The below article is the full story from the March/April Gleaner.
Myanmar, "The Golden Land"
This land is a part of the Golden Triangle. Fifty percent of the world’s opium is produced in the region where its border joins with Laos and Thailand. It is rich in natural resources but ravaged by the greed of its rulers. It has been said that “that few countries have been so effectively plundered and impoverished by its own leaders.” Its beautiful, large teak forests are being stripped, and opium is its main export.
Politically, it became independent of Britain in 1948 with seven districts and seven ethnic minority states. In 1990 a strong desire for democracy opened the way for elections. Though the opposition won, the military refused to relinquish its control. The “State Peace and Development Council,” the secretive military junta, has turned this nation into a prison. Nationwide abuse of human rights, killings, forced labor, rape, and imprisonment are tools used to hold it captive. Democratic leaders have been arrested, exiled or killed.
This is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
In these extreme living conditions we, as the BMA, are privileged to have faithful missionaries preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The following is a testimony of one of those men. Names and specifics have been changed to protect those involved.
My name is Amar. I am from the country of Myanmar. In May 2002, I graduated from the BMAT Seminary, then returned to Myanmar to begin a church planting ministry there. I would like to express thanks to the Seminary for giving me sound biblical doctrine and to Grady Higgs, who taught me to stand on God’s Word. Thanks also to Jerry Kidd for helping in the ministry in Myanmar.
I was married in May 2003 to a dedicated Christian woman who has also dedicated her life to taking the Gospel to the people of Myanmar. We now have three children: two daughters, ages 4 and 3, and a boy, 3 months old.
Myanmar is in Southeast Asia and surrounded by China on the northeast, Thailand and Laos on the east, India and Bangladesh on the west. The population is about 57 million and 85 percent of the population is Buddhist. The Christian population is less than 10 percent. There are some Hindu, Muslim, and animist.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1990. There is no freedom of religion, speech, or writing. Building a new church building is not allowed. The Burmese Bible is still printed in other countries and shipped into Myanmar. Mass evangelism is prohibited. Christians cannot get a high rank in the government. A woman in our Bible study group told me that her husband is a captain of the army, and he was offered a higher rank. They were told that unless the wife becomes a Buddhist, they would not give him a higher rank. They control all newspapers, magazines, and books. If I were to stay overnight at my neighbor’s house or at a hotel, I must report it to the local authority. Whoever rents an apartment for a short term must also report to local authorities. A man who lives close to me was in prison for two months because he didn’t report that he was staying in his rented apartment.
Let me share with you a little bit about the work there. I was using several methods to send the Gospel to unbelievers. One of them was showing the Jesus film. I showed it in two places. One was in Belin, where I rented a video hall because there is no movie theater in that area. About 500 people came and heard the Gospel. The Buddhist monks and local authority would not let me do that again. Shwe-pyi-tha, Yangon, was another place where I showed the film and shared a short message on salvation. About 200 people came and heard the Gospel. Since mass evangelism was prohibited, I began to focus on a small group Bible study.
In 2004, I was conducting three small group Bible studies in the Yangon area. One group has five members, and the other two groups had 15 to 20. More than five people, however, gathering in homes was prohibited by the military government. The local authority found out about our Bible study groups and would not allow us to meet at a home. They threatened us and said we would be arrested if we continued to meet there. After that, no one dared to come to our Bible study and also the owner of the house would not allow her home to be used for our Bible study. I was so discouraged and began to pray to God, “Lord I thought this was where you wanted me to plant a true Baptist church, but now everyone is gone because of the threat. If this is not the place, then show me another place where you want me to plant churches.” One day as I went to that community, a 51-year-old woman came up to me and said: “Bro. Amar, please come to our home and teach us more about Jesus.” A new small group Bible study began with five people. The Lord blesses our ministry and in the early month of 2005, two new believers followed the Lord by baptism. One day, the Lord brought a person who made fun of us and was against us and our Bible study. She got saved after several months and followed the Lord by baptism. My wife and I and three of our new believers, who had followed the Lord by baptism, started a house church in 2005. The Lord blessed that small house church and added 10 new believers in 2006.
One Sunday morning, while we were singing “God will take care of you,” about 10 men were surrounding the house of our meeting. A man came by the door and said, “What are you doing?” One of our members answered, “We are worshiping.”
“Don’t you know that you are not allowed to worship at home? Where is your leader?” the man said. I replied, “I’m here. Come on in.” He came in and asked me that same question. “Don’t you know that you’re not allowed to worship at home?” I replied, “Before I answer your question, let me ask you a question. You Buddhist people invite your monks over and ask them to do some Buddhist ritual in your home. Am I right?” He said, “Yes.”
“We are doing just as you are doing. What is the problem?” I asked. He was silenced for a moment and then said, “I was sent by a higher authority.”
