This weekend the regime in Burma extended its detention of Aung San Suu Kyi.
We do not know how long the extension is for. Aung San Suu Kyi has not been charged with any crime. Our press release in response to the extension is below.

Click here to view a BBC Newsonline article featuring Glenys Kinnock MEP, patron of the Burma Campaign UK:

Click here to view the BBC Newsnight story on Burma, which has footage smuggled out of the country, and exposes the British government’s failure to support people displaced by the regime’s new military offensive against the Karen, and failure to financially support the democracy movement.

Burma Campaign UK Media Release
Aung San Suu Kyi Detention Extended ­ UN must act
27 May 2006

Burma¹s brutal military dictatorship today extended Aung San Suu Kyi¹s detention, sending a strong signal to the international community that it has no intention of relinquishing power. The extension comes despite calls for her release from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Burma¹s Asian neighbours. It is also an embarrassment for UN Under-Secretary Ibrahim Gambari, who was duped by the regime¹s lies and propaganda during his visit to Burma last week.

³We are disappointed but not surprised. This regime has no interest in turning a new page with the international community,² said Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. ³The UN has tried and failed several times in the past to solve this problem with talks. What we need now is a binding Security Council resolution to compel the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi and restore democracy to Burma.²

The regime has consistently defied the United Nations, ignoring over a dozen calls for Aung San Suu Kyi¹s release by the Secretary General, and 28 resolutions by the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Commission.

Hopes for Aung San Suu Kyi¹s release were stoked by Ibrahim Gambari, who said that her release would be concrete evidence that the regime was ready to turn a new page. Past UN envoys to Burma have also made similar overoptimistic predictions, only to be proved wrong. Gambari failed to learn the lessons of history. The regime engages with the international community only as a negotiating tactic to delay possible sanctions. It has twice before used the release of Aung San Suu Kyi as a trump card to alleviate international pressure, without introducing a single democratic reform. So far this tactic has worked.

As the generals smiled and posed for pictures with Gambari last weekend, their soldiers continued their military offensive against Karen civilians, with more than 16,000 people now forced to flee their homes. Intimidation of NLD members continues, and more than 1,100 political prisoners languish in jail, many regularly tortured.

Aung San Suu Kyi has now spent a total of more than ten years in detention (10 years and 215 days on 27th May 2006). Her current period of detention began on May 30th 2003 when a convoy she was travelling in was attacked by a regime run militia, the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA).
USDA thugs beat around 100 National League for Democracy supporters to death in the attack.

If you are not already a member of the Burma Campaign UK e-mail network, and would like to receive these updates directly, you can subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to burmacampaign-subscribe@topica.com

tag:Burma

Good to see that the Church of England is keeping prayers topical.

Thanks for this Jeremy!

Great Bank Holiday – we whizzed down to Poole briefly to see Andrew and Sarah and my beautiful cousins as well as Chris and the soon to be aunty Juliette and ended up staying the night at the campsite which was an excellent choice, rather than drive home!

We watched a bit of windsurfing, went over the chain ferry, visited corfe castle, had a cream tea, walked across the sandbanks, barbied … it was like a weeks holiday in 24 hours!

There were lots of funny moments, but the funniest will need you to use your imagination ….

we are walking across the beach and come across the sign saying ‘nudist beach 900 metres). It’s cold we think so we will keep going, there won’t be anyone out today. We hot the 500 metre sign and then my clown of an oldest son, Tom, shouts ‘dad I’m getting ready’ as he runs Trigger happy style along the beach taking off layer after layer and throwing it aside! Thankfully he did stop before baring skin, but it was very funny!

I’d like to know where he gets his sense of humour from!

I don’t know what to write.
This was one of the most exciting experiences of my Christian journey so far.
It is easily the best Sunday I have had in years!

At the MBS fair I was struck by the openness of people, their desire to talk – but most of all I was amazed at how God was working in individuals lives, and how God used us on the stall. It was a privilege to be part of this and I wonder where else you can be where people just bound up to you and say ‘can you pray with me to be healed from …’. It was amazing!

