T he plot of land next to Midwest Food Bank was full of rocks and weeds last year; now it is a virtual Eden of carefully tended plants that have yielded 18,000 pounds of fresh produce since the spring.

The land was transformed by a group of refugees from Myanmar, who fled their Southeast Asian homeland because of religious persecution. The Christians are part of an ethnic group known as the Chin, about 4,000 of whom sought asylum in the United States and now live on the Southside with the help of area churches.

“They were persecuted for their religious beliefs. The main religion in Myanmar is Buddhism, and the government supports that as well as the military. The government would come into these areas and burn their homes and take over their churches to use as headquarters and put their children in concentration camps or work camps,” said John Whitaker, director of operations at the Midwest Food Bank, located near Ind. 37 and Banta Road.

Many area churches have taken the Chin under their wings and are helping them get acclimated to the community by teaching them English and providing job training, Whitaker said.

The Midwest Food Bank also recognized the need and reached out to the group.

What Whitaker received in return was a heartfelt thank you — and a Chin community eager to return the favor.

“In America, we think that something’s deserved. These people feel like they don’t deserve a thing, and they’ve been given a gift,” he said. "So they told us they are so thankful, and that they would not be alive if not for the people that helped them. So they want to know how they can give back.

“That’s what we need to see in America, that’s what’s missing in America. We have given people entitlements, and we’re really truthfully not entitled to anything and that everything is a gift. These people understand that,” he added.

Because many of the Chin were farmers, the food bank decided to put its field to good use.

Since spring, the Chin residents have transformed a rocky 1-acre plot into a bountiful garden flanked by marigolds to keep pests away and full of tomatoes, peppers, green beans, pumpkins, potatoes and more.

Heartland Growers in Westfield donated the seedlings. The Chin tended the plants throughout the growing season and harvested the roughly 18,000 pounds of produce the plants yielded.

In exchange for their hard work, they get to keep half of the produce. The rest goes to the food bank.

The partnership has yielded fruit and rooted the Chin in their new community.

Being frugal farmers, the Chin make use of plant parts that most people discard, Whitaker said, mentioning the leaves and flowers they cook into soup.

One unusual item in the garden is a woody herb called “chin baung” that also is made into soup.

The Chin brought seeds and other plants with them when they fled their native land.

Seeing the leafy shrublike plant in the garden ties them to the life and family members they left behind.

Pastor Thlaawr Bawihrin said he and his people feel blessed to have the opportunity to work in the garden.

“God will bring something to us, but we have to do our part. No sit down, no stay. We have to do our part,” Bawihrin said.

“If we don’t do our part, how can we get blessing?”

Next year, the Chin will farm 12 acres in Greenwood that the Southside Bible Church has offered to let them use.

Similar gardens are being tended in Avon and on the Southeastside of Indianapolis, said Wili de la Rosa — a volunteer with Faith, Hope and Love International, an Indianapolis-based aid group.

The hope is to give the Chin a means to make a living.

Whitaker and others are talking with the city of Indianapolis in an effort to get the Chin a produce stand at City Market next year and help them become self-sufficient.

The needs of the Chin are many, and the population is growing, Whitaker said.

“You can either embrace it or ignore it, but it’s not going to go away.”