He told us that he would take only the owner of the house to that higher authority. As the local authority took the owner of our meeting house, the rest of us prayed and prayed. About four hours later...
(Gleaner readers: here is where the rest of the story picks up)
...the higher authority let her come home and warned her if she allowed us to worship at her home again, she would be arrested. From that time on, we changed our location every Sunday.
By the end of 2006, we purchased a small 20 x 60-foot piece of land to build a bamboo house for our worship. Before we built on that small piece of land, I decided to go to a new chief local authority. The chief local authority who had surrounded us earlier had resigned and a new chief was there. When we got into his house, he said, “Are you coming for your worship matter?” I answered, “Yes, something like that, but I actually came for your advice on building a house.” He said, “You are not allowed to build a church building.” I answered, “I am going to build a simple bamboo house, which will not look like a church.” Finally, he said, “Go ahead and build it. If you need any help, just let me know.” And then we built a simple bamboo house and began to worship there in January 2007. The Lord added 10 new believers to our house church in 2007, and we now have 30 members. As we worship in that bamboo house, unbelievers reported to a local authority many times that we were using that house as church. Local authority, however, became our protectors that year.
I trained my brother and sent him out to another community. He started a new house church there in 2007. We trained our new believers for the work. I now have five trained leaders, and we have been working with 22 small Bible study groups around the Yangon area. In 2008, local authorities who had been our protectors left and new ones came in. One day, a new local authority came up to me and took me to his office. He warned me not to continue worship services at that bamboo house because if I continued, I could be arrested at any time. But here I am, the Lord has protected me.
In 2009, the Lord opened new doors in the Irrawaddy division which is the next division to Yangon. We have been working with seven villages and 30 people have made their professions of faith in Christ. In that area, there are 20 villages, and we plan to reach all these villages with the Gospel. There are several people who have never heard the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for us.
Several might know my uncle who graduated at BMAT Seminary and became the BMA’s first missionary to Myanmar. He has planted 21 house churches. One is in Yangon and the other churches are on the mountain-side of the Paletwa area. He and I are working together in training our leaders. In the Paletwa areas there is a famine because of rats. Rats eat all of their plants, so they don’t have food. The BMAA Missions Department has sent relief. Thank you very much for your help.
Thank you so very much for your support and prayers which makes all the work possible that has been done in the country of Myanmar. Thank you, BMAA.
Myanmar, "The Golden Land"
This land is a part of the Golden Triangle. Fifty percent of the world’s opium is produced in the region where its border joins with Laos and Thailand. It is rich in natural resources but ravaged by the greed of its rulers. It has been said that “that few countries have been so effectively plundered and impoverished by its own leaders.” Its beautiful, large teak forests are being stripped, and opium is its main export.
Politically, it became independent of Britain in 1948 with seven districts and seven ethnic minority states. In 1990 a strong desire for democracy opened the way for elections. Though the opposition won, the military refused to relinquish its control. The “State Peace and Development Council,” the secretive military junta, has turned this nation into a prison. Nationwide abuse of human rights, killings, forced labor, rape, and imprisonment are tools used to hold it captive. Democratic leaders have been arrested, exiled or killed.
This is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
In these extreme living conditions we, as the BMA, are privileged to have faithful missionaries preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The following is a testimony of one of those men. Names and specifics have been changed to protect those involved.
My name is Amar. I am from the country of Myanmar. In May 2002, I graduated from the BMAT Seminary, then returned to Myanmar to begin a church planting ministry there. I would like to express thanks to the Seminary for giving me sound biblical doctrine and to Grady Higgs, who taught me to stand on God’s Word. Thanks also to Jerry Kidd for helping in the ministry in Myanmar.
I was married in May 2003 to a dedicated Christian woman who has also dedicated her life to taking the Gospel to the people of Myanmar. We now have three children: two daughters, ages 4 and 3, and a boy, 3 months old.
Myanmar is in Southeast Asia and surrounded by China on the northeast, Thailand and Laos on the east, India and Bangladesh on the west. The population is about 57 million and 85 percent of the population is Buddhist. The Christian population is less than 10 percent. There are some Hindu, Muslim, and animist.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1990. There is no freedom of religion, speech, or writing. Building a new church building is not allowed. The Burmese Bible is still printed in other countries and shipped into Myanmar. Mass evangelism is prohibited. Christians cannot get a high rank in the government. A woman in our Bible study group told me that her husband is a captain of the army, and he was offered a higher rank. They were told that unless the wife becomes a Buddhist, they would not give him a higher rank. They control all newspapers, magazines, and books. If I were to stay overnight at my neighbor’s house or at a hotel, I must report it to the local authority. Whoever rents an apartment for a short term must also report to local authorities. A man who lives close to me was in prison for two months because he didn’t report that he was staying in his rented apartment.
