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And who is my neighbor? Luke 10:29

Re-branding the Despised.

Dear Friends,
The US news reports of wicked winter weather for many of you. We hope this letter nds each of you safe and warm inside your homes. We write this month to share about some of the work Craig has been involved in since we returned from our time in the States. Its dierent. He is still involved in coordinating people resources, medical resources, dollar resources, and logistics. Hes an interesting systems guy. He sees a problem, mentally sees solutions, and plots a course of action. Craig is still working with Partners Relief & Development which is a quick response type of group. her, but it appeared strange that not a single mother thanked her. She saw over two hundred patients. So in brief, these people are considered, despised, thankless, violent. Unlike other relief responses, no one is returning saying, They are such a beautiful people. They remind me of the Samaritans. The Samaritans were considered despised outsiders generations after they had moved to Israel. They were non-Israelite. The Burmese are holding up signs saying, They are not Myanmar ethnicity, in reference to the Rohingya.

Throughout my years of Sunday School education, I Whats changed is the people in con ict for whom he is thought the Samaritans were simply a despised people helping coordinate relief responses. because of their mixed blood. I About eight months ago Arakan (or thought Jesus was trying to Rakhine) State, located in western communicate that they were Burma, was jolted by two bouts of Why does Jesus relay misunderstood Good Guys. But sectarian violence, when the was there more to it than bad the story of the Good majority Buddhist population blood? Was there some Samaritan? Why clashed with the Muslim Rohingya legitimacy to their bad a stateless minority group viewed didnt he tell the story reputation? as illegal Bengali immigrants by the of the Oppressed What if they brought cultural government. Some of these illegal behaviors such as violence (they immigrants are descendants of Samaritan? were Assyrian immigrants)? What families who have resided in Burma if the Samaritans became a for several generations. bitter and rough people, We have been told repeatedly that these are some of the because they had a history of rejection? most hated people on earth. Despised, is a common adjective used to describe the Rohingya. When the rst How similar are the ancient Samaritans to todays response teams had visited and returned, several Rohingya? Is there any relevance to us? Why does Jesus relief workers stated, Sadly, it seems they are their relay the story of the Good Samaritan? Why didnt he own worst enemy. tell the story of the Oppressed Samaritan? Our neighbor and co-worker, Kath Charman is a nurse. Kath has responded to many crises in many parts of the world. Debrie ng after her time with the Rohingya she recalled, Two things stood out to me. First, they are very violent toward each other... all day long they were hitting each other with sticks and shouting. She continued, Secondly, not a single person said thank you. She went on to explain that she didnt expect everyone to thank
T h e G arri s o ns

This took some pondering. It wasnt tting into my childhood recollection of the story. We have always been taught to identify with the Good Samaritan... to be the champion of the oppressed... but Jesus was communicating something more than that... something I had never previously considered. He was re-branding the Samaritans.

Servi ng w i th th e P eo p l e o f M yanm ar (B urm a) Si nce 2004

Jesus saw them for what they could become: compassionate, attentive, responsible, sacri cial, heroic. Perhaps he wasnt just trying to get the Jews (including his followers) to see the Samaritans dierently, perhaps he was also changing how the Samaritans viewed themselves; from victim to hero. Perhaps their previous labels had become self-ful lling prophesies that were generationally passed down. In his story, Jesus was portraying the Samaritan as an outward- focused overcomer, not a victim of the environment around him. So what became of the Samaritans? Many of them recognized Jesus as Savior and were among the rst Christians. (John 4:39-42; Acts 8:25, 9:331, 15:3) Would you pray with us that the similarities might continue? So, from this perspective, are we called upon to be the Good Samaritan? Or is Jesus wanting us to do/be more? Is Jesus wanting us to nd ways to enable the Rohingya to be Good Samaritans? Hmmm. Worth further consideration. Thank you for allowing us to be your hands and feet in this part of the world,
Students protesting the international communitys concern for the Rohingya. Initially we were hesitant to label the actions against the Rohingya as genocide. Its too weighty of a word. But the more involved we become, the closer we move toward this understanding.

The Garrisons
Rohingya mother receiving a blanket. When our neighbor/co-worker, Kath, returned from the con ict zone, she commented on the hatred against women among the Rohingya. Even the women hated women which was demonstrated by the way they interacted with each other and valued their sons over their daughters.

How have we/you modeled the Good Samaritan? For a small organization, Partners Relief and Development has been able to make a signi cant impact on the lives of thousands of men, women and children. In three months we have: assessed and medically treated nearly 5,000 patients distributed nearly 10,000 kg of rice distributed over 2,500 kg of seeds and fertilizer to improve food security distributed over 400 tarpaulins for shelter given more than 500 blankets constructed more than 80 toilets Total estimated number of people directly helped from November to January is more than 20,000.
When one of our co-workers asked his interpreter, Do these people know we are Christians? Yes, they know, the interpreter replied. What do they think of us? he wondered. Your group is called, the group that gets things done. Praise the Lord!

Craig with two aid workers. When Craig returned from the con ict zone, he said, Weve been to refugee camps...this didnt look like a refugee camp... it looked like people were being put in concentration camps.

To better understand the background of this con ict view:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/25/world/asia/myanmarrohingya-violence-rivers/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

All gifts toward our work with the people of Myanmar (Burma) should be sent to: CornerStone International, P.O. Box 192, Wilmore, KY 40390. Please write Myanmar Project on the memo line. Additionally, you may make secure donations online at http://www.cornerstoneinternational.org/sta-garrison/. THANK YOU for your generosity towards our family and the people of Burma!