INCOR -- International Christian Outreach and Relief Group

Monthly Update received October 2, 2009:
(from a Baptist missionary working more than twenty years with the Burmese Karen tribal people):

"'You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.' Genesis 50:20

"'If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.... we do not know what we should pray.....but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.... and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.' Romans 8:25-28

"Still Urgent! The plan of the Burmese government is still to exterminate the Karen living in the Karen State in Burma before their 2010 election! It is an all out attack to either kill the Karen, or get them out of Burma. The Burmese don't like the Thai helping the Karen, which makes it very tense for the Karen in Thailand, and can be difficult to help them when they arrive as refugees in Thailand. The Burmese Government wants to ethnically cleanse Burma from anyone who is not Burman tribe and Buddhist. This has been going on for 60 years and since the Thai Government wants to stay on good terms with the Burmese Government, the Karen are stuck in the middle. The Thai Government will let them come, but doesn't want them to stay. The Burmese Government will let them return, but then they will be killed, tortured, raped and/or herded into "re-settlement" camps in Burma. There is no one to stand up for the Karen (as well as other ethnic minorities inside of Burma). Please continue to pray for their safety & for the Lord to turn the enemy back in a miraculous way - that all will see His hand of protection & He will get all of the glory! Thank you!"

Report Contents - Aug 29, 2009
"The military junta ruling Burma for some decades continues its efforts at exterminating all movements favoring democracy, and has expressed its intent to kill or drive out of the country all members of some ethnic, tribal minorities, including the Karen, before an election supposedly scheduled for 2010. They have also placed democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for false charges of sedition and fostering political chaos, sentenced her to three years of hard labor, but commuted that to eighteen months of (continuing) house arrest, presumably to prevent her from influencing the supposed election.

Tribal minorities continue to suffer torture, rape and killing for no apparent offenses, and some escape across the border to Thailand. At a site at the border about two hours drive north of Mae Sot there are 2,300 Karen escapees arriving in July 2009, at the peak of the monsoon season. Photos below show their shelters, with the hills of Burma visible in the background. INCOR provided funds for simple charcoal stoves and for tarps for shelter, and is raising funds for blankets for such sites. Another site, Mae U Su, has another 2,000+ recent escapees under somewhat similar austere circumstances."

(from an INCOR board member on site)

Blankets for Burmese -

There are more than 100,000 Burmese Karen refugees in Thailand along the border. About 5,000 of these are "new arrivals" having fled their homes during Summer 2009 because of the brutal genocide imposed by the Burmese military junta ruling against the wishes of the voting majority of Burmese for the past decades. The recent refugees are not in camps authorized by the Thai government, under the monitoring of the U.N. Higher Commission on Refugees, but have been granted (unofficial) asylum because of the humanitarian concern of the Thai government, at least temporarily.

The area where the refugees are presently settling is mountainous, and although very warm during Summer and monsoon season can be quite cold and windy in winter. We have observed refugees sleeping exposed to near-freezing temperatures with bare feet and only a T-shirt and trousers for warmth.

Please consider helping us provide blankets for these Burmese Karen refugees by Christmas 2009. One warm wool blanket can be purchased in Mae Sot or Chiangmai and delivered where needed for slightly less than $3. Thus ten blankets are $30, and a bundle of forty as they come from the factory would be $120.

Contribution payable checks to "INCOR" with memo for "Blankets for Burmese" will be 100% invested in those blankets if sent to:

INCOR, P.O. Box 531, Kent, WA, 98035-0531.

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