People at the crossroads
(Reinaldo F. Tardelly, sx)
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Umphang (Thai: อุ้มผาง) is the southernmost district (amphoe) of Tak Province, Thailand, located on the Thai-Burmese border. The western edge of the district has a long boundary with Burma. Surrounded by national parks and wildlife reserves, it is one of the least accessible districts in Thailand. Since Karen Civil war against the Burmese army in Burma, Umphang has been home for Karen refugees for more than 3 decades. Of 9 refugee camps in Thailand, three camps are located in Tak province, and one of them is in Umphang district, called Nupo refugee camp.
In terms of ecclesial territory, Tak province including Umphang belongs to missionary deanary III of Nakhon Sawan diocese. In 2014, by the invitation of the Bishop of Nakhon Sawan, Xaverian Missionaries arrived at the denary III and took over a vast parish area of St. Joseph the Worker church. However, the community only could assign me to Umphang in March 2016 after my Thai language studies in Bangkok. Umphang is the only district in this province where neither evangelization nor missionary activity had ever done until my assignment almost 4 years ago.
Teaching English in different Thai schools is one of the best ways to get in touch with Thai and Karen people in the territory. As the friendship grows, my students introduce me to their villages and to the universe of their culture and tradition. I am pretty much sure that the Gospel is welcomed in a mysterious way by human being through our simple and humble witness of life. We, the disciples, plant but God who gives growth.
First Christian Community
The seed of formation of the Catholic community began when I encountered a Karen catholic family who has migrated from Karen State in Burma territory and settled in Thapephue village, Thailand. They, however, still have frequent contact with their relatives on the other side of the aisle which then invited me to celebrate weekly mass with them in Klaw Gow village, Karen state. Since then, I started to organize activities with children in the village (English class, and Music class) and tried to encourage people to have a spirit of community by celebrating mass in their own house.
As I was asked by the bishop to take care of a few Burmese catholic families in the Nupo camp, I then encouraged both the refugees and the Catholics in Thapepue and Khlow Gaw to build the community. We realize since Vatican II, Catholic mission has fundamentally moved from mission as development to mission as dialogue and encounter with culture, ethnics and religions.
The pastoral in this vast area of Umphang has a unique character for two different reasons. First, it is shaped by the reality of stateless people, mostly Karen, living along the Thai border both inside and outside the refugee camp. Most of them had flown the Karen State in Burma because of Karen Civil, the longest in the world. Since the last ceasefire in 2009, peace has been established; their life is still vulnerable to a range of threats, including various forms of violence and deep-seated poverty. As stateless and refugees, they have limited access to movement, healthcare, and education.
Second, it is actually a domestic church, composed of 9 families (one family living in Karen State, 3 Km away from Thai border and 4 families in Nupo refugee camp) and other 5 Catholic families in the camp. As a domestic church, this new community is challenged mainly by the distance that one family must take to reach other families anytime holy mass and other activities are organized. However, this young community is pretty much enthusiast to face this challenge by being faithfully present in the community activities as the community is the fundamental part of their life.
Though small in number, the members of the community take part in the missionary work in the surrounding area (including villages in the Karen State) mainly through charity activities such as visits to the elderly and sick people, the distribution of second hand clothes and new towels during the cold season, and annual Christmas meal every year for all the villagers.
Besides teaching in the public schools, I organize English Camp program every year in some other schools by involving some foreign volunteers from Bangkok. An extra English class is given to prepare some selected students who receive scholarship grants from some Catholic schools in the diocese. A music class is offered for the children of the village where one Catholic family is present. Through all these activities, a network of friendship grows and I can get close to the real needs of the people.
Crossing Border: A diocesan project
The Bishop encourages me to continue crossing the border to reach people as love and charity don’t know borders. Mostly coming from Karen state, many Karen students stay in the house of their relatives in Thai territory and only can get back to their home when the school year ends. Also two years ago, as I found the real need of Catholics families in Nupo refugee camps (most having UNCHR pre-registered status) who seemed to settle in Thailand and wished that their children could get the Thai education, the Bishop then suggested to the community in the occasion of Fr. Fernando Garcia’s visit, to set up a Catholic dormitory. This dormitory is hopefully capable of
- Hosting both Catholic children and all children from Karen state villages along Thai borders of Umphang who want to have a better education in Thai territory.