There is too much to say and write; I have been buzzing for days about what I experienced. Soon people around me will get fed up with my talk! But it was really so exciting! If you know me personally and are going to see me soon – be warned I will probably want to share stories – so allow an extra half hour on our meeting time!

Comments we heard more than once in one form or another:
you can feel the peace of God/spirit/etc here in this place (we had a 2×2 metre area)
after prayer – I felt the Spirit moving in my life
thankyou for being here
I can’t believe you are all from churches

I prayed with people, God gave words of knowledge, Jesus healed, the Holy Spirit gave insights. Everyone who we chatted to was happy to be prayed for in the name of Jesus. Everyone we prayed with could recognise the touch of God. Some people even phoned up relatives to tell them to come to the fair and visit dekhomai!

The first person I prayed with was a reiki healer. After we prayed she said I was a more powerful healer than her, that I had a greater power. I reminded here that I had no power, and in fact it was Jesus doing all the stuff. She went away knowing Jesus had touched her and had more power than she was used to.

I prayed with a young woman who wanted confidence. I felt God saying he had created her in his image and that he was pleased and excited by what she was doing – these words brought tears to her eyes and were what she needed to hear. This allowed us to pray about other stuff.

While washing an American guys feet we started chatting. He was running a crystal stall and soon off to Glastonbury. At the end of our time I asked if I could pray in the name of Jesus and he gave me this long list with a ‘is that too much to ask for?’ comment! We prayed and God did something!

These were just 3 stories of many. The 10 hours whizzed by and I seriously can’t wait to be involved in something similar again.

The challenge, and in may ways, the heartache was seeing people we had prayed with going to other stalls. It is easy to judge in these circumstances – but I can only be reminded of the fact that God chose to work in and touch the lives of those individuals. If God chooses to work in some way, than I don’t think I have any right to judge what they do next. I think the correct response is to trust that God knows what he is doing.

It’s true to say that most people are shopping and just looking for an experience – but there were a significant number looking for reality and for the truth. I think many were surprised to find it at dekhomai.

So …the future. We are going to review what we have done here and I am considering pulling a few people together in Medway to do something similar at the MBS/Psychic Fairs we have hear – so if you are interested give me a shout!

Jonny has posted some photos here where you can see, amongst others, the gong bath and inversion therapy.

It was a great retreat although it is brilliant to be back.

WE mulled over what makes us content, and for what we are passionate. I found this retreat particularly refreshing and a challenge.

Refreshing because I et lots of new people from YFC. It was not the same crowd that normally come to the YFC Sabbath Retreat, and there were many new members of staff that have only been round for a few months. Challenge because many of these people are passionate for the young people of their area and content with their calling and personal situations. This challenged me as I think God was pointing out to me where I have become cynical, where I have taken him for granted, where I have let my first love slip – if not drop altogether!

Using the examen over the last few days has been a great opportunity to rest in God’s presence and realise what I really value, and what I don’t.

The highlights:
chats with new friends Sue, Joe, John, Laura while walking in woods on a sunny day, as well as chats with old friends Richard and Graeme.
the quiet and calmness of the Marist Centre
pints of Pig’s Ear in the Roase and Crown

Today it has been great to be home and just chill with the family – although we did have to go to Lakeside and spend money, but still good to be all out together as the particular difficulty I had while being away was that of missing them all at home.

Tomorrow I a off to dekhomai at the Mind,Body and Spirit festival in London – remember us in your prayers!

I’m on retreat for the next three days with the Marist nuns in Nympsfield. I’ll be leading bits and resting in other bits while others lead and may even get to write one of those 5 assignments that are looming!

We are basing the few days on Sleeping with Bread – a good read and outline of the Examen that I have been using (successfully) for the last few days.

See you on Friday – maybe!

It’s the time of year again when it is even more important to remind the Burmese military dictatorship that the world has not forgotten the plight of the normal people of the country, it is time to again say enough is enough, and that the house arrest of the country’s democratically elected leader of 10 years is unjust, unfair and unfounded.

The life of Aung San Suu Kyi is always at risk from the dictatorship. If they believe the world has lost interest, or does not care, the risk to Aung San Suu Kyi is higher. WE need to remind the military of Burma that we are watching.

