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Karen refugees find home at small Smyrna church




 

 

Inspiration for ‘All Saints’ movie resides in Rutherford County

Ten years ago Karen refugees made Rutherford County their home, and revived a faltering Smyrna church in the process. After escaping war-torn Burmese refugee camps a decade ago, several families came to a then-strange land, where they are now growing and thriving. The small parish that was on the verge of closing, All Saints Episcopal Church, is now a healthy 300 members strong, and the remarkable tale inspired a film, “All Saints,” in theaters now.

The Karen families who make up the bulk of the congregation still farm land on the parish’s acreage, though not as intensely now, and watch their children grow up in peace. Most have found retail and commercial jobs in the area. A few live in apartments, and more of them own their own homes in the Smyrna area. Their kids attend Rutherford County schools and local colleges, like Motlow State and MTSU.

The faith that sustained them through uncertain and violent times, thankfully now at an end, led them to All Saints Episcopal Church.

Father Michael Spurlock, featured in the film, moved onto another parish more than six years ago. The current vicar of All Saints Episcopal Church, Father Robert Rhea, has a dual status: he’s a licensed physician and a part time vicar. Father Thomas Bu Christ also ministers at All Saints. He has been licensed to officiate in Smyrna, with the permission of the Episcopal Bishop of Hpa-An, the Anglican Church of Myanmar.

Both work hard to support their congregation and the many Karen believers in it. In that work, they rely heavily on Ye Win, an unordained lay minister and leader in Smyrna’s Karen community.

Win, a leader in every sense of the word, is 38 years old, with a wife, Paleh Paw, and three children. He does a little bit of everything in the parish, serving as translator at each Mass, driving people to medical and government appointments, resolving small conflicts and generally encouraging others with his strong work ethic. Through his work and faith, Win has garnered a national reputation among Karen communities in across America. His advice is sought out at gatherings.

Win’s wife, Paw, has just passed her U.S. citizenship examination, and will shortly be sworn in as an American citizen.

It will be the first time she has had a country of her own.

Burma, now Myanmar, never claimed the Karen, nor did bordering Thailand, which maintained them in refugee camps they used as a military buffer zone. The Karen were stateless persons. Ultimately, many of them were issued the 1951 Convention Travel Document, essentially a passport issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and almost universally recognized. Many, after years of paperwork, travelled to America for a new life.

Every hideous thing that happens to refugees has happened to the Karen — assault, brutalization, hunger.

The ongoing conflict started in 1949, and is one of the world’s longest running civil wars, involving disputes inside Myanmar and with Thailand. From time to time, young Karen men were enlisted or drafted to fight as irregular soldiers by various groups, and to defend their families in the refugee camps.

Win had been seriously wounded in those times. In spite of significant difficulties, he was able to keep his small group of families more or less together, and re-gather them in Smyrna.

Karen who emigrated to different parts of America have membership in other churches. Periodically they’re able to gather at one congregation or another. Many folks still have cousins or relatives in the refugee camps on the Thai border. Negotiations over their status are ongoing in Thailand.

All Saints Episcopal church in Smyrna, after nearly shutting down in 2006, is thriving thanks to the faith and works of their parishioners, and their special ability to come together across barriers of culture and language.

Though still considered a “mission church,” the growth is promising. More importantly, in the life of any parish, there are more more than 80 children growing up in peace.

As inspiring as the movie may be, the real-life parishioners of All Saints Episcopal Church may be even more inspiring, through their works, their faith, and their endurance through very bad, and now good, times.

“All Saints” is receiving excellent reviews, and is currently showing in local theaters.

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