Pray
for Myanmar
by Ernie Schache
Published by
Advent Christian Witness Magazine
Jan/Feb/Mar 2008 edition
Reproduced with permission from Advent Christian Publications
According to
Wikipedia, The Free (on-line) Encyclopedia, Myanmar is the largest country by
geographical area in mainland South East Asia. Its present population is
estimated at 49 million Burmese and other tribal peoples: 89% of this population
follows the Buddhist faith; 4% are practicing Christians and the balance follow
the Islam and Hindu faiths. The Muslim and...
...the Christian population face severe religious persecution.
The military government has revoked the citizenship of
all of one minority Muslim ethnic group in Northern Rakhine State, Western
Myanmar, known as the Rohingya people and has attacked Christian ethnic minority
populations. Such persecution and targeting of civilians is particularly notable
in Eastern Myanmar, where over 3000 villages have been destroyed in the past ten
years.
Burma as it was then known, gained independence from Great Britain in 1948 as a
democratic republic, but a military coup d’etat brought military dictatorship in
1962 and there has been no democratic rule since that date. Brutal and callous
military response to recent protests by the people of Myanmar about their
economic privation, which protests were supported by many Buddhist monks, is a
recent indicator of the cruel, repressive regime that has ruled the country
since 1962.
But rejoice in the fact that Myanmar is also the home of one of the most
recently formed Advent Christian Conferences in the world - the Advent Christian
Conference In Myanmar - (ACCIM) - which came into being in 2005. To protect the
security and safety of our Christian brothers and sisters in Myanmar,
unfortunately we cannot be very specific in naming names, showing pictures or
giving dates, places or other information which may lead to the identification
of those involved in the ACCIM and its ministries, but a recent opportunity to
enjoy fellowship with the leader of one of the six independent Christian
organizations which came together to form the Conference has given the
opportunity to learn more of what our sister organization is doing and of the
difficulties they face. A brother we will call Pastor J was recently able, with
considerable difficulty, to attend the Asia Pacific Summit meetings held in
Cagayan de Oro, in the Philippines, and he brought encouraging news of the
Christian work and ministry that is going on in spite of the oppression and
despite the real risk of severe persecution by the authorities.
I had the privilege of visiting Myanmar on two occasions in 2004 and
2005 and of meeting and getting to know the leaders of 6 independent Christian
organizations who had been in contact with the Rev Harold Patterson, the then
Director of World Missions, indicating a wish to affiliate with our
organization. It was also a privilege and a reminder of the wonderful way our
Great God works to learn a little about how some of these leaders came to know
of and make contact with our organization, and it was a timely reminder of the
value of the printed word, as some contacts had been made to the ACGC’s address
obtained from these details printed on the back page of various pieces of
literature. It took two visits to contact all of those who had made contact with
the Charlotte office because then, as now, communication to the country as a
whole was very difficult and because of the economic situations of the majority
of the people, what we in the west would call “normal” communication channels
were not available to some of those who had made contact by mail.
One of the contact letters received in Charlotte had used the name “Advent
Christian Church of Myanmar” and fellowship and discussion with the founder of
this organization brought to light an interesting story. The brother we will
call Pastor T is the leader of this organization and I was able to gain some
knowledge of how and when this church came to be set up.
T and his friend K studied at a Bible School in Yangon called the
Evangelical
Bible School. This college had some Advent Christian literature in its library
and T obtained the Charlotte address from the back page of one of the tracts and
wrote to Rev Patterson in mid 2001. Rev Patterson replied in October 2001 and
sent a couple of small booklets – “This We Believe” and one other. Having had
his friend K translate these into Burmese for him, T read them, studied the
contents and readily accepted what they said as consistent with Scripture, and
decided to change the name of his organization to the Advent Christian Church of
Myanmar. Although we had had some doubts about the organization that represented
itself as the Advent Christian Church of Myanmar it was a joy and a blessing to
find a bona fide Advent Christian church group there in Myanmar which had been
operating as such since 2002! I had the privilege of meeting with a gathering of
about 35 adults and about the same number of children in his very cramped home,
and I was not only blessed by the lovely fellowship with these folk, but by the
fact that at the front of the room where we gathered was a sign that said, in
English and Burmese “Advent Christian Church” with a very familiar logo also
appearing!! I subsequently enjoyed fellowship with members of several other
house churches – at midweek services that were held specifically because I was
visiting their country. These Burmese Christians were warm, friendly and softly
spoken, but overwhelmingly appreciative of my fellowship with them. The
experience with them, knowing what kind of oppression they were under was a
wonderful experience for me also.
