Introducing E

CRED Foundation has 9 overseas partners working in 8 countries, and to date my main focus has been on Women At Risk in Ethiopia, and GNPDR in Rwanda, as they are the partners I’ve most recently visited.

Today, prompted by an e-mail update I received, I want to tell you about another partner and in particular one ‘local hero’ who they support.

Partners Relief and Development (PRAD) is an international organization that has support offices in several developed countries including in the UK but focuses all its work on the ethnic minorities and refugees of Burma.

The history of Burma is complex, bloody and oppressive, and none more so than in recent decades when the Burmese army ruled the country and did their best to extinguish all ethnic people groups within the country. As a result there are far too many tales of villages torched, people massacred, and families wiped out. There are also thousands of refugees who fled the soldiers and by a combination of dogged determination to survive, luck, prayer and being in the right place at the right time, managed to get across the Burmese border and into a refugee camp. These refugee camps, and other informal and illegal settlements can be found in many of the countries that border Burma, including Thailand, which is where I visited.

The ‘local hero’ that I met, and that our team worked with, is an incredible man of God, with an unshakeable and inspiring faith. Because I am posting this on a public site, I am just going to call him E as I don’t want to compromise his safety, although things are much better now than they were.

E is a member of the Karen tribe, and whilst he lives in relative safety on the Thai border of Burma, he spends his time journeying across the border to minister to Karen people living in their homeland but constantly having to be alert to possible attacks. They have to keep a low profile, and don’t have access to medical care or much education, and so E, who is a pastor and has medical training, always has his medical kit as well as his Bible with him to serve the people as much as he can.

He is such a humble man, and it was not easy to draw out of him the reality of what he does, but as the snippets of information slowly came out we all were truly inspired. Not only does he go across the border to the Karen homelands, and those still living there, but he also goes into the refugee camps which have Karen people in them, and spends time encouraging, supporting and advocating on their behalf. And he similarly visits the various informal and illegal communities of Karen who have settled along the border.

On top of all that, he pastors a church held in his home, leads (with help from other staff) a Bible study school at the church and supports other Karen people who are similarly crossing the border back to the homeland to give practical assistance and moral support to those still living there.

As the political situation eases in Burma, and the ethnic oppression is gradually reduced, so things are changing for E and the work he does, but still there is plenty to keep him busy, and the issues of the Karen have definitely not gone away. There is still plenty of advocacy and practical support required.

E is an amazing man, quietly doing truly remarkable work that he knows is his calling in life. Meeting him was an inspirational moment for me, and a reminder of not only how much one person can do when they are doing the ‘thing’ that they were made to do but that we can all play our part in making a positive difference in this world if we just follow our calling.  The challenge: clarifying what your calling is!