Burma to the West, China to the East

Last week Leah and I found ourselves wandering the dusty streets of a frontier town. In northern Luang Nam Tha province, Chinese tractors tinged with rust and a generation of dirt rattle along beside Burmese hill tribe women, whose elaborate head dresses jingle as they carry their wares to market. There we were, 13 kilometres from China to the east and 80 kilometres from Burma to the west with Laos cradled snuggly in between, but the strange thing was, as those two countries faced disaster beyond our wildest imaginings, the town of Luang Nam Tha remained as sleepy as ever, with hardly a murmer from the outside world.

I want to state very clearly that this in no way reflects on the callousness of the hearts of Lao people but rather on the isolation that rural Lao farmers face. As death and dispair hit their neighbours hard, these farmers had no choice but to focus on their harvest of rice and on the survival of their family. All that to say that despite my proximity, I likely know much less about what is happening in my neighbouring countries than you in North America do. Still, I know that the disasters in both countries have effected farmers very much like the ones that I meet here in Laos and it hits much closer to home (both literally and figuratively). I want to ask for your continued prayers for the people of China and of Burma as they mourn the loss of loved ones and begin to rebuild their lives.

*visit www.mcc.org if your interested in learning how you can support disaster relief work in Burma, China and around the world.