For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

Hoki village has a large wooden church fringed with pink bougainvillea. It’s beautiful, and looks domesticated in contrast to the rest of the village which is ramshackle, bamboo huts around a dusty open area with a ragged volleyball net set up. The school is a one-room bamboo structure on stilts, like the houses, with about 30 students up to grade 5. We are here to do a Good Life Club (GLC) children’s program, and a medical clinic. We expect 3 more schools from surrounding villages, but they don’t come because they are concerned about the security of the students walking to a neighboring village. This happens at several villages on this trip. We are in western Toungoo District, northern Karen State, and the Burma Army is very active here.

Children at Hoki laugh and sing with the GLC team.

An FBR medic does dental work on a patient at Hoki Village.

Despite the small numbers, the enthusiasm of our team is strong. We have team members from Karen, Karenni, Lahu, Naga and Pa-Oh areas of Burma, as well as 21 high school student interns from a boarding school close to the Free Burma Ranger training camp. These students joined us as we began our trip and quickly became an integral part of the program, taking turns leading singing and games, helping the FBR teams with installation of the solar light systems we set up at each school visited, even helping to carry loads. After these missions, the Rangers will go back to their home areas to do missions there. The students return to school after Christmas, but are replaced in the second half of our mission by 50 young people who are part of the underground resistance in the Burma Army-controlled areas of western Nyaunglebin District. We give the new group a one-day training and they spend the next two weeks helping lead children’s programs, conducting clinics, carrying loads and learning more about how they can help their people.

GLC interns singing and dancing with students at Per Ko, Mone Township.

Karenni FBR team members hand out GLC shirts to children at a program.

We visit five villages in Toungoo District on this trip and see students from 10 schools, a total of around 230 children. This is in contrast to the more stable areas of Mutraw District, which we walk through on the way to Toungoo; there we visit four villages and in those programs see nearly 2000 children from around 30 schools. Talking to the teachers in the Toungoo area, I learn that they get very little outside support. Several teachers say they must buy their own supplies — which means a trip to the near-by Burma Army-controlled town where there is always danger of arrest. Several teachers tell me that FBR is their only source of support — and this is only a small gift we give as we come through on relief missions.

Rangers set up a solar panel light system at a school in Muthraw District. .

Pa-Oh team member teaches health and hygiene.

Despite this, when I ask what are their greatest needs the answer that comes up again and again is not just for material things but for better teacher training, or teachers that have more training. While there are some students who cannot go to school because their family is too poor, the teachers tell me that it is rare for a child to not go to school and that after they finish at the primary school in their village they generally are willing to go to a boarding school further away to continue their education. There is no giving up and no complaint — only a deep commitment to help their children, to work for the people, to work towards freedom and justice in their homeland.

I think of the parable of the talents and realize the obvious — it’s not about how much is given but what is done with it. Trying to relate that to the promise of abundant life that is the mission of the GLC, I think of Ephesians 2:10 and the wording of “walking in good works” (like you would walk in a park) –suddenly it makes more sense. I picture God’s creation like a beautiful forest and “good works” aren’t just a series of burdensome duties, but are the path through the forest, leading us to the beautiful views, around the pitfalls, to the swimming holes and the mountain-tops, the good camping. Without the path we are lost in thorns and head-high brush, we fail to see the beauty of everything around us as we fight to get anywhere. These “good works,” far from being tedious chores, serve to open up the abundance of God’s creation to us; the talent is not the main point, but the using of it. I see the hard-working teachers, the interns, the FBR teams in a new light. They are not bringing abundant life — they are living it. And the reason for the joy that seems to rise spontaneously in our teams and at the GLC programs becomes as clear as a well-accomplished duty.

Thank you for being in this with us!

May God bless you,

The GLC team

Student interns sing with children in Saw Wah Der.

GLC MISSION STATS:

On this mission we saw approximately 2,400 children and treated 2000 patients.

Schools interviewed (children and representatives from around 20 more schools were seen on this mission):

Toungoo District:

