Organization: Partners Relief and Development
Location: Thailand
Email: brittanybharms@gmail.com
About This Ministry:
A letter from Brittany:
“Hello friends and family,
Last fall I got connected with an organization called Partners Relief and Development. Partners works with refugees in Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma) and in the Middle East. Their mission is this: “Through holistic action, we demonstrate God’s love to children and communities made vulnerable by conflict and oppression.” The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group that is being oppressed and marginalized in Burma. The government has stripped them of their citizenship and continues to force them out of the country. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled Burma in the past two years in attempt to escape the ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the militarized government. Partners is boldly going where few dare to venture to uplift the downtrodden and heal broken communities, including the Rohingya. To learn more about Partners work with refugees, click here.
I have been accepted to serve with Partners in Chiang Mai, Thailand for at least one year; however, I am hoping and planning for an additional year afterwards.
My role within Partners will be twofold. A large portion of my job will be to teach English at SEED, a training center in Chiang Mai that supports migrant workers coming out of Burma to work legally in Thailand. Though a majority of the migrant workers at SEED have already learned Thai, learning English in addition to Thai will aid tremendously in job opportunities and avoiding exploitation in the workplace. Below is a video about the work Partners does through SEED center.
The second part of my job will be to work on the communications team. As the volatile political situation in Burma continues, families and children are the ones who pay the price. In order to continue working towards Partners vision of “Free, full lives for children affected by conflict and oppression”, we must work to write, take photos, shoot film, and let the world know about what’s happening in Burma. I am eager to use my communications degree to help with this vision.
However, I simply won’t be able to make it without prayer. Already I have felt the sting of spiritual warfare as the enemy attempts to hold me back from doing this work. I know that evil is powerless in the presence of our Almighty God. Would you please ask God to give me courage, patience, perseverance, and faith for this journey?
There is a quote I love attributed to famous martyr Joan of Arc: “I am not afraid; I was born to do this”. Her words resonate with me today as I go where God is leading me. Thank you for hearing my story.
Much love,
Brittany Harms”
Click below to watch a video about Partners’ ministry: