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Stand with Myanmar

Stand with Myanmar

Myanmar Sunday

Myanmar Sunday

A devotional by Kathy Thompson, from Croydon Hills Baptist Church and Director of Sharing Hope (an NGO supporting refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border) and Rev Moo Hei, a Karen refugee from Myanmar and Pastor of Croydon Hills Karen Baptist Fellowship.

caring for wIdows, orphans and foreigners

You don’t need to look far in the Old Testament to find references to justice and, specifically, how God brings justice to the oppressed and how God calls his people to do likewise. This justice is often summarised as caring for the “widows, orphans and foreigners” (Psalm 146:9, Isaiah 1:17).

Then in the New Testament Jesus continues this call and it is probably best summed up in Matthew 25: 31-40 where Jesus characterises the “righteousness” as those who care for people without food, who are a stranger or in prison and so on. In fact, the Hebrew concept of righteousness involved not just being a moral person but also someone who was hospitable, generous and compassionate.

More than an Abstract Concept

Many of us may not realise that we have “orphans, widows and foreigners” in our Australian Baptist family in the form of the large number of refugees from Myanmar who attend Baptist churches. There are 56 churches in Victoria with congregations consisting of refugees from Myanmar.

So often when we think of “the poor” or “the persecuted” it is an abstract concept of people far away and far removed from us. But Baptist refugees from Myanmar live in our suburbs, their children go to our local schools, and they attend our churches. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Their family and friends in Myanmar are, by extension, our family and friends.

Watch or download the Myanmar Sunday campaign video
Over 70 years of Civil War

Myanmar is a country that has been racked by civil war in many of its territories for over 70 years. Successive governments have sought to rule along ethnic lines resulting in ethnic minorities facing attacks by the Myanmar military and often outright ethnic cleansing. These minorities include the Chin, Karen and Kachin communities who make up a majority of the refugees from Myanmar in Australia.

The 2021 military coup in Myanmar brought about an escalation in aggression by the military. Villages throughout Myanmar are regularly attacked by air and on the ground as the military seeks to assert control. The UN now estimates there are 1,704,000 internally displaced people in Myanmar along with another 1,086,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in neighbouring countries. (1)

 Ecclesiastes 5: 8-9 (NLT) reads: 

“Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. Even the king milks the land for his own profit!” 

What can we do?

This could be written today about Myanmar. It is exactly the type of government from which our refugee brothers and sisters have had to flee. It is heartbreaking to think that people are still suffering at the hands of oppressive regimes a millennia after this passage was written. So what can we do in the face of such insurmountable problems?

Stand With Myanmar

The Stand with Myanmar campaign brings together national Baptist agencies, Baptist World Aid Australia (international aid and development) and Baptist Mission Australia (intercultural mission), to partner together with local Baptist churches throughout Australia.

The campaign will run from August 18 – September 15, 2024, with churches encouraged to host a Myanmar Sunday between these dates if possible and aims to help individuals, or church communities to:

Pray: pray for the people of Myanmar in their country and in the surrounding refugee camps. Pray for the refugee communities here in Australia and that Myanmar people will be welcomed. More prayers can be found on the Stand with Myanmar website.

Be an advocate: tell others about the situation in Myanmar and of the refugees from Myanmar in Australia

Write to your local Member of Parliament: Go to the Stand with Myanmar campaign website for a latter template

Give to Stand with Myanmar here: standwithmyanmar.com.au

As we do these things, we will, in the words of Jordan Pe, Karen refugee from Myanmar and Sharing Hope Director: “be closer to a world where every refugee has a safe place to live and is able to start anew, free from the threat of violence” 

Wouldn’t it be amazing to see Jordan’s vision come to fruition? We can be a part of the solution, in many small but significant ways, as each one of us prays, shares with a friend about the situation in Myanmar or provides financial support. These are our brothers and sisters. What is your response?

Questions to Ponder

Isaiah 1: 17 says, ‘Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.’

How does Isaiah 1: 17 apply to refugees from Myanmar? How are you, personally, going to help the oppressed from Myanmar?
What can we do as a church community to fight for the rights of refugees from Myanmar?


