By Steve Clark
I still remember a lot of that pledge I learned when I was a boy and was part of the Royal Ambassadors in our church. Recently, Annette and I were invited to meet a real, live ambassador to the United Nations, U Kyaw Moe Tun, from Myanmar. He came to Louisville to visit the community of folks here from Burma and to raise financial support to keep him at the UN. He is an important voice for democracy, freedom and equality in Burma. He is continually speaking out to encourage the nations that are a part of the UN to denounce the military government and be more actively involved in helping to reinstate the elected civilian government there.
Shortly after he was appointed as the permanent Ambassador to the UN, the military leaders took over the civilian government, killing or imprisoning many elected leaders and forcing others into exile. U Kyaw Moe Tun spoke out boldly as the UN Ambassador against the actions of the military, in support of reinstating the civilian government that had been elected. The military rulers in Burma tried to replace him at the UN, but the United Nations refused and has been working to keep him there as a voice for the freely elected government. Speaking out this way against the regime in Burma nearly cost him his life, as he was accused of high treason by the military regime, and an assassination attempt against him was intercepted in 2021 in New York by U.S government officials.
As an ambassador, he is doing his best for the people of Burma, at great cost and personal sacrifice. He is another good example for all of us. We must always be ready to boldly speak out in the name of the Christ against injustice that we see. We can make a difference in someone’s life.
You can read more about U Kyaw Moe Tun, his voice, his courage, and his advocacy for the people of Burma at the following links from the New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/world/asia/myanmar-protests-un-ambassador.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/06/nyregion/myanmar-ambassador-plot.html