by CFI Field Staff on May 24, 2013
Students at CFI’s Haui Kalok Bible Institute (HBI) recently took an exam. The exam covered English rules and spelling. The school located in Mae Sot, Thailand, lays along the Burma border. Haui Kalok Bible Institue (HBI) serves as a Bible School for Karen and Karenni young men and women looking to further their faith and strengthen their leadership skills.
CFI President Jim Jacobson has been teaching both English and Bible classes this spring. He has big plans for both HBI and it’s students.
“With God’s grace, I believe the students… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on April 30, 2013
Dear Friends,
We currently have 13 students attending our HBI English summer course. I am teaching the class and really loving it. The students are currently learning how to identify the sounds that letters make. Most of the class is from Mae Lae Refugee camp, some from Burma, and others from remote villages in Thailand. All have a desire to learn English and grow in their Christian faith.
I urge you to please pray for our students that God will open their minds and hearts like never before.
If you… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on September 6, 2012
Winner Lynn has come a long way this year.
When the young Burma native and former refugee arrived in the United States several years ago to become a member of the Jacobson family, he had no real idea of what awaited him in his new life in America. Now, after having completed his first year as a student at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) in Pensacola, Florida, his vision for the future is as clear — and bright — as ever.
“I have gotten used to everything, and I’m not afraid… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on April 30, 2012
The Kawthoolei Karen Baptist Bible School and College (KKBBSC) in Mae La Refugee Camp was tragically destroyed by fire on Saturday, April 28, the Karen News reported. Other buildings including the library, food storage, and teacher’s homes were also destroyed. “All the buildings in the school compound were destroyed by the fire . . . there’s nothing left,” noted a teacher at the Bible school.
It was reported that as many as 1,000 people helped to stop the fire so it would not spread the surrounding houses. Thai police and… Read more
by Jim Jacobson on December 30, 2011
In April of this year my family and I moved to Thailand so I could be closer to the projects that we have developed in S.E. Asia over the past decade and a half. It is a short flight to most of our programs in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
We continue to support hundreds of needy Christians in these nearby countries, and I have been able to more personally coordinate relief aid, visit medical clinics, and oversee orphanages, Bible distribution, educational development, and the training of young Pastors and… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on October 14, 2011
On a Mission
When Adoniram Judson first traveled to Burma as a missionary in the mid-1800s, he was crossing into one of the most wild, untamed, and hostile lands on earth. But as he settled in Burma as his mission field, he was determined to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the natives at whatever cost.
Although Judson only converted one man throughout his life in Burma, that lone believer helped launch the spread of Christianity in the ethnic Karen tribe. Today, thousands of Karen people profess Jesus Christ… Read more
by Jim Jacobson on September 21, 2011
As you probably know, thousands of persecuted refugees from Burma have sought asylum in the United States in recent years. Dozens of Karen refugees relocated in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where they have found safe, temporary lodging in CFI’s Freedom Inn. For the past several years, the Inn has not only offered affordable housing for individuals and families who are working to create new lives for themselves, but has been a place of refuge where they can enjoy camaraderie with fellow refugees.
Unfortunately, the Inn is facing an urgent need… Read more
by Jim Jacobson on August 23, 2011
For the past several years, CFI has shared with our supporters the exciting milestones of dozens of Karen refugees who have made their home in the United States. After decades of living in fear, oppression, and desperate poverty in Burma or overcrowded refugee camps in Thailand, many persecuted Karen have successfully built new lives for themselves and their families right here in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
For many Karen immigrants, CFI’s Freedom Inn has been a critical part of their transition to life in the United States. At the Inn,… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on April 26, 2011
For tens of thousands of Burma’s refugees, life in America means many things: a home of their own, freedom to work, freedom to pursue an education…but most of all, freedom to worship without fear of persecution or oppression.
On Sunday, April 10, a gathering of more than 100 guests and Karen churchgoers came together for a special two-year anniversary celebration, commemorating the establishment of the Karen Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan. “Once we were in the jungle and wanted to worship in freedom, but we didn’t have that,” says Winner… Read more
by CFI Field Staff on January 31, 2011
A report published by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has revealed documented evidence of extreme human rights abuses against the Chin population in Burma.
Hundreds of the Chin, an ethnic group which is estimated to be about 90 percent Christian, participated in an anonymous survey regarding the Burmese government’s ethnic cleansing campaign, where soldiers are known to use abduction, torture, rape, conscription, and forced labor to control or harm residents of the Chin state in western Burma. Respondents also reported on the confiscation of food, livestock, and other property, while… Read more
