Myanmar MISSIONS

By Oey Bie Lan @ Lanny Widjaja

15-24 November 2019

Yeong Wai Leong led a group of twelve members of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer (LCOR) for a mission trip to Myanmar from 15 to 24 November 2019. Our mission focus was the Hebron Assembly of God (AOG) Church in Myitkyina (the capital of Kachin State) and in Yangon. This was LCOR’s first mission trip to Myitkyina. We were also the AOG Church in Myitkyina’s first foreign group to conduct a marriage workshop, do Sunday School teachers training and organize children’s carnival.

1. MYITKYINA 90% of the population of Myitkyina are Christians. We made last minute changes to our plan due to the unexpected attendance of participants. We organized workshops and mission activities in Myitkyina for three days from 18 to 20 November.

Marriage Workshop Soon Hock Bee, Judy Soon and Sarah conducted a marriage workshop over three days. Pastor Shepherd did the translation into Burmese. 38 people attended the workshop, including married couples and a few pastors.

Youth Workshop 25 youths attended the youth workshop for three mornings. Peng Chye led the worship. I did devotions, taught gospel and mission lessons. One youth expressed his interest to learn more about mission. So I referred him to the mission course coordinator in Yangon. Wai Leong, Chris How, Clement, Siew Kim, Gladys, Kris, Weng Kong, Sarah and the rest taught the youths to do art and craft for three afternoons. We felt great satisfaction when we saw the youths happily flying kites which they had painted by themselves.

BBC (Buddhist Background Children) Peng Chye, Clement, Gladys and Kris reached out to the BBC for three mornings. On the first day, the BBC came to the Hebron AOG Church. On the second and third day, we went to the villages to meet the BBC and their parents. Peng Chye told them bible stories. We noted that the BBC live in poverty. We implemented a holistic mission by also donating some clothing and food. The BBC’s parents managed to join our sharing during their lunch break from making bricks. They are receptive to the Gospel. We heard from Pastor Naw Din that the BBC attends church service on Sundays. Praise the Lord!

Shopping for art and craft and snacks Chris, Siew Kim and Weng Kong made last minute shopping for snacks and goodies for 863 children over three days and nights.

Young Children Workshop and Carnival Peng Chye and I each did an hour-long gospel lesson to young children on the first and second nights respectively. We noticed that the children can read Scripture verses very well. After the gospel lesson, we taught the young children to do various art and craft. On the third night, we organized a carnival for the young children. Clement supervised us to station for eight games. The children were very excited to get their prizes!

Musicians Weng Kong played the ukulele. His music struck a chord in the peoples’ hearts so that they could receive the Word of God well. Wai Leong also accompanied him to play the ukulele at the marriage workshop. Weng Kong doubled up as the photographer during our mission trip.

Sunday School Teacher Workshop LCOR sent three Sunday school teacher trainers from Yangon to Myitkyina. They taught 36 Sunday school teachers over five days from 18 to 22 November. Some of the Sunday school teachers had to walk for three days from their villages to attend this workshop.

Refugee Camp We visited a refugee camp that housed 500 Christian refugees fleeing from the fighting by Ta’ang National Liberation Army in Shan State. They live in wooden houses built on the big land owned by the AOG Church. Peng Chye shared the parable about the lame man who was healed by Jesus. We gave the refugees winter and summer clothing, Tiger Balm and food etc.

Sightseeing We went to Prayer Mountain at Jaw Bum. It has many indoor and outdoor cubicles which affords solitude for the Christians to pray and meditate.

2. YANGON LCOR sponsors five ministries in Yangon: Justina Home, Child’s Place, Zion Ministries, Prisoners of Christ and SCEM (Street Children Education Ministry).

Hkw Gig’s Preschool Pastor Naw Din arranged on an ad hoc basis for us to visit his sister Hkw Gig’s preschool. There were 40 preschoolers aged three to five years. Chris, Clement, Kris, Siew Kim, Judy and Sarah taught the preschoolers to read English alphabets and sing songs. We also did some art and craft.

“Child’s Place” Some of us visited “Child’s Place”, which is a preschool run by Margarita (who is a Burmese and the Principal of the preschool) and her Filipino husband Fred. Five female teachers, including a Vice Principal, teach 40 preschoolers. The curriculum is conducted in English, with one lesson in Burmese. The teachers teach the preschoolers on morals by sharing stories from the Bible indirectly.

SCEM (Street Children Education Ministry) We visited the street children in a rented flat on the last night before they vacated it. The landlord had terminated the lease agreement and wanted to get the flat back. SCEM is finding another flat to house the children. 6 staff have been working on alternate days to accompany the children at night. These children sell vegetables or beg on the street in the day. The staff teach the children to read, tell them gospel stories, sing songs, do art and craft, and cook dinner for them. We taught the children to paint eggs and make paper houses and brought snacks and gave goodies bags.

Reverend Josiah We met Rev. Josiah who is the 98 years old father of Pastor Naw Din. He was the Superintendent of the AOG in Myanmar. He retired in the year 2000. We listened to his sharing on how he accepted Christ and subsequently evangelized the people groups. Rev. Josiah is conversant in Rawang, Jingpo and Lisu. We were so engrossed to hear his story and felt that the mission history has come alive!

THE TASK REMAINING LCOR and the AOG in Myanmar can be good partners in Christ. We will fulfill our responsibility to achieve the Great Commission.

By Soon Hock Bee & Judy

We were privileged and happy to join the mission led by Wai Leong. It was our first time in Myanmar, let alone Myitkyina. With Sarah Tay, our main role was to conduct a three-day Marriage cum Family seminar in Myitkyina. For this article, we will focus on this area.

