduction to IOM's work which includes:  cultural orientation, health screening, and travel arrangements for refugees bound for resettlement in a third country.  IOM tries to prepare refugees for the realities of life in a new country and culture, while also acting as their travel agent to insure that they are booked on a flight that will carry them to their new home.

After visiting IOM we drove the short distance across town to the Moewi River which is the border between Burma and Thailand at Mae Sot.  There one can see the "Friendship Bridge" that links the two countries.  One can also see the entrepreneur who, for a baht or two, ferries people across the river in the shadow of the military police of both nations.

After our pilrimage to the Moewi River, we boarded our  vans to begin the seven hour trip back to Bangkok.  We are currently spending the night at the Christian Guest House.  In the morning we will visit the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, an NGO that provides food and building supplies to the nine refugee camps along the border.  We will also visit the Overseas Processing Entity for Southeast Asia, the International Rescue Committee.  IRC processes refugee applications for the U.S. State Department.

Late tomorrow morning we had back to Bangkok's international airport to fly to Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).  Please pray that our flight will arrive safely and that we will encounter no difficulties as we enter the country.  As there is very limited internet access in Burma and what there is heavily monitored and restricted by the government, I anticipate not attempting to post any messages to this blog until I return Bangkok on February 24.

Images of the Mae La Refugee Camp