Reaching, touching and
changing lives in the Myanmar Chin state
By Rev Dr John Thoung
AO coordinator Myanmar
The
Chin State is bordered by Rakhine State in the south, Bangladesh in the
south-west, the Indian state of Manipur in the north and the Indian state of
Mizoram in the west. The Chin ethnic group make up the majority of the state's
500,000 people. The capital of the state is Hakha. The state is a mountainous
region with few transportation links, sparsely populated and remains one of the
least developed areas of the country with the highest poverty rate of 73%.
Christians
in the Chin state face systematic religious discrimination at the hands of the
Burmese government and are often forced to convert to Buddhism as reported by the
Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO). CHRO accuses the nominally-civilian
government of pushing ahead with the military policy of “Burmanisation” in
ethnic minority areas, resulting in widespread human rights abuses including
violations of religious freedom, forced labour, torture, and sexual violence. The
report, documents numerous cases where the state has destroyed crosses or
denied Christians the right to worship through arbitrary regulations, threats
and violence. Many civilians complain of being forced to build pagodas or hand
over their land to make way for Buddhist constructions.
Christian
students are regularly coerced or threatened into converting to Buddhism. Some
students even report of being forced to shave their heads and wear monks’ or
nuns’ robes. “If you don’t want to be a monk, you must join the military,” the
headmaster of a Na Ta La school told students in 2010, according to a report.
Every
year I make it a point to go back to my home state, the Chin state, to hold
revival meetings to encourage the believers there. Because of the persecution
they go through, many are afraid and discouraged, some even reverting back to
Buddhism. My team of 4 members and myself left Yangon on the 2nd of
April travelling by bus through the troubled Rakhine state and then by boat to
arrive at our first stop, a small village called Pyiwa. People here were hungry
for revival and we had a wonderful night meeting with the believers and even
some non-believers. During the morning
seminar the next day, praise the Lord 3 non-believers accepted Jesus as their
Lord and Saviour. 5 believers who never experienced the Holy Spirit before were
filled with the Holy Spirit. We left this village encouraged and full of joy,
eager to proceed to the next part of our journey. The next village we went to,
Sami, we again experience the joy of seeing 5 believers filled with the Holy
Spirit and 4 people being saved. We felt the anointing of God just flow over
these events, touching and changing lives.
The
next part of our journey took us up the mountain where we had to walk for 10
hours before we could reach our destination, Emakung Village. Being the hot
season and after 10 hours of walking we were just so tired out. The villagers
who were expecting us rushed out to greet us with cold drinks and a warm
welcome. As tired as we were, the people were ready and eager for us to start
our meeting and what a revival night it was. The joy of the Lord just flooded
the place and people were singing and rejoicing during worship.
As
we climb further up the mountain from village to village the climb got harder
and we prayed to the Lord for His strength. Half way before reaching the
village, groups of villagers greeted us with shouts and waves of excitement.
They brought water and food for us. I was so touched at their eagerness to see
us, excitedly anticipating our arrival. Not many local pastors wanted to come
up here as it was too rural and the villagers too poor to support them if they
decided to pastor a church. Due to strict travel restrictions for foreigners,
hardly any foreign missionary ventured here. God showed me just how hungry these people
were for His word and how much they needed to be encouraged and uplifted.
At
my native village of Seinki Taung, it was a joy to meet up with old friends I
had not seen for 11 years. At the revival meeting, I was overjoyed to see the
whole village come for the meeting and to see 10 people from my village give
their lives to Jesus. Leaving my village we continued up to the Khopum Mountain
where we held a 6 day youth camp in the jungle with about 105 youths. The
youths there were on fire for the Lord and everyone who was there felt the
presence of God and a powerful anointing. 30 people got saved and 20 people
were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The local authority in charge of
the village testified that he was a very arrogant man but that day he was touched
by the saving grace of Jesus. Watching the people dancing and singing at the
open air meeting, the team and I felt so humbled to be part of this great
revival. After the camp the youths decide to erect a memorial stone for
remembrance and to dedicate the camp to the Lord.
We
spent a month on the road walking from village to village on the mountains and
though it was completely exhausting all of us agreed that we would go back next
year. We brought 50 souls to the Lord in that one month and we know Heaven is
rejoicing with us. The villagers begged us to return and were sad to see us
go. Every village we went to, we saw the
same thing, the hunger for the Word of God. Unfortunately the Harvest is
plentiful but the labourers are few.
We
are Soldiers of the living God. We are Called, Chosen, Confirmed, and Charged living
to serve the God we love. Without Him I can do nothing but with Him I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Joshua
1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened,
and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