(1) Myanmar Emergency Update as of 6 March 2023, UNHCR Bureau for Asia and Pacific (RBAP)

Myanmar Map

Kathy Thompson attends Croydon Hills Baptist Church and is a Director of Sharing Hope (an NGO supporting refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border) 

Rev Moo Hei is a Karen refugee from Myanmar and Pastor of Croydon Hills Karen Baptist Fellowship

Foster Care Sunday

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Foster Care Sunday, 8 September 2024

Foster Care Sunday

Fostering Hope

NatiONAL Decline

Sunday, 8 September is Foster Care Sunday when churches across Australia celebrate Foster, Kinship, and Permanent Carers and play a role in being a safe and supportive space for those involved in the Out-of-Home Care system.

Nationally, we are seeing a decline in the recruitment of new foster carers and an increase in existing foster carers leaving. The consequence is a growing reliance on non-family-based (residential) care arrangements.

How is this happening in Australia? In developing countries orphanages are closing down and they are moving to family-based care, yet here, in our developed country, we are being forced back to orphanage-type care because we can’t find enough families and retain carers. The result is poorer outcomes for children and young people, their families, and our communities.

An Incredible Opportunity

One of the demographic reasons for the decline in carers is a fall in the number of people with a religion in Australia. Take a moment to think about that. The secular world see that a reason people foster and invite the broken into their homes is motivated by their faith. So less people with a faith mean less foster carers. What does that mean for us? It means we have this incredible opportunity to shine God’s love into the broken system of removing children from their parents, by being carers, mentors for children in care, respite carers, praying over the system and for everyone in it, supporting young people leaving care, and caring for the carers in our community.

Show your Love

This Foster Care Sunday, how is God asking you to respond to some of the most vulnerable members of our community here in Tasmania — children without the protection of their parents? How is God asking you to shine His love right where you are?

This Foster Care Sunday, we encourage you to:
– Host Foster Care Sunday in your church. 
– Show and share the Foster Care Sunday video in your church or with others.
– Follow Foster Care Sunday on Facebook.
– Follow Fostering Hope on YouTube.
– Pray with Fostering Hope.
– Partner financially with Fostering Hope.
– Call us at Fostering Hope to talk about how you could support children and young people growing up in care in Tasmania.

How can people partner financially with Fostering Hope?  Join the Fostering Hope Family here, either as an individual, small group, or church .  

Mary Blake


Mary Blake is the Executive Officer of Fostering Hope in Tasmania. You can contact Mary by email at mary@fosteringhope.net.au

Foster Care Sunday

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Foster Care Sunday

Foster Care Sunday - Fostering Hoipe

Foster Care Sunday

From 10 September 2023

Mary Blake of Fostering Hope writes: “Thank you to the Tasmanian Baptist churches for their support of foster and kinship carers and the children in their homes.”

Today, over 46,200 children in Out-of-Home Care in Australia. Sadly, the number of children removed from their families each year is increasing. At the same time, the number of Foster Carers is decreasing. Nationally, governments are struggling to recruit and retain carers.

The Church is called to serve the most vulnerable members of our communities. Let’s celebrate and support the Foster and Kinship Carers who are living on mission. These faithful people provide loving homes for children who are unable to live with their birth family.

We can all do something to create communities of welcome and support for carers and children with an experience of the Out-of-Home Care system.

Foster Care Sunday
What to do on Foster Care Sunday

Launching on September 10th 2023, we are inviting you participate in Foster Care Sunday. This could take place on a date that works for you.

On the day, we encourage you to:

  • SHOW the Foster Care Sunday video – 3 minutes. (https://vimeo.com/855185166)
  • CELEBRATE children in care and Foster or Kinship Carers in your congregations and communities. (Do be aware of maintaining children’s privacy for online viewing!)
  • RAISE AWARENESS of the children needing families and the important mission of Foster Care.
  • PLAY A ROLE in being a safe and supportive space for those involved in the Out-of-Home Care system.
  • INVITE a carer, worker, or someone who grew up in care or a fostering family to share their story. They could explain the sorts of things that were helpful to them.
Find Out More

This year for the first time, Foster Carer’s Sunday is being organised by a national network of Christian fostering organisations. You can find more information here:   www.christianfostering.com.au. The Church Pack will be available soon!

Mary Blake

Mary Blake is the Executive Officer of Fostering Hope in Tasmania.
mary@fosteringhope.net.au

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