Pray for the Rohingya

On the one hand, our oldest daughter gets married in two days! There’s not much happier than that. On the other hand, I’m reading about 250,000 Rohingya refugees who’ve fled from Burma to Bangladesh. Their scale of suffering is beyond what I can imagine and it’s making my head spin. 

The Rohingya are Muslims living in a predominantly Buddhist state. They are ethnically related to Bengalis and have been oppressed for decades. The current situation, and the history leading up to it, is murky at best. The Rohingya live in a geographically isolated part of Burma which is further cut off by government forces. I’m suspect of almost everything said about this situation. 

This much does seem clear: multiple tens of thousands of women, children and elderly are fleeing for their lives in the most deplorable conditions. They are driven out because they are Muslim, because they are minorities and because recently a few of their own, armed with primitive weapons have attacked police. 

What can you and I do? We can pray. God sees the situation clearly. He knows each name. And Jesus’s life and death show us that he loves the Rohingya more than we will ever know. 

Here are some prayer points:

1. Pray for safe passage for Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, for strength and stamina, for water, food and shelter along the way. 
2. Pray for proper government response both in Burma and beyond. Pray particularly for Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, who now leads Burma, to courageously respond to this crisis. 
3. Pray for Bangladesh as they struggle to receive these refugees, for resources and hospitality. 
4. Finally, pray for our hearts, that we would not grow cold to people suffering simply because of who they are. 

Please share this with others who might want to know about and pray for the Rohingya situation.