“They came to our house first because it’s closest to the road. We thought they just wanted to talk. We thought they’d ask us some questions, and then they’d leave. So we walked out to meet them. I smelled smoke as soon as I walked outside. And they started shooting their guns. There was no time to go back. They were shooting so I couldn’t go back. And I couldn’t bring anything with me. I just ran into the forest with my children. And I forgot my baby boy. I left him in the house because I thought we were coming right back. I wanted to save him but my husband held me down. So my baby burned in the house. I’d have brought him with me, but I thought we were coming right back.” ---------------------------------------- This week I'm sharing a series of first hand accounts from Rohingya refugees. The Rohingya are a persecuted ethnic minority who have been violently evicted from Myanmar by Buddhist extremists. Over the past year, nearly 700,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes and are now residing in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Their living conditions are already dire, and monsoon season is approaching. As we share their stories, we are raising money to help build inexpensive bamboo houses for these refugees. (They are currently living in plastic tents.) Bamboo houses can be built for $600 a piece, and we’ve raised enough for over 1000 houses so far, but the need is much more. Please consider donating: http://bit.ly/2H0w5lm