The hills are alive...

I spent 3 days in the mountains of Burma.

Totally confronting. Completely foreign. And at the end of the day, surreal.

There's such immense opposition ready to invade the village at any time.

We had to travel through checkpoints and be sent onward by camouflage-clad soldiers with loaded rifles slung across their shoulders. Initially I found them something to be feared, but their human-ness soon became apparent. They were young men just trying to do their job and act in obedience to their superiors. Isn't that what we're all trying to do?

I was trying so hard to stifle my laughter when on the way back we arrived at a checkpoint and I witnessed a sleeping soldier awake and fall out of his collapsing hammock! Not really the time for fits of giggles...

What I found so challenging was that in an area that should be riddled with fear and anxiety, I felt great peace. It felt like any other small village with children playing in the street, neighbours chatting at the bamboo fence, and teenagers buying coke from the local store.

As I walked through the village I met the local people and heard their stories. Stories of fear, stories of fleeing the enemy, stories of desparation. But I also saw the hope in their eyes. They continued to wear smiles on their faces despite their circumstances. I was moved as I observed the way they responded to a long-serving Partners staff member who visits almost every month - like children running to embrace their mother. An innocence became evident that I would have never thought such scarred people would display.

The hospitality of the local people was touching. Not once did they ask anything of us even though I felt they were entitled to at least request some kind of help or support. Instead they invited us into their homes, provided tea, delicious food, and a very warm welcome. Even a mother who had given birth 3 days earlier was more than willing to have us visit and see her newborn baby.

They are a people group who do not want to feel sorry for themsleves. They simply want to build a future worth looking forward to.

I am still processing my experience on the mountain. In fact I am processing whether I am being called to commit myself to serving there. What I do know is that the work of Partners is so critical in this village. They have provided the traiing and resources to enable this community to function independently even if they have to run.

I see hope and a future for this community.