This piece of history again underlines the importance of the widest possible
distribution of our literature; it reminds us that God gets that literature to
all kinds of people and places; and it reminds us that literature can be a
really important tool in the work of the Gospel and in the sharing of our
particular truths. T’s friend K, who did the translation of the literature, was
also convinced of the consistency with Scripture of the principles enunciated in
the literature and his organization is now one of those which are very active in
the fellowship and joint ministry of the ACCIM.
Towards the end of my second visit, at a meeting with the leaders of the six
organizations I had made contact with, there was unanimous agreement that they
would form an umbrella group known as the Advent Christian Conference in
Myanmar, and a draft Constitution including the Declaration of Principles was
accepted as the guiding document for the newly formed Conference. The leaders
decided not to change the names of their individual organizations, or their
various types of ministry, but agreed to “advertise” themselves on documents and
letterheads, business cards etc as “Member of the Advent Christian Conference in
Myanmar”. At that time the various ministries of those 6 organizations, carried
out both in Yangon, the major city of Myanmar and in many other remote and
tribal areas throughout the country included the following – 22 churches with 23
pastors and 2020 members; 4 Bible Schools with a total of 52 students; an
orphanage housing 15 children; and an interdenominational organization which
specialized in translating, publishing and printing and distributing tracts and
literature to many evangelical groups in the country.
In 2005, although the authorities had forbidden the opening or building of any
new Christian churches, there were a number of large churches from British
colonial times – Church of England, Presbyterian and
Salvation Army – still
being used for worship and ministry in the city of Yangon. Other than these few
congregations, the evangelical church was operating in house churches and they
indicated at that time that they were not under too much pressure from the
authorities, although they took great care to not bring themselves to the
attention of the authorities. Recent discussions with Pastor J indicated that
the situation has tightened considerably on the Christian believers - the large
church buildings have been locked and chained closed and are no longer able to
be used; recent rules laid down by the authorities prohibit gatherings of more
than 5 persons who are not members of the same family; there is a virtual daily
dusk to dawn curfew in place; and the house churches move from house to house
each week to avoid coming under the scrutiny of the Police or other authorities.
Pastor J indicated that those who are found to be breaching the rules are taken
to the Police Stations and in many cases never leave alive!
But praise the Lord that in spite of these restrictions there has been growth in
the groups which make up the ACCIM. The four members of the Conference which
have churches now have a total of 58 churches with 69 full time pastors and
workers and in excess of 2,600 members. They have two Bible Schools with a total
of 38 students studying this year and an extra two orphanages housing 22
children have been opened. Many of the 58 churches have been planted in villages
and tribal areas to the north of Yangon, so despite the pressure that these
brothers and sisters are under, they continue to reach out to the as yet
unreached. In addition to the above figures, one of the member groups has
established a total of 10 village churches across the western border in
Bangladesh.
You may be asking why is an article such as this appearing in an issue of the
Advent Christian Witness that focuses on “Prayer – Celebrating
God’s Presence.” It is because at this time...
...almost the only thing anyone outside of Myanmar can do for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar is to pray for them.
The borders of
their country are virtually closed – it is extremely difficult to get even a
Tourist Visa to visit. It is virtually impossible to send money to them by
legitimate means as the banking system is tightly controlled by the authorities.
At present the authorities are even tightly controlling the news media and
especially internet access into and out of the country, to prevent news getting
to the rest of the world about the oppression that there is on the people.
Those attending the recent Asia Pacific Summit meetings were blessed by being
able to meet Pastor J and to have fellowship with this quiet but obviously
dedicated brother in the Lord and he in turn was blessed by the first
opportunity to fellowship with Advent Christian brothers and sisters from
outside Myanmar that he or any of the members of the ACCIM have had. Many
attendees at the Summit meetings pledged to pray regularly for Myanmar; for the
return of that country to some form of democracy and the lifting of the economic
and religious oppression that there is there at present; and for the member
organizations and leaders and members of the Advent Christian Conference in
Myanmar and for their ministries and efforts to take the Gospel to their people.
Will you join them as partners in the Lord’s work in Myanmar by praying with them?
It was Jesus who said:
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24 NKJV)
Will you pray and believe for Myanmar so that they can celebrate God’s continuing presence?
End
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