- Giving additional academic support to children. The children study in government school. Once they get back to the dormitory, they will get special formation and training in humanities, multiculturalism and global citizenship. Christian values will be also introduced to all without converting them.
In this fourth year of my mission in Umphang, there are 9 Catholic families (including 4 families in Nupo refugee camp) in 3 different villages. There is one Karen catechist recently recruited. From Karen State territory, this year 4 students (2 of them from Karen State) have been granted scholarships from a Catholic school in another district. There are 8 other students whom I am preparing to be eligible for the scholarship too.
For the first time, also in this year, I’ve welcomed 3 children from Nupo refugee camp to study in a Thai school based on the request of their parents (living in Nupo camp). As there is not any structure in this area, for the time being, a Karen family has been asked to host them while waiting for a dormitory properly speaking to be built in the future. The Xaverian Delegation of Thailand is still overseeing the possibility to build the dormitory properly speaking. For the time being, the community is going to rent a bigger house in order to host more children.
Thanks to local benefactors from Bangkok, logistics like food and learning tools are provided to this first group of kids. This will work only for the time being. As there are similar requests from other families, mostly former Karen soldiers, to send their children under our care, there is a real need in this area to have more feasible accommodations.
Despite challenged by the distance, as mentioned early, the pastoral here is challenged by the geographic condition of the territory. There is a highway connecting the schools and the villages, 164 km in total. It contains 1,219 curves. It is one of the most unpleasant roads for those who suffer from motion sickness. The journey from the school where the first group students got the scholarship to the main mission is 4 hours. The journey from Thapeupue village (where there are 2 catholic families) to Suetha village takes 45 minutes. And the journey from those two villages to Nupo refugee camp takes 1 hour and a half. The road condition is bumpy and muddy, especially during the rainy season. The roads are easily damaged every year and never last longer as there are so many trucks passing to carry the harvests for sales.
As my pastoral covers also 4 villages in KNU area of Huthi (under the control of Brigade 103 and 204), the journey is challenged more by the road conditions. Having been damaged during the war, this territory doesn’t have any good road infrastructure. Most people use modified tractors as their domestic vehicle. The catholic families use the same mode of transport to go to Karen state when there are pastoral activities. As there is no ecclesial structure, like church or chapel, we do our dominical mass in the houses of the Catholics in an alternate way.
What at stake in this early step of missionary work is how to build the communion and community among the Catholics. This is the reason the constant presence among the people and the knowledge of Karen language and culture become almost imperative. It helps us to be able to work better with the community and the society as a whole. I am very happy that after the first visit of almost all confreres last December, special attention is finally given to Umphang. Our confrere, Alessio Crippa is expected to join me in this coming October. Another catechist is also going to come to foster our presence and work in this new area.
My encounter with two Karen bishops from Myanmar and a group of Burmese catholics at Miawady Thai-Myanmar border during a celebration couple of months ago recalls a deep spiritual and historical connections between people of Myanmar and Thai people. Myanmar has been ruled by one of the most oppresive dictatorship in the world. Many missionnaries had been expelled from the country. Some of them flew and worked in Thailand. Catholic mission in Thailand still has historical debts from those missionnaries both priests, religous and lay people who had important role in the formation of christian communties in Thailand.
Finally that encounter gave a kind of red thread to my experience these passing years, especially working among the Karen people. That encounter had let me to realize that our missionnary presence is a gift of God as we are called to be at the crossroads of the people who continue to suffer almost in silence, virtually unheard, unknown and un-helped. That encounter was for me a kind of living vision of a Macedonian man in St. Paul’s dream who pleaded with him for help. Future Xaverians in Asia, one day, may work together with Thai local churches and missionaries to respond to their call.
Tardelly,s.x.
