Long Table Dinner 2024
Event description
Join with friends new and old for an elegant long table dinner in the historical St Alban's Anglican Church.
Tickets are $60/head and include a feast of elevated classic Burmese dishes with all funds raised on the night going towards the work of the Karen Anglican Mission on the border.
About the Karen Anglican Mission on the Border.
The Karen are an historically Burmese ethnic group who responded positively to Christianity when the first missionaries arrived in South East Asia. As a result, they fought on the side of the Allies in WW2, in contrast to the majority of the Burmese (Buddhist) people who were more disposed to supporting Japan. After the war ended, continued resentment from the Burmese government, combined with religious persecution from the Buddhist majority and political ethnic cleansing, has resulted in the Karen being a persecuted and marginalised people group within Myanmar (similar to the Rohinga on the western side of Myanmar). Thirty years ago they began fleeing across the border into Thailand, and to this day 10 000s remain ‘stateless’ in refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Anglican ministry amongst the Karen began some decades ago through a few trained evangelists who travelled through the jungles and villages of both the Thai and Myanmar sides of the border, establishing churches. These churches are together known as the KAMB – Karen Anglican Mission at the Border (KAMB). They remain isolated from the resources of their official diocese, which is in Myanmar.
KAMB is involved in a variety of projects including:
- Running a small Bible school at which evangelists are trained;
- Oversight of churches (approximately 20, 3 of which are within refugee camps);
- Manning preaching stations in the jungle;
- Running hostels for jungle children and those from Myanmar who are being educated in Thailand;
- Running nursery schools within the refugees camps, to provide Christian input for refugee children;
- Running an English teaching and learning centre within one of the refugee camps;
Running a private school called No-Boh Academy, which offers education (in English) on a Christian basis, in contrast to the Buddhist education of Thai schools. The English education means there is a possibility of upliftment of the Karen, who are marginalised within Thailand.