Sandie describes the poverty and hardship she and her husband Paul found when they moved to Mandalay, Myanmar, and how they responded to this hardship by founding the Way Station community centre.

‘I am building my Kingdom everywhere. I am just asking: Will you love the people of Mandalay?’ 

That was the phrase we felt God asked us. It was the phrase that moved us to Mandalay. This was 2018, and we already lived in Myanmar then. We had no idea that the Way Station would become a multiple-site community centre and a thriving hub of activity reaching the poorest of the poor. We were also unaware of the hardships ahead of us: Covid, the 2021 coup, and the recent earthquake, on top of the everyday heartbreak and struggles that come with living life and acting out our faith. Challenges and successes often come alongside suffering. That must not deter us. It was a calling that birthed the Way Station, and it was the need that shaped it.

Daily we witnessed the needs. From the sandbanks we watched the golden sunset over the Ayawaddy river. We watched the people lug heavy goods from the ships onto their shoulders and carry them up the slope. We wondered, were the tarps, tents and shacks we saw truly their homes? They were! These people are day labourers. Children played; some were chasing an escaped piglet. Yet, we were told that these were ‘bad and dangerous’ people. They lived in the city but as outcasts, with little to no access to basic amenities like electricity, running water, healthcare and toilets etc. Many had lived here for generations and others came here when they had nowhere else to go. 

We learned to get comfortable with hardship. To sit with grief and sorrow. To sit in silence when you do not have an answer but to be present in the lives of people nonetheless. This was a lesson we learned again and again. When a mother refused treatment for her teenage son with a treatable heart condition. ‘Pyit Tha Lo’ she said. (A Burmese and Buddhist phrase which means: “it is what it is”.)  We learned the lesson again when a small child died in our arms, because she had no access to health care. 

While we experience deep suffering and trauma, there is also the healing and hope. To be able to sit with people in this has become one of greatest sources of strength. Because of the trust we’d built, we were immediately effective in handing out aid. In each community we already had volunteers on the ground. So even though the core team is only eight members, we were able to reach thousands.

In the past seven years we have seen much happen. We have seen women and children with hope for the first time in their lives, a woman who could not walk due to a curse was able to walk and an alcoholic husband who miraculously stopped drinking. This year, after the earthquake, we have seen yet more lives changed. 

The needs of the people are so desperate that we did not have any other way to show them love than becoming an active part of their lives. In every way, we try to show care about their needs, their schooling, their lives, their dreams, their children. Addressing people’s needs grew a hunger in them for relationship. They began to experience hope. Today, the Way Station is a sanctuary for many. People face risks when coming now we are in the flooding season when the river is treacherous, yet still they come.

You can follow the Way Station – Mandalay on Facebook here.