Burmese Refugee, Tha Hso, and her baby Eh Lay Mu Lar Hso.
The nation of Myanmar, historically known as Burma, has been under repressive military rule for decades. In July of 2007, LCFS began working with community co-sponsors to resettle families of Burmese refugees. Although there are numerous ethnic/linguistic groups in Myanmar, most of the ones that have been resettled by LCFS have been from the ethnic group named the Karen.
For detailed information about the historical and cultural background of these groups, click on either of the links below.
UNHCR Quick Fact Sheet: Burmese Resettlement from Tham Hin Camp in Thailand by the UN Refugee Agency
The Karen Konnection: An excellent resource about the Karen ethnic group and ministry to Karen refugees.
Refugees From Burma: Their Background and Refugee Experience by the Cultural Orientation Resource Center
Spencer Zan at the book signing at Lansdowne Public Library.
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Life's Journey in Faith is Spencer Zan's story of an ethnic Karen family during Burma's transition from riches to rags. Spanning the period of British rule, when Spencer's father was a wealthy beaurocrat, through the Japanese occupation of Burma during World War II into the chaotic political years after independence and General Ne Win's coup of 1962 the story opens readers' eyes to the tragedy that erupted without warning from a young boy's point of view. Spencer survived and with his wife Nu Nu and their two young sons, escaped through the jungle and across the river into Thailand in 1964. The book takes the reader to a time and place that few Americans know about. From Good Friday in 1942 when Mandalay was heavily bombed by the Japanese to the battle for Katha further north between the Chinese and the Japanese and the carpet bombing of Rangoon toward the end of the war.
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Children in Burmese camp in Thailand.
UNHCR Report
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