We saw God’s hand clearly at work even before the trip began. The Lord provided (through Jean) translators for our teaching materials into the Myanmar language. At the airport, we found favour from the staff at the check-in counter as they cleared our 11 kg of excess baggage, comprising mainly blankets, donated clothing, Tiger balm and plasters as well as craft materials for the Children’s Ministry. Immigration at Myitkyina was also very smooth, all thanks to Ps Naw Din who was waiting for us at the airport. (Some of us saw how a Caucasian lady from the United Nations was questioned at the Immigration.)

However, we also experienced challenges! On the first day of the seminar, the projector did not work and had to be replaced; our printed handouts went missing and had to be reprinted at a speed that we were not use to. Though the seminar started almost an hour late, we were amazingly able to complete the first session in good time. Praise be to God!

We were so encouraged by the enthusiasm of the people who attended the three day seminar. Though they came from different AG churches, they all wanted to learn more about strengthening their own marriage and family life. We were told that this is the first time that a marriage/family course is conducted. The participants included six pastors who wanted to bring the teaching back to their own churches. On the second day when the altar call was made, all the participants came forward for prayer. The pastors joined us in praying for the participants. Truly God was in our midst!

We have been invited to return next year to continue with the Marriage and Pre-Marital course, not just in Myitkyina but also in Putao. God willing, we have a great task ahead of us.

As we were in Myitkyina , we took the opportunity to visit our Lisu language tutor who had returned here six years ago to get married. The journey to her house was somewhat tricky as Ps Naw Din had to make several u-turns. We met her family and parents. Her father is the Senior Pastor of a Baptist church and despite recovering from malaria, he left mid-way to tend to his sheep. At the couple’s request, we gave some “handles” for them to apply in their marriage and family. We felt it was the Lord’s leading and were happy that we had visited them.

Although we heard stories of the ongoing clashes between the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) and the government forces as well as that between the neighbouring Shan state and government forces, we had peace and did not see or feel any strife. The only intimidating time was when we crossed a bridge that eventually links Myanmar to Yunnan (China). We had to turn back at the end of the bridge as there were government soldiers with rifles at their various posts.

We had another divine appointment when we met Ps ND’s 98 year-old father, Rev. Josiah Phala, who has a mesmerising life story. We felt an immediate connection when he told us that in his earlier days, being conversant with the Lisu language as well as Jingbo and other languages, he travelled frequently to Fugong to share the gospel. Just before we left, Rev. Josiah gave us a short audio message to convey to our persecuted friends in Fugong to strengthen their faith. As someone in the team said, it is yet another dot connected to our Fugong ministry.

The unity, grace and respect for each other in the whole mission team are just amazing. All shared a common objective of doing God’s will in Myanmar, to be His hands and feet and to be a blessing to the Burmese people made this mission an awesome and memorable one. We are grateful to our heavenly and Almighty Father.

Although this is my fourth mission trip to Myanmar, this trip is special, not just because it is the biggest team going to Myanmar but also because we have the opportunity to teach the Word of God. It has been a privilege to be part of the team with Hock Bee and Judy, conducting the Marriage and Family workshops in Myitkyina. It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm of the participants and receive their positive feedback. I too have been blessed while preparing the lessons on “Sowing and Reaping” as it brought back fond memories of the time that some of us in LCOR attended the “Marriage For Life” workshop many years ago.

Beyond the teaching sessions, I had the opportunity to interact with the children and it was such a joy to see the smiles on their faces as they participated in the various activities we organized for them.

I have been inspired by the sharing of Ps Naw Din and his 98 year old father, Rev Josiah. Despite his age and physical immobility, Rev Josiah is still fervent for the Lord and he continues to contribute actively to the AOG leadership team in Myanmar. He is a living example of one who seeks to “inspire before you expire” and one who lives the mandate of the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 . To God be the glory for all that He has done in and through His people !

“This is my first mission trip with the LCOR team. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to share the Good News in a foreign ground. Though we have different gifting and skills, God in His time brought all of these into good use for His mission. From teaching the youth balloon sculptures to the simple craft works for children, whether in groups of tens or hundreds, God had used us to bring laughter, joy and hope to the natives. Given the current challenges in Myanmar, Jesus Christ is indeed the only Hope in any hopeless situation. As for me, if I could summarise all that I have seen and experienced, I have in fact brought home an awesome vision of God’s Greatness much more than I have ever known before. All the glory be given to our God.”

By Kris & Gladys

During this Myanmar Myitkyina trip, we were assigned to take charge of the group of BBC kids (Buddhist Background Children) for the three-day programme in Hebron Church. Although the kids could only come on the first day due to logistics, we were given the opportunity to visit their home and conduct our lessons there. We had the chance to meet more children and their family members. Peng Chye led by sharing Bible stories and we did some craft work. The children were all very keen to learn, dedicated and eager to complete colouring and craft. It is a joy to see all the smiling faces despite the language barrier.

Some loving and touching moments that we witnessed:

A young boy, aged about 7 years old, was carrying his baby sister and he was very patient with her even though she was struggling and distracting him from his work. o

When we were giving out goodie bags and biscuits, a boy asked if he could have an additional pack of biscuits for his brother who could not attend. o

After completing the colouring of the crown with the words “God is My King”, everyone proudly wore the crown. There is a strong presence of the Holy Spirit as we were crowning them. We trust the seed of God’s love has been sowed. o

This egg-citing Easter puzzle is guaranteed to scramble your brain... Children are hunting 10 of the chocolate egg treats, but can you spot them all? You might think you’ve found them but don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.