Burma

By Alec Molton

November 2011

Reaching out to Myanmar We believe that our lives are in the hands of our sovereign God, yet often this cannot readily be seen until one looks back. I served God in Kos (Greece) for four years. During that time, I met a young man called David*. He is a pastor involved in church planting in Myanmar (Burma), with a great zeal for winning souls for Christ. Over five years our friendship deepened, and we had weekly email correspondence. Little did I realise that each email cost David a return journey of four hours to the nearest internet cafe. As it became clear in 2009...

Burma’ where all the gold is on the pagodas

By Joseph Hewitt

February 2010

Burma’ where all the gold is on the pagodas

Burma— where all the gold is on the pagodas On 17 November Dr Jim Winter and John Hobson of Horsell Evangelical Church, and I of College Park Baptist Church, Lewisham, met for the long flight from Heathrow to Yangon. We returned safely back on 1 December. It was a lovely surprise to see Yangon’s new, spacious and attractive airport, but even better to see Brothers Tuang and Suan waiting outside the wire barrier and waving excitedly on seeing us. They studied years ago at London Theological Seminary (LTS). Bustling We arrived at City Star Hotel in Downtown Yangon. As before, we...

Missionary Spotlight – Myanmar’s devastation

By Peter Ci Thang

September 2008

Burma

Missionary Spotlight – Myanmar’s devastation

Myanmar’s devastation UK missionary Brian Ellis has sent this report by Peter Ci Thang of a recent visit to the Irrawaddy delta, in Myanmar. Peter is a student of Grace Ministerial Academy, in Metro-Manila, Philippines. In early June I visited a number of island villages in Myanmar to help victims of the May cyclone. Two pastors and some village headmen were waiting to meet me on arrival. We spent the first day planning for the tasks ahead. I met church members and Bible students from Yangon Reformed Baptist Church and planned ahead with two medical doctors (my cousins). My mother and doctor-cousins...

June 2008

Burma

Burma’s agony

Burma’s agony When Cyclone Nargis smashed into the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta in the south of Burma on 3 May, Karen state bore the brunt of its destructive force, though four other regions have also been officially declared disaster zones by the country’s ruling military junta. As we go to press, the extent of the destruction is still being assessed by humanitarian groups but the United Nations estimates that upwards of 100,000 may have been killed by the storm and its immediate aftermath. But an even greater disaster is unfolding. Burma’s generals, deeply distrustful of the outside world, have refused to grant entry...

By John Harris

May 2007

Burma

The road to Mandalay

The invitation came out of the blue. Addressed to the church website, it spoke of a recently formed group of churches founded on the doctrines of grace. ‘We feel we are still so young in the Reformed faith. We need more training. Please come and teach us’. Such are the wonders of modern communications that a group of rural Burmese pastors could contact a small church in West Yorkshire! And so it was that in January I found myself on a 12 hour flight to Bangkok en route to Mandalay. Diversity Burma is far from a homogeneous country. One needs to appreciate this to understand...

Missionary Spotlight-Myanmar – land of pagodas

By Thang Bwee

February 2004

Burma

Missionary Spotlight-Myanmar – land of pagodas

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is the largest country in mainland South East Asia. Its population is a union comprising many different nationalities, with fifty minority people groups speaking 128 different languages and dialects. Buddhism The country is covered with Buddhist pagodas. They are on every mountain and hill, near towns and villages – wherever pious Buddhists built them. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has actively encouraged their construction in every region during the last decade. The British annexed Burma in 1886 during the reign of its last monarch – King Thibaw – who was taken to Calcutta, where he died in 1916. Burma gained...

February 2004

Burma

Missionary Spotlight-The Union of Myanmar [Burma]

Area:261,218 square miles. Population:47 million. Neighbouring countries:China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. Environment:Myanmar’s terrain is dominated by a horseshoe of mountains and highlands surrounding central lowlands and the plains of the Irrawaddy River. The long coastline in the west provides many natural harbours. Most of Myanmar lies within the tropics. Life expectancy:55 years. Myanmar has a rampant AIDS problem. Capital:Yangon [Rangoon] (6 million). Other city:Mandalay (1 million). Urbanisation:28%. Ethnic groups:Burmese 58%; indigenous minorities (including Karen, Shan, Chin, Mon, Arakanese, Kachin and Rohingya) 33%; others (including Chinese, Indian, Nepali and Malay) 9%. Languages:Burmese (official); 106 other languages. Literacy:83%. Economy:Myanmar has considerable natural resources, particularly in energy...

Missionary Spotlight-Contending for the faith

By Andrew Kam

February 2004

Burma

Missionary Spotlight-Contending for the faith

Adoniram Judson and his wife landed at Yangon in 1813. The first convert was gained in 1819. His name was U Naw and, as he witnessed to his family and others, several more were converted. This tiny foothold was obtained in the face of social and religious hostility. The Burmese were so strongly entrenched in traditional Buddhism that Judson once said, ‘It is easier to take out the tooth of a living lion than convert a Burmese!’ Expansion Judson and his converts suffered greatly for the gospel. But through their suffering, and diligent work in reaching out to the people, the nation soon...

February 2004

Burma

Missionary Spotlight-Myanmar highlights

Last summer Joseph Hewitt, a retired UK Grace Baptist pastor, spent nearly three weeks visiting Christians in Myanmar. He and Chris Hughes have listed randomly the highlights of the visit. Speaking at six Bible colleges for time periods ranging from five minutes to over three hours. Also preaching at a Full Gospel Church, speaking at a leaders’ conference, and leading devotions at a youth conference. Three very different cities: Yangon – an ex-colonial city that must at one time have been very pleasant and could be again; Mandalay – an old Buddhist town, dirty and oppressive; Maymyo – a quiet country backwater. Smells – in...

All articles in category Burma

By Alec Molton

November 2011

Reaching out to Myanmar

By Joseph Hewitt

February 2010

Burma’ where all the gold is on the pagodas

By Peter Ci Thang

September 2008

Missionary Spotlight – Myanmar’s devastation

June 2008

Burma’s agony

By John Harris

May 2007

The road to Mandalay

By Thang Bwee

February 2004

Missionary Spotlight-Myanmar – land of pagodas

February 2004

Missionary Spotlight-The Union of Myanmar [Burma]

By Andrew Kam

February 2004

Missionary Spotlight-Contending for the faith

February 2004

Missionary Spotlight-Myanmar highlights

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