Orphan of this World, Child of God
The Karen brothers and sisters in Christ that we met this past weekend have given me a new insight on my faith and what it should look like to further the Kingdom. The 50 something orphans that we stayed with are some of the greatest, sincerest, craziest little kids running hard after the Lord I have ever come into contact with.
Not many people know of the struggle the Karen people have endured for centuries. To sum it up, the Karen have mainly resided in Burma for a long time. There are two people groups: the Burmese, and the Karen. For centuries, the Burmese have persecuted the Karen for many, many reasons due to the fact they do not see the Karen as citizens of Burma. The Burmese have pushed the many Karen south to the border of Thailand, so many flee past the border into Thailand. On the other side of the border, it is about the same amount of persecution because the Thai do not get along with the Karen because of a war many years ago. The Karen, essentially, have nowhere to go. They are trapped by two sides that do not care for them in any way. They can hardly do anything or go anywhere because their papers are in Burma. The children can’t even be adopted. They have no documentation that proves they exist. They are invisible to the world. But our Father sees them.
It’s hard to imagine, being unseen by people of the world, only visible to God. Even if you are reading this, you’re obviously seen by people. They acknowledge you. The world knows (insert your name) exists.
This verse really speaks to me, Hebrews 3:11, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
What matters, is that we are seen by God. He deserves our every inch of acknowledgement. I have seen these kids ranging from 5, to 19 years old, live this out. To live, only, to be seen, and speak to God, not the world. These kids know how to openly worship, starting from corporate worship to everyday activities, all by themselves. They lead themselves. Amazing.
Their faith is something also I took note of. How they only rely on Christ to make them clean. How they only rely on to hear from God. How they only rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them. Let me tell you a story about John. John is Karen. At 15 years old, his mother told him to cross the border into Thailand to get schooling. John had never even left his village in Burma, but he knew, this was the only chance he had to be somebody. John packed up, and left. Many Karen heard of what John was doing, and asked to come with him or take somebody. The number rallies to 40 or 50 that came with him on his way to cross the border. This group consisted of little children, mothers and babies, and a blind man. John had never navigated through the jungle, so how was he supposed to lead others? A blind man is hard enough has it is. On the way, John knew the only thing that was going to guide was God and Christ. John gave his life to the kingdom. John now is a leader in a village just on the border of Thailand. It consists of the Karen he led through the jungle, who are Buddhists. He teaches in his villages, mainly about the Gospel. That is amazing. He is 22 years old now and still running hard after the Lord and glorifying the name of Christ.
There are many stories that the Karen could tell about themselves that would change your life, just like John’s. Complete faith that Jesus made them clean and that God is with them, even though it seems that they are in need. Maybe we are the ones in need maybe we need this kind of faith. Our faith sometimes bends (there’s no possible way it can break), in ourselves, others, and God.
I can honestly say, that after being with my Karen brothers and sisters, they have helped me sharpen my faith. Hopefully, even the ones reading this, can take something out of my writing on my personal journey, what I took out of it, and the Karen’s’ persecution. Pray for them right now. They are orphans of this world, but children of God.