Let me share with you a little bit about the work there. I was using several methods to send the Gospel to unbelievers. One of them was showing the Jesus film. I showed it in two places. One was in Belin, where I rented a video hall because there is no movie theater in that area. About 500 people came and heard the Gospel. The Buddhist monks and local authority would not let me do that again. Shwe-pyi-tha, Yangon, was another place where I showed the film and shared a short message on salvation. About 200 people came and heard the Gospel. Since mass evangelism was prohibited, I began to focus on a small group Bible study.
In 2004, I was conducting three small group Bible studies in the Yangon area. One group has five members, and the other two groups had 15 to 20. More than five people, however, gathering in homes was prohibited by the military government. The local authority found out about our Bible study groups and would not allow us to meet at a home. They threatened us and said we would be arrested if we continued to meet there. After that, no one dared to come to our Bible study and also the owner of the house would not allow her home to be used for our Bible study. I was so discouraged and began to pray to God, “Lord I thought this was where you wanted me to plant a true Baptist church, but now everyone is gone because of the threat. If this is not the place, then show me another place where you want me to plant churches.” One day as I went to that community, a 51-year-old woman came up to me and said: “Bro. Amar, please come to our home and teach us more about Jesus.” A new small group Bible study began with five people. The Lord blesses our ministry and in the early month of 2005, two new believers followed the Lord by baptism. One day, the Lord brought a person who made fun of us and was against us and our Bible study. She got saved after several months and followed the Lord by baptism. My wife and I and three of our new believers, who had followed the Lord by baptism, started a house church in 2005. The Lord blessed that small house church and added 10 new believers in 2006.
One Sunday morning, while we were singing “God will take care of you,” about 10 men were surrounding the house of our meeting. A man came by the door and said, “What are you doing?” One of our members answered, “We are worshiping.”
“Don’t you know that you are not allowed to worship at home? Where is your leader?” the man said. I replied, “I’m here. Come on in.” He came in and asked me that same question. “Don’t you know that you’re not allowed to worship at home?” I replied, “Before I answer your question, let me ask you a question. You Buddhist people invite your monks over and ask them to do some Buddhist ritual in your home. Am I right?” He said, “Yes.”
“We are doing just as you are doing. What is the problem?” I asked. He was silenced for a moment and then said, “I was sent by a higher authority.”
He told us that he would take only the owner of the house to that higher authority. As the local authority took the owner of our meeting house, the rest of us prayed and prayed. About four hours later...
(Gleaner readers: here is where the rest of the story picks up)
...the higher authority let her come home and warned her if she allowed us to worship at her home again, she would be arrested. From that time on, we changed our location every Sunday.
By the end of 2006, we purchased a small 20 x 60-foot piece of land to build a bamboo house for our worship. Before we built on that small piece of land, I decided to go to a new chief local authority. The chief local authority who had surrounded us earlier had resigned and a new chief was there. When we got into his house, he said, “Are you coming for your worship matter?” I answered, “Yes, something like that, but I actually came for your advice on building a house.” He said, “You are not allowed to build a church building.” I answered, “I am going to build a simple bamboo house, which will not look like a church.” Finally, he said, “Go ahead and build it. If you need any help, just let me know.” And then we built a simple bamboo house and began to worship there in January 2007. The Lord added 10 new believers to our house church in 2007, and we now have 30 members. As we worship in that bamboo house, unbelievers reported to a local authority many times that we were using that house as church. Local authority, however, became our protectors that year.
I trained my brother and sent him out to another community. He started a new house church there in 2007. We trained our new believers for the work. I now have five trained leaders, and we have been working with 22 small Bible study groups around the Yangon area. In 2008, local authorities who had been our protectors left and new ones came in. One day, a new local authority came up to me and took me to his office. He warned me not to continue worship services at that bamboo house because if I continued, I could be arrested at any time. But here I am, the Lord has protected me.
In 2009, the Lord opened new doors in the Irrawaddy division which is the next division to Yangon. We have been working with seven villages and 30 people have made their professions of faith in Christ. In that area, there are 20 villages, and we plan to reach all these villages with the Gospel. There are several people who have never heard the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for us.
Several might know my uncle who graduated at BMAT Seminary and became the BMA’s first missionary to Myanmar. He has planted 21 house churches. One is in Yangon and the other churches are on the mountain-side of the Paletwa area. He and I are working together in training our leaders. In the Paletwa areas there is a famine because of rats. Rats eat all of their plants, so they don’t have food. The BMAA Missions Department has sent relief. Thank you very much for your help.
Thank you so very much for your support and prayers which makes all the work possible that has been done in the country of Myanmar. Thank you, BMAA.
