Face to face with a mass killer on an island
We here at KingLove know well a Burmese man called Joshua. He grew up a Buddhist, but now he’s a Christian evangelist. Joshua was the first to bring the word of God to a special people group named “Sea Gypsies” living on Salon Island, a small, isolated territory surrounded by the Andaman sea on all sides. Joshua began visiting Salon Island in 2011. Despite threats and opposition from the local population as well as the Buddhist monks, he continued to travel to the island time and time again. Today there is a congregation that numbers about forty people, with a mixture of the indigenous Sea Gypsies and people of other descent, primarily Karen people from the mainland.
My friend Nathan – originally from Myanmar – and I, Øystein from Norway, got the chance to travel to Salon Island together with Joshua. You would have enjoyed going with us! It took just over two hours across the open sea to get there. Our wooden boat had survived many years, and this time too it withstood the waves. As we approached land, we saw beautiful sandy beaches, small fishing boats and a few simple houses – really just poles with roofs on top. This is where the Sea Gypsies live. Their story is about life on the small, self-made boats, where they lived with their wives and children. For centuries they wandered around the sea and lived on fish and everything else the ocean has to offer; until they in recent years became permanent residents on the island. The Salon people live in harmony with nature and remain largely isolated from other cultures. They have markedly darker skin, have their own religious rites and speak their own language. Their children do not go to school, but spend their days swimming, playing and hunting. The Sea Gypsies are masters of diving deep and retrieving fish; it is said that they can stay underwater for 7-8 minutes. The whole atmosphere here is characterized by the fact that people live a slow, harmonious life.
We stroll a few meters on a path into the forest. We pass some simple houses, and quickly we are at our destination. A stage has been built in an open area, where we will have a meeting tonight. From the “roof” hang hearts and ribbons of all colors and shapes. There are lots of children here, and even though we can’t speak to them, we can communicate. Smiles, laughter, games, and jokes work in all languages.
Around 7:30 PM the program begins with the children singing and talking in choir, led by a capable female Sunday school teacher. Most of the children come from Buddhist families. A few years ago this would have been unthinkable; back then, Christian converts were chased out of their homes. But the persistent, sacrificial love of believers, combined with the testimony of transformed lives, has leveled the threshold. Joshua is remarkably reserved. Nathan and I also get the chance to share what is in our hearts. I briefly tell people why I love God so much, before Nathan takes over in his native language, Burmese. He talks and jokes with the congregation; both young and old laugh and have fun. After the sermon there is a raffle, and the atmosphere is no less joyful now. The prizes are simple little things; a bar of soap or a decorative bow, but people are delighted with what they get.
When the raffle is over, it doesn't mean that the meeting is over. And no one is in a hurry to get home. Now it's time for anyone who wants to go up to the podium and sing, and many children want to contribute. Nathan whispers in my ear that "that girl over there has lost both her parents, and those two, too". In total, no less than 5-6 of these very young children have become orphans. A middle-aged woman in the congregation - who has no children of her own - takes care of them. It is a powerful experience to see these beautiful little ones standing there smiling and singing about Jesus, and to know what they have experienced.
Towards the very end of the program - before we are going to have supper - an adult man and woman go up to the platform. He was the first of the Salon people to be baptized. I have already learned that this man has hundreds of lives on his conscience. He has worked both as an assassin and as a soldier for the Burmese military junta. Now he stands there with his wife and sings “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Joshua says that the man has been completely transformed since he accepted Jesus. My thoughts go to the thief on the cross. He could not change his history, but he could receive the grace that gives a new future. That’s the same with this commando soldier here on Salon Island.
