Travels and blessings in Myanmar

This is the final part of my report on my trip from Malaysia to visit our wonderful brethren in Myanmar and I hope that you find it encouraging to hear how God is providing for His faithful little flock in this distant but beautiful land. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar. For their safety, I cannot share their names in this report.

Even though I was told I would not be allowed to visit the village of Kalaymyo in the Sagaing Division, as I reported in my first report titled “Serving God’s People in Myanmar,” God intervened, and here is how! Many brethren told me that they would take care of any check by police or immigration. By God’s grace, this is how the journey in my first report was able to continue! On Monday, one of the local young men took me by his motor cycle to his village which took about 40 minutes ride. There was no police or immigration check on the way The road was very was bumpy and some places dusty. When we reached the village, all the brethren welcomed me. We had a Bible study on “Christ the Creator” and” Kingdom of God.” After the Bible study, a longtime member who is 75 years old came in front of the members and cried and told me “thank you” for coming.

Some members told me that they never had a foreign minister visiting them for more than 30 years. Kalaymyo was a restricted area to visit for many years. Even the Chin Hills is restricted for foreigners now. There are some changes now and we hope more changes will take place as the country is becoming more open. Some of the ladies were very emotional and shook hands with me and wanted me to visit Kalaymyo next year. After the lunch we had question and answer session where some brethren asked about marriage, Sabbath keeping and about the Kingdom of God. One member who is also a long time member and 75 years old insisted that I should visit his home the next day.

The next day all the Church members and I visited the above gentleman’s home. We walked through the paddy fields to go to his home. All the members joined us. His house is at the foot of the Chin Mountains. The view of the mountains is so beautiful and amazing. This elderly and faithful Christian has a fishing pond where he catches fish for his meals. He says that the fish in his pond have always been small. But when I visited he was able to catch two very big fish for us which were able to provide for all of us! He said he has never caught any such big fish before and that it was a miracle. I conducted a Bible study on the “True church and the Kingdom of God.” In front of his home there is open ground where we had the Bible study and lunch. All the members sang songs and enjoyed a good meal. A long time church member from the village of Dawngva had walked 30 miles to Hakha and then took a bus and travelled another 124 miles to see us. He cried when he saw me and shook my hands and thanked me for visiting the village.

On 26th January our local elder and I flew from Kalaymyo to Yangon where we stayed one night at the new Ayer hotel and the next day we took a taxi to Myaung Mya. The road for a few hours was fairly good but one hour before we reached Myaung Mya the road was dusty and stony and bad. Upon arrival we met with a small group of local members waiting for us at the hotel. We received special permission from the immigration office so that I can visit the local brethren again. They were very happy to see us again. We rested the night at Sanpya hotel and I departed for my home back in Malaysia the next day.

It was an inspiring and unforgettable experience for me to visit for the first time the Kalaymyo brethren who live far north of Myanmar at the border of India. Myanmar has become a democratic country and is slowing changing, but our brothers and sisters there need our daily prayers. One scripture came to my mind that is James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? I thank God for letting me make this trip and I thank God for our brothers and sisters in Myanmar.