By Steve Clark

Recently, an old friend passed away. He was one of the first Karen refugees to arrive in Louisville and was part of the first group of families we began serving as CBF Field Personnel. Aung Mu had a big smile and eyes that sparkled when he smiled at you that told you he was genuinely pleased to see you when you stopped by to visit.   

A few months after his arrival in 2007, Annette and I traveled to Thailand to visit a couple of the Karen refugee camps. A few days before we left for Thailand, we stopped in to visit Aung Mu. While we were visiting, he left the room and came back with a small bag and told us the story of his family’s escape from the Burmese army during the attack on their village. They had to run, hide and try to make their way to a refugee camp in Thailand. While everyone in the village was running through the jungle trying to get to safety, his wife and youngest son got separated and lost from him. Aung Mu and several of his sons made it to a refugee camp, but he didn’t know if his wife and youngest son were alive and where they might be. 
 
He reached into the bag and handed me a sealed envelope full of cash and asked me to give it to one of his sons who had stayed in Thailand in the refugee camp to try to find his mother. He was sending money to help him look for his wife and youngest son. Of course, we agreed to find him, and before we left his house, he handed me some Thai money and told me to buy something to drink at the airport when I arrived in Thailand. He said he knew I would be thirsty after a long flight and wouldn’t have any Thai money to use. That was a very thoughtful thing to do, and his thoughtfulness was something he lived out all the time I knew him. 

We were able to find his son in the camp, give him a greeting from his father and the envelope of money. Several years later, his wife and child were found, and Aung Mu went back to Thailand to visit them for a while, but eventually came back to stay with his two sons in Louisville. Over the years, he moved around to a couple of other states, visiting friends and family, but finally settled back in Louisville a few years ago. I saw him a few times after that, but never had the chance to sit down with him and visit the way we did in the early years after his arrival into the U.S. COVID was a real deterrent for visiting people in their homes. 
 
A couple of days before Christmas, I got a call from one of the Karen pastors, telling me of Aung Mu’s death and asking for help to find a funeral home and cemetery. When I arrived for the visitation and the funeral, the pastor asked me to pray the closing prayer for the funeral. I was honored. 
 
After the funeral, as we were all outside getting the cars lined up to form the motorcade to go to the cemetery, Aung Mu’s son approached me and thanked me for praying, and handed me an envelope. It’s part of the culture of the Karen people to give a small amount of cash to those who take part in services for worship, funerals, etc. These expressions of love from the Karen community in Louisville were a big part of helping us make ends meet through the years while we’ve been serving as field personnel.    
 
I thanked my friend’s son for the envelope, and then looked for the pastor. I told him that my friend’s son had given me the envelope, but I knew they had a lot of expenses for the funeral and burial, and I wanted him to add this to the collection for the family. The pastor refused and replied with a very kind and patient voice, “This is for you. It is his father’s final offering. You must keep it.”    

I’ve been a part of the Karen community in Louisville for 17 years, and on occasion I still get surprised by some of the things I should know about their culture. I should have known it wouldn’t be right to give back this last offering Aung Mu was making to a minister. 
 
So I kept it. I will use the offering to help me continue serving the Karen people and other people from Burma as Christ’s presence among them. I will remember my friend’s offering, and I will always be grateful to all my Karen friends whose support through the years has enabled me and Annette to continue to serve their community and other refugees from Burma as God has called us to do. 

Steve Clark and Annette Ellard are Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel serving in Louisville, Kentucky, among the large population of refugees from Burma who began being resettled there in 2006. Click here to learn more about their ministry.