We Didn't Start the Fire by Karen Rogers

It was 1989. I was a 40-something, working woman, hitting my stride in the Dallas schools, learning and experiencing a lot. Billy Joel had just turned 40. As he reflected on what had happened during the first four decades of his life, he wrote his stream of consciousness, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” It was an homage to the belief that his (my) generation felt we were living through a period of often messy, difficult-to-justify events, not of our own making. The throbbing chorus, which punctuates the song is what continued to insert itself into my thought for years to come. Apparently, it still does.

We didn’t start the fire.
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning.
We didn’t start the fire.
No, we didn’t light it 
But we tried to fight it.

(If you haven’t heard Billy Joel's song lately, here’s a link,)

So, change the years. Change the generation. Do we sometimes still get caught up in swirls of controversies, ceaseless debates, finger-pointing, shaming, and blaming? Are we tempted to write off responsibility for inequities and injustice created by those who came before us or those distant from our own homeland? The issues are so complex, so persistent, so big, so — I don’t know — so seemingly insoluble. 

These days, I’m reading and hearing a lot about the refugee crises around the globe. A recent report by BBC News offers a frightening view of reality: 

More than 35,000 people were forced to flee their homes every day in 2018 – nearly one every two seconds – taking the world’s displaced population to a record 71 million.

And, they report, it could get worse. 

Alongside conflict and violence, persecution, and human rights violations, natural disasters are increasingly responsible for forcing people from their homes. (“Displaced people: Why are more fleeing home than ever before?” 24 September 2019).

Based on data for the first half of 2019, the IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre) expects the number of people uprooted because of extreme weather events to rise to 22 million this year.

All those families. All those ill and aging. All those children. All those sprawling refugee camps. All those folks whose greatest desire is to be back “home” but who cannot make that choice. We didn’t start those fires. What’s a Christian in the Heart of America to do?

What sometimes helps me when I encounter an unwieldy problem is to find a small piece of it, which I imagine I might be able to tackle. In the case of refugees and other displaced persons, it might be donations to CBF and reputable relief agencies. It might be adopting a child through organizations such as World Vision. It might be taking responsibility for ecologically-sound practices in my own home, my own church, and my own community. It might be committing to listening to the stories of refugees who have found their way into Kansas City and who are beginning new lives here.

Second Baptist Church has two exceptional opportunities to connect with some of those displaced families and to learn what took them from their homes into Thailand and, perhaps, all the way to American shores. 

• 2BC is a partner with the Upland Holistic Development Project (UHDP) in Thailand’s northern mountains near the border with Myanmar (Burma). That Christian partnership grew out of the years during which Christy and Jason Edwards lived among the Thai people and a number of Karen refugees who had fled Burmese violence. The Karen (pronounced Kah – REN) are indigenous to the Thailand-Burma border region and are one of many ethnic groups there. In fact, the Karen people group is quite diverse, itself. Among the Karen people, there are different languages, different cultures, different religions, and different political groups. No one can claim to represent all Karen people.

Many of the hill-tribe people served by UHDP are farmers who live in villages that are small clearings in the forest. Their lives follow a seasonal pattern of planting and harvesting “upland rice.” All too often, the Burmese military has attacked Karen villages, burning down homes and destroying rice stocks and supplies. Families have been forced to seek temporary refuge in the forests or make the arduous trek into Thailand. 

UHDP’s response to the great need is, indeed, holistic — agroforestry, backyard agriculture, water and sanitation, women’s and gender issues, citizenship and related rights, micro-enterprise, and micro-finance. On three occasions, groups from 2BC have traveled to Thailand to serve alongside the UHDP staff. A fourth group is scheduled to travel February 19 – March 1, 2020. All 2BC high school age and adult members are invited to join the group. 

A group of Karen refugees has settled right here in the KC metroplex. Most of them fled homes in Myanmar (Burma) and came through refugee camps along the Thailand border before making their way to the US. A multigenerational group of Christian believers meets each Sunday afternoon at Grace Baptist Church in KCMO. Grace BC, pastored by Dr. Jerry Cain (a longtime friend and former member of 2BC), has happily partnered with the Karen group for many years. The Grace Karen BC has its own pastors, teachers, and other leaders, but the English-speaking and Karen-speaking congregations are of one heart and mind, with many meaningful relationships.

2BC has partnered with the Karen BC in the past, as well as the upcoming opportunity this month. In recent years, Karen youth performed a traditional dance at one of 2BC’s Thanksgiving dinners. Another year, 2BC and Karen BC joined a friendly competition in a soccer game. On November 24, 2BC, and Grace Karen BC will hold a joint worship service at 11:00 a.m. (there will be no 8:30 a.m. or 9:45 a.m. service that day). Following that service, the congregations will join for a “Taste and See Missions – Thailand and the Karen People Group Festival” from noon – 1:15 p.m. in the Social Room. All church members and guests are encouraged to stop by the festival, stroll among a variety of informational booths and sample a taste of Thai and Karen food and drink.

Okay. Maybe I don’t have to tackle the whole, blazing inferno at one time or all by myself. I can travel to or prayerfully support the work of UHDP in Thailand. I can get to know the Karen people of Grace Karen Baptist Church at the November 24 “Taste and See Missions Festival.” Those are small enough pieces of the big refugee crisis that I can wrap my mind around them and can know that my participation just may make a difference. Is God leading you to invest your energies in these ways?

We didn’t start the fire.
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning.
We didn’t start the fire.
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on…?

No, we didn’t start the fire. And, in truth, it has been burning for a long, long time. But maybe, just maybe, when we are gone, the fire will not still burn on, and on, and on. God, make it so.