11/05/2026
Returning to the Thai-Myanmar border after a week in the south, the contrast is jarring; while the world elsewhere was vibrant, loud and in your face, the slow, quieter pace of the border feels like impending doom, growing darkness and a threat to our very existence.
For those of you closely following the situation from home, you probably understand that the "border" is not just just a line on a map, it is a place where the echoes of war have been physically breaking through.
Take for example this weekend, the conflict spilled directly into our community. In Maha Wan, a village just south of us, 82mm mortar rounds landed in Thai cattle pens. Their presence a sobering reminder that the storm is at our doorstep.
Simultaneously, this weekend a new wave of displacement saw 200 ethnic Karen people flee across the river to escape intensified bombing just a few kilometers away from the school.
As Christians, we cannot view this war on a distant border as someone else's tragedy or an afterthought to our daily lives. These are our brothers and sisters and we are called to see it through the lens of Psalm 46, recognizing that while the "earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea," our mandate remains to be a refuge for them.
With the military leadership in Myanmar further solidifying a long-term, grinding rule, our students are facing a future that feels increasingly uncertain. We, as their Christian family, work to anchor them in the truth of Isaiah 26:3, holding fast to the "perfect peace" that belongs to those whose minds are stayed on God, rather than on the shifting regimes of men.
Our mission, yours and mine, is to ensure that even as the ground beneath them trembles, their hope does not.
So, we are falling to our knees for this region, and we ask that you join us in these specific prayers:
For Physical Protection: We ask for a hedge of protection over the village of Maha Wan and the surrounding border areas. We pray that no more mu*****ns would cross the river and that our academy remains a literal sanctuary for those within its walls.
For the Displaced: We pray for the 200 people who fled their homes this weekend. We ask for their physical needs, for food, shelter, and safety, to be met, and for the trauma of the bombings to be met with supernatural peace.
For the Students: We pray they would not be overcome by the "grinding" nature of this war. We ask for the strength to lead them with clarity, teaching them to fix their eyes on a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
For Peace: We persist in asking for an end to the violence and for the hearts of those in power to be moved toward mercy and justice.
