Our 17 church planters in Myanmar, also known as Burma, work tirelessly to spread the Gospel, both in depth and reach. Discipleship is paramount in their ministries; accepting Christ in this country is a matter of physical life and death, not only spiritual. These men and women, along with their families, face beatings, imprisonment, rape, kidnapping, and even death. In December, a young church member was murdered for his faith.
Currently, none of these individuals is receiving monthly support because of lack of financial support. Every one of them works another job in addition to being a full time church planter. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Here are a few testimonies of the men and women who have accepted Christ through their work:
- “I had the privilege of celebrating Easter Sunday. But there was a problem during our service. Some conservative Buddhists came to stop us. We did not care for them, but continued our service. Some of our church members were afraid of them, but the Lord helped us and we are safe from any harm. Praise the Lord for His protection!”~ Pastor David*
- “I was sitting in the back corner of the church when Pastor Paul* was preaching. Every word he shared from the Bible was so interesting to me. His preaching was that, ‘Jesus came to this world to save sinners. He died for you and for me. He was raised from the dead. If we believe in Him, we shall not perish but have eternal life.’ At this moment the Holy Spirit told me that there are many gods in the world, but only Jesus was raised from the dead. The preaching was real to me and at the end of his message he invited us to come to the front. I stood up and went to the front. It was time for me to accept Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. Once, I was a sinner but now I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ and became a son of God. I am so happy. I am alive because of Jesus!” ~Aung*
- “I am just 37 year old. Last year my husband passed away and I lost all of my hope and peace in my life. I wanted to kill myself. After my husband died, the whole world was dark, and there was no hope in my life. I didn’t like to pray, I didn’t want to go to church. At the beginning of this year, Pastor Paul visited me, prayed for me, and shared the Word of God with me. He then gave me the Bible. Really, the Bible is very powerful and after reading it I gave my life to the Lord and the Lord gave me so much peace in my heart. I live with my son who is 13 years old. Please continue to pray for my spiritual life, that I will be growing in Jesus Christ.” ~Cho*
- “I was a very bad person, and had a lot of bad habits; I drank and smoked a lot. I was always fighting. Sometimes I was left in the jungle, even by my parents. I have spent my life without Jesus, instead doing bad things in my life. Pastor Siam prayed for me and shared about the love of God with me. I had never been told about it and I had never heard Jesus’ name. I was very far from God. Finally I came to the Lord with tears asking Him to forgive my sins. I was transformed. I now have stopped drinking and smoking, and I joined the church worship. I am now assured that I will go to heaven when I die. I have peace in my mind. It is so wonderful that the Lord changed my heart. Now all the time I give thanks to the Lord for saving my soul.” ~Phyu*
- “The morning of March 29th my wife and I visited one of the believer’s houses. They were crying with fear. I asked about the problem and they told me that a man with a long knife came to their house and said that if they continued to go to the church for prayer, he would kill them. Immediately we prayed for the family and gave them encouragement. Then I and my wife went to the authorities, but they neglected the case and the problem was not solved. We took this family to our house and we now live together. Please pray that this family of God’s children will be safe from the hands of Satan.” ~Kyi*
Names changed for safety*