She cuts and washes banana leaves in the kitchen. Silent. Focused. I can almost see the weight on her shoulders and wonder how one person can carry it all. Last week, her brother’s home was hit by torches in the camps in an attack by terrorist forces. Her mother, who has multiple serious illnesses, is now forced to live in hiding outside the camp, far south in the middle of nowhere.
He is glued to his phone. I can’t see what he’s watching, but I can hear it. Gunshots and bombs. Over and over. “Burma?” I ask him. “Yes.”
Meanwhile, the eldest daughter plays on Instagram, and the youngest baby crawls around his brothers and squeals in delight at their antics. Little sister sleeps soundly in the other room. All five were born away from the roots of their parents, raised distant from the trauma of their lineage.
What a contrast these parents must feel to their children, who will never truly know the feeling of Myanmar soil beneath their feet or the pain of just being born Rohingya in the homeland. It’s a double-edged sword of gratefulness for their safety and sadness for what has been lost. There is so much left behind that their children will never know. So much ahead that their parents still don’t understand.
She places a full plate of fira (bread) and a hot cup of tea before me. The taste of a home once known, now shared in a home newly built. He sighs, picks up his tikka and keys, and goes to the masjid (mosque). Each of us, in our own hearts, prays for peace.
- Pray for peace and restoration in Myanmar.
- Pray for Rohingya youth growing up away from their homeland to recognize God’s hand in relocating their families away from violence and into a place where they hear about Jesus.
- Pray for the Rohingya to encounter the God who sees them in their grief.
- Pray that the Rohingya come to know enduring HOPE in Jesus.