Aims & activities
To relieve poverty, advance education, preserve and protect the health of the Karen people living in Thailand and Burma
Karen Action Group helps support projects for spiritual, humanitarian & educational advancement within Burma & Thailand by:
- Providing relief aid to homeless Karen on the Thai-Burmese boarder.
- Helping to set up long term, sustainable projects in agriculture & education.
- Supporting student education in a Bible school in Chang Mai, North Thailand.
- Educating within UK about Karen issues.
Who We Are
We are a group of ordinary people from churches in the mid Devon area working for the benefit of the peoples of the Karen tribe on the Thai / Burma border.
The Karen, along with other ethnic groups along the borders of Burma (now known to some as Myanmar) have been in dispute with the Burmese military government over possession of their land since the end of the Second World War. These hill tribes people, including the Karen, were invaluable in their help with the victory for the Allied forces in the Burma Star campaign and as such we owe them a great gratitude. Sadly, and for a variety of reasons, that contribution was not recognised after the war, and the protection that had been promised for them was not forthcoming. This meant that the Karen struggle for sovereignty and self-determination in their land has continued the past seventy years. Currently the situation between the Burmese and Karen armies is quiet, and we are grateful to God for this. However we know that this is not the case for some of the other tribes, and our prayers are with them. It is our hope that God will raise up people to help all the ethnic groups along the border.
Our charity came about in the early 1990’s. A Karen man, Pastor Timothy Laklem, came to visit a church in the area to share the story of the Karen. When our leaders asked what they could do to help, Pastor Timothy invited them to see the situation for themselves. That first visit to the Karen people was the beginning of our story, and since then visits have been taking place every year or two, as well as local activities that have raised over £300,000 over the life of the charity.
Our mission is to raise the profile of these peaceful people over here in the UK, to bring their plight to the attention of government, churches and anyone who will listen, pray and support any way they can. We work with our partner organisation Asian Tribal Ministries (ATM) to bring practical help and aid to the tribes people along the border. We also support the work ATM does at its base in Chiang Mai province. They run an active Bible School with students from the Karen and Shan tribes as well as Thai nationals. They also run the Haven of Grace sanctuary for women affected by trafficking or other misfortune, offering a safe place for them and their babies, and training them in a trade so that they will eventually be able to live independent and successful lives. One of our strongest desires is for non-Christian Karen and Burmese alike to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour, knowing that it is He that will bring peace to these precious people.
If you feel you would like to know more about the work we do, please message us via our Contact page. Alternatively, if you would like to make a donation online, please visit https://www.cafonline.org/system/charity-search-resultssearch Karen Action Group and click the ”Donate” button in the table that appears.