An easy, and inexpensive, way for you to do this is to send Aung San Suu Kyi a birthday card. On June 19th she will be 61. It is unlikely that Aung San Suu Kyi will receive your cards, but the soldiers who open them will know that the world stands, maybe silently, but in support.

Last year Tom got his whole class to send cards – I ended up having to send a parcel of 40 cards from 10 and 11 year olds.

Please – send a card; it’s such an easy way to make a difference and to stand up for justice. Send your cards to:

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
54 University Avenue
Bahan 11201
Yangon
Myanmar

Postage costs from UK: 20g = 72p; 40g = £1.12

On the same day, June 19th, there is also a demonstration outside the Burmese embassy in London fom 12 until 2.

Today in Maidstone was great! I’ve been to quite a few conferences where I have really looked forward to stuff and left a bit deflated and thinking ‘yeah … and?’ where ‘new’ thoughts have not been new, where speakers have not really known their stuff and where the day was all a bit drab.

Today was an exciting day, a challenging day, a day where I both agreed, disagreed and laughed at the different emotions and thoughts welling inside of me.

It was great to catch up with old friends like Mike, Sally, Peter, Darren, (another) Mike and others. Always good top be able to chat to people that you have not seen for a while and catch up on lost time.

Today Brian McLaren said some very interesting stuff. The great thing is that this whole day is being followed up with a blog called Together for the Kingdom and soon you will be able to download an mp3 of the talks. Supporting Brian McLaren today were Graham Kendrick, Graham Cray and Eric Delve. It was good to hear their support and the insights from Graham Cray were deep and worthwhile as they always seem to be.

There was so much said, and I am just going to share one bit here that excited, scared and challenged me. I am unsure whether it challenge me due to my tradition, or whether it’s because deep down I think what was said was wrong? I like what was said, and it makes sense, but it also possibly leaves us open to confusion.

Brian spoke about 5 turnings where we need to ask 5 questions:
what is theology?
what is the gospel?
what is our eschatology?
how do we use scripture?
what kind og God is God?

I was struck by all, but particularly at how we use scripture. Growing up in the evangelical charismatic wing of the church has always meant that the Bible is important. This is the word of God and gives the last word on everything. The Bible is the authority on which we base all we do – so in that way I have seen it as the last word on everything. If we had a question, the first place to go is the Bible as that will have the last definitive word on it. If the idea, word of prophecy, or whatever does not fit with scripture then it cannot be right. I have grown up in a tradition where we ‘weigh’ everything with scripture.

Today Brian McLaren suggested we might need to change how we view and read scripture. He outlines how the Bible is a dialogue and suggested we see this in the OT with different books seemingly disagreeing with each other. They are in dialogue rather than contradiction. He gave Job as an example where what was said by the friends sounded right; he then backed that by Proverbs saying the good are blessed whereas Ecclesisates tells us that is not always the case – as was Job’s experience.

Brian went on to say that if the Bible is to be seen as dialogue then we should use it as a starting point, rather than as an end point. This way, the Bible gives the problems rather than the answers, arguments and discussion are a success as we engage because the Bible is there to bring us into dialogue to work out the Kingdom of God together.

I like the sound of this, but I also worry. If the Bible is the start, then what do I now use as guidelines? My evangelical tradition, and in my personal case the charismatic wing of it, has protected itself by weighing things against the standard, fixed, last word of the scriptures. If we are saying the scriptures are the first word then where does that leave us? From where can we now draw our baseline? From where do I draw a standard? Should we even be concerned by that?

I’d be interested what others think.

YFC has just become part of the Stop the Traffik coalition.

This is shocking. By going here you may find 10 things you can do to start to make a difference.

People who thought they were following dreams, only to find a living hell in our ‘civilised’ places.

I’m looking forward to hearing Brian McLaren tomorrow at St. Lukes, Maidstone.

I think he is only speaking in two UK locations this year – so it’s great to have him speaking so close to home. I know of a few people who are traveling a little way to get here. The garb says he is ‘one of the leading voices in the emerging church movement’

If you are interested you can still book tickets on the St Lukes website. A bargain at £20 for the day. If you are there, I look forward to meeting you!