20th April 2023
In their shoes
Can you put yourself in their shoes? Can you imagine fleeing as fast as you can with children in tow, to the jungle as soon as you hear the sound of jet fighters or drones? Can you imagine living like this for years on end, not knowing when the next occasion will be?
Sadly, airstrikes are a frequent occurrence that the people of Myanmar live with on a constant basis. Thousands of our Baptist brothers and sisters live like this every day. From January to March 2023 alone there have been at least 25 airstrikes by the military across regions in Myanmar.
On Monday 10th April, the Junta attacked the town of Waibula by airstrike resulting in many deaths, including a Chin Pastor and his wife. Chin pastors in our Victorian churches are grieving the loss of their community members. Other images we received were too graphic to share. The next day another airstrike hit the town of Kanbalu with the death toll now from these attacks estimated to be well over 100 civilians.
In early April, we received a devastating text from a Pastor of one of our Baptist Burmese churches in Melbourne that we share (with permission)
“We are grieving at the tragic news of the killing of innocent villagers of Khuafo village, 5 miles away from Thantlang. Yesterday morning (Thurs 1 April, 2023), the Junta dropped bombs from a jet fighter on to the innocent peasant village killing 10 people and injuring 20 people. Some children were left by their parents in the incident. This little girl and her younger sibling (pictured) survived the incident in which their parents were killed.”
Since the military coup in February 2021, more than 3000 people have been killed and 16,000 people detained. Almost 1.6 million people are displaced within Myanmar and 1.1 million refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar live in refugee camps on the Thai and Indian borders and within other towns in Thailand and India.
Please join us in praying, advocating and raising support for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar. Click here to see how you can support.