The ministries and day-to-day lives of all our brothers and sisters in Myanmar are, of course, being affected by the terrible things that the army, which again took control of the country nearly two years ago, is doing to the country and its people. The infrastructure of the country appears to be deteriorating and in particular the electricity system is very unreliable, and supply is provided on a rotation basis, but the people never know when their turn will come. Inflation is very high and prices for food continue to rise as they have done since the military coup in February 2021 – this is a serious problem for each of the four organisations which are members of the AC conference, as they care for a total of 304 orphan or disadvantaged children between them,
Please regularly bring our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and all the residents of the country, before the Lord, praying especially for an end to the activities of the army against their own people.
In spite of these difficulties, they continue to carry out their ministries, and some of the leaders of the ACCM have sent us details of matters of ministries they are involved in or are considering and have asked for our prayers for the Lord’s leading and provision and protection.
Pastor T, leader of the Advent Christian Church of Myanmar, which has outreach churches in the Chin State as well as in Yangon, wrote recently to tell of a need in a small village - M - high in the mountains of the Chin State where they have a very strong church, which ACMissioNZ has been able to assist from time to time over many years.
The Chin State is a strongly Christian state and since they took control of the country the army has been very active there, to the extent of burning churches and the homes of Christians. The pictures below are of the results of the army’s burning, using incendiary rockets, of 100 homes of Christians as well as church buildings in a single town in the Chin State about a year ago.
Because of the army’s activities, the small village - M - has had an extra 64 families – 390 people – all Christians from the Chin State and the Sagain Division, who have been sent to a camp for Internally Displaced People there. The members of the church have been very concerned that the water supply for the village will not be sufficient to cater for the needs of the very greatly increased number of people, particularly after the end of the rainy season which is normally about October/November. Pastor T sent details of the cost of a water tank which could alleviate the problem by storing water once the rainy season was over. The cost was 1,256,000 Myanmar kyats which is about NZ$980, and thanks to a gift from a very generous donor we were able to send the funds to meet the needs of many. Construction is underway! PTL
Pastor T tells us that there is a total of 35,000 Christians in IDP camps in the Chin State and more than 40,000 have crossed the western border of their state as refugees into the Indian State of Mizoram.
Please thank and praise the Lord that the members of the AC church in M showed their care and compassion in a very positive way and pray that there will be an ongoing supply of water for all in the village and the camp.
“…inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me.” (Jesus in Matthew 25 v 40)
Pastor K, the present chairman of the Conference, and leader of Gospel for Myanmar, has also been in contact.
Despite the pressures and stresses that there are in their country, their ministry and lives go on! They had the pleasure and joy at their morning service on 16 October of dedicating the new-born baby of one of his organisation’s pastors – Pastor JKS – and his wife, to the Lord they serve so well. Please pray for this couple and their new-born child, and for the congregation which committed to supporting them.
He has also sent pictures of a new church building at one of Gospel for Myanmar’s outreach ministries, which is about two hours bus ride from Yangon City. The building is complete except for the electrical system. It has been built to serve the believers at two towns – Pastor H T’s ministry began in one of those towns some years ago and he subsequently started an outreach at the other. Please praise the Lord that the combined membership of the group is now about 50 and the average, regular attendance at worship services is 35. During the past two years Pastor H T has had the joy of baptising more than 20 new converts from Buddhism!
Please continue to pray for Pastor H T and his family and the church congregations there and pray that the Lord will provide for the completion of the electrical work in the building.
Please also pray for five students at Pastor K’s Bible College – Salem Theological School - who will be travelling away from Yangon from 21st to 26th of November to gain practical experience in evangelism and sharing the Gospel with others. They will be going to the two towns where Pastor H T is ministering, to support him in his ministry and will be seeking to share the Gospel with more of the people in those villages.
Pastor K also asks us to pray with them that the Lord will provide funds to purchase a petrol-driven electric generator for their home church in Yangon. He wrote…
“This is a picture (below)of our morning Church worship service. Since our country electric system becomes as rotation system, we do not have enough light and we worship under dark as inside the Church. Therefore, our Church is praying to be able to have generator. Please remember us in your prayers. Thank you, God bless you...”
The lack of electricity of course also affects the ability of the students at the Bible School and the children they care for, to do their study and homework at night. 1,015,000 Myanmar kyats is approximately NZ$790.
Pastor D is leader of Fellowship Mission Network, which cares for 97 orphan or disadvantaged children in several locations in Yangon and is in the process of relocating to a central location which the Lord graciously provided a couple of years ago.
He wrote recently…
“Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ from Myanmar.
By the grace of God we all are doing well till today.
As you know we faced a lot of problem in political situation and Covid this year.
We thank God for his provision and protection for our campus and safety.
We are praying for doing evangelism outreach to some of villages the last month of this year in December. This is following dates and evangelism outreach to some areas.
- December 4, Pago division to Pastor A.M.S’s area
2. December 10, Magwe division, to Pastor C’s area
3. December 18, to Pastor T’s area
4. December 25, FMN Yangon with orphanage home children.We want to share the love of Christ to non Christians and fellowship to other people around in their area. We want to share special food for that day.
Thank you so much for your love, praying and consider for the need of gospel outreach to some of area in our country.
Thanks and God bless you all.
In Him,
Pastor D”
Please pray with and for Pastor D and his team as they travel to areas outside Yangon to the areas where their church planters are serving. Pray for safety for all concerned and that the Holy Spirit will touch the hearts and minds of those to whom they minister.