Village name: U Koh Hta
Number of students: 46
Standard taught to: 4th grade
Number of teachers: 3
Source of support: Karen Education Department (KED) and Karen State Education   Assistance Group (KSEAG)
Salary: 3,500 baht and 16kg of rice per year
Remarks: The nearest clinic is 3-5 hours walking away. This village has been   in its current
 location since 2007, when the people were attacked and their homes burned. 
 They have since relocated to their current location.
Village name: Htee La Kee Day
Number of students: 58
Standard taught to: 7th
Number of teachers: 7
Source of support: KED/KSEAG
Salary: 1,500 baht/year and one tin of rice
Remarks: The nearest clinic is 3-5 hours walking away. This village has been   in its current location since 2007, when the people were attacked and their homes burned. 
 They have since relocated to their current location.
 Village name: La Bee So
Number of students: 30
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 3
Source of support: KSEAG/KED
Salary: 3,500 baht/year and 1 tin of rice/month
Remarks: The nearest clinic is 3-5 hours walking away. This village has been   in its current location since 2007, when the people were attacked and their homes burned. 
 They have since relocated to their current location.
Village name: Ka Blah Kee
Number of students: 15
Standard taught to: 3rd
Number of teachers: 1
Source of support: KSEAG/KED
Salary: 3500 baht/year and one tin of rice/month
Remarks: The nearest clinic is 3-5 hours walking away. This village has been   in its current location since 2007, when the people were attacked and their homes burned. 
 They have since relocated to their current location.
Village name: Hoki
Number of students: 30
Standard taught to: 5th
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: limited support from KED
Salary: 2000 baht/year
Remarks: This village is 2 hours from the nearest clinic. Representatives from   3 other schools came but did not bring students; one village was concerned about their
 students' security while another was having a Christmas program.
Village name: Gha Lee Hta
Number of students: 11
Standard taught to: 3rd
Number of teachers: 1
Source of support: KSEAG/KED
Salary: 2800 baht/year from KED and 6000 baht plus 5 tins of rice from the   village.
Remarks: In these parts of Karen State, the villagers will pay more to convince   teachers to work in an insecure location. This village is 3 hours' walk to the nearest   clinic.
Village name: They Khu Der
Number of students: 16
Standard taught to: 1st
Number of teachers: 1
Source of support: KED/FBR
Salary: 2800 baht a year from KED and 3000 baht from village; parents buy the   school supplies.
Remarks: It is 3-4 hours' walk to the nearest clinic.
 
Village name: Ha To Per
Number of students: 9
Standard taught to: 2nd
Number of teachers: 1
Source of support: KED and anonymous support from a foreign donor
Salary: 7000 baht/year and 9 tins of rice
Remarks: 6 hours walking to the nearest clinic.
 
Village name: Saw Wah Der
Number of students: 7
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 1
Source of support: FBR, other donors through FBR
Salary: varies, depending on the support that comes in.
Remarks: 3 hours to the nearest clinic. This village has four Burma Army camps   around it and is less than two hours from brown zone areas.
 
Village name: Thay Ah Kee
Number of students: 15
Standard taught to: 5th
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: varies - FBR helps and other local organizations
Salary: 4500 baht /year
Remarks: The nearest clinic is 3 hours' walk away.

Mone Township, Nyaunglebin District

 
Village name: Nya Mu Kee
Number of students: 27
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 3
Source of support: KED
Salary: 2500 baht and 10 tins of rice /year
Remarks: This village is 2 hours from the nearest clinic
 
Village name: Kyau Pya
Number of students: 58
Standard taught to: 6th
Number of teachers: 6
Source of support: KED
Salary: 2500 baht/ year
Remarks: 2.5 hours walking to nearest clinic
 
Village name: Kwee Doh Kha
Number of students: 30
Standard taught to: 3rd
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: KED
Salary: 3500 baht/year and 1 tin of rice a month
Remarks: 1 hour to the nearest clinic
 
Village name: Play Kee
Number of students: 47
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 5
Source of support: KED
Salary: 2500 baht/year plus 10 tins of rice
Remarks: 2 hours to the nearest clinic
 
Village name: Nya Lah Kho
Number of students: 103 students
Standard taught to: 10th
Number of teachers: 15
Source of support: KED
Salary: 2500 baht/year with some rice
Remarks: 1 hour to the nearest clinic

Muthraw District

 
Village name: Kay Bu Tha Kah Hta 
Number of students: 37
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 5
Source of support: KED/KSEAG
Salary: 1800 baht/year and rice
Remarks:
 
Village name: Sam Beh
Number of students: 8
Standard taught to: 3rd
Number of teachers: 4
Source of support: Dr. Simon, Karen leader from Mae Sot
Salary: 500 baht/month
Remarks:
 
Village name: Day Goh
Number of students: 32
Standard taught to: 2nd
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: KED
Salary: 3500 baht/year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Koo Lah Day
Number of students: 26
Standard taught to: 3rd
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: 
Salary: Koo Lah Day
Remarks:
 
Village name: Koh Mu Der
Number of students: 26
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 3
Source of support: 
Salary: 1800 baht a year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Tay U Kee
Number of students: 45
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 4
Source of support: 
Salary: 2700 baht/year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Thay Thu Kee
Number of students: 49
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 4
Source of support: 
Salary: 2700 baht /year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Kwee Do Ber Koh
Number of students: 49
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 6
Source of support: 
Salary: 1800 baht/year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Doh Tha Lu
Number of students: 24
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 3
Source of support: 
Salary: 1200 baht/year
Remarks:
 
Village name: Ebenezer School
Number of students: 71
Standard taught to: 10th
Number of teachers: 10
Source of support: KED and Seventh Day Adventists
Salary: 500 baht a month
Remarks:
 
Village name: Khu Gha Der
Number of students: 37
Standard taught to: 4th
Number of teachers: 2
Source of support: Seventh Day Adventists
Salary: 500 baht /month
Remarks: