An