Myanmar Musings

February 23 - This is an amazing picture. These are all missionaries, starting churches across Myanmar. There is no way that I could tell their story here. The next time you see me, and we have an hour to talk, please ask me about this picture. It may be the most compelling missions story you have ever heard. "...of whom the world was not worthy..." Hebrews 11:38

February 23 - I am standing between two Paul's, literally and figuratively. Paul Van Hre (left) and Paul Khikyain are exactly what the Bible describes as missionary evangelists. I have never seen ministry that looks more like what the apostle Paul did. Only eternity will tell what these 21st century "Pauls" have done for the Gospel of Christ in Burma. --- I shouldn't be in this picture, but it's the only one that I have of these 2 men together.

The old picture is Ngul Langh and his wife Zen. Hung Kim and I visited the home of their sonZam Dal last night, who is a deacon at Grace Baptist in Yangon. I had heard about Ngul Langh before, but his son filled me in on some details and provided the picture. As far as anyone knows, Ngul was the first person among all the Tedim people to confess Christ and become a believer, in 1912. Little did he know at that time, of the tidal wave of followers over the next 100 years.

American missionary Herbert Cope, a Baptist from Philadelphia, was the first modern missionary to the Tedim, arriving in the 1890s. A small line of missionaries continued ministry in the following years. It was exceptionally difficult to "become a christian in that primitive area in those early days... Since the early chief was against the Christian testimony the first Christian believers were persecuted and driven away from the village to "no man's land" ... Isolated, destitute and hated by relatives and friends they met in their small bamboo house to pray and to learn Christian hymns with burning-wood light" (from the written testimony of Dr. Go Za Kham). In 1946, the only remaining missionary in Tedim went home to the states for furlough and was not allowed back into Burma when he tried to return. To this day, missionaries have not been allowed to return to the Tedim region (and all of Chin state). Only in the last few years have any foreigners been allowed to travel back here.

February 27 - The EBC (Evangelical Baptist Churches) 40th Anniversary Meetings were held in a tempor

ary outdoor auditorium that was built on the old town football field in Tedim, just for this special occasion. In fact, the EBC was birthed in 1975, on that exact same football field, where a great revival began among the Tedim people. The 2015 construction seated 3,000 and took about 3 months to complete. Pastor Kap told me that he and a group of his church people had been meeting at the site every morning at 6 AM for the last 3 months, to pray for the meetings, and for revival among their churches. The meetings that I attended felt just like how I imagine the old time tent revivals must have felt - people travelling from miles around for three or four days together - camping out, renewing friendships, eating, laughing, singing, praying. The evenings are still cool in the mountains, so service wear was coats and hats, but it didn't look to me like that deterred anybody from attending the 2+ hour evening preaching services. The whole thing was pretty amazing.

March 1 - What do you get when you have 7 "mython" and/or cows

(a mython looks like a cross between a cow, water buffalo and bison), a dozen pigs, hundreds of pounds of rice and other assorted ingredients all tied up and stored out on the hill behind the church in Tedim? .... Enough food to feed 1,100 people, 3 meals a day for a celebration lasting from Wednesday to Sunday!! The Tedim (Zomi) New Testament dedication service was scheduled to coincide with the gathering of somewhere around 3000 Tedim believers, many of whom had to travel to Tedim town for these days. They arrived mostly by bus, from the other mountain villages, from Yangon, and all across the country. The celebration marked the 40th Anniversary Meetings, called the Ruby Jubilee, of the EBC (Evangelical Baptist Churches), a fellowship of Tedim churches. There are no hotels and only a couple small, 2 or 3 table eateries in the village. So all the travellers stayed in church members homes or some at the Bible college - and they were ALL fed at the church! Pastor Nang Lian Kap, pastor of the host church, gave me a tour of the meal prep operation. It was a pretty amazing thing to see - crews of church members and various food prep stations - butchers, meat cooks, rice cooks, dish washers, etc. all working hard and enjoying the fellowship. I have never experienced anything like this gathering of people :-). Pretty cool to be part of it all.

February 28 - Dr. Do Suan Mung and Dr. Neng Khan Thang at their family home in Tedim. I have known Do Suan Mung since I was a kid in CA, and he was going to seminary in San Francisco more than 30 years ago. I remember him inviting me to his little house behind our church for lunch - my first introduction to Burmese food smile emoticon. Neng Khan Thang and his wife, Niang, have been family friends, and my friends for more than 25 years. Both men lead thriving churches and Bible colleges/seminaries in Yangon, where hundreds of students have been trained and are serving Christ all across Burma. Who can guess the impact that these two men have had and will continue to have in the coming years, on the spiritual climate of Myanmar.

February 26 - You have to imagine this with me. More than 1,100 people packed the main floor, balcony and overflow patio seating at the Evangelical Bap

tist Church in Tedim, Myanmar, this past Thursday for the dedication service of the Tedim (Zomi) New Testament. They came from all across the mountains of Chin state - more than 50 village churches represented. Only within the past couple of years have foreigners been allowed to travel and visit in this state. I preached from Heb. 4:12 - "For the Word of God is alive and powerful...". Pray that it would be so, all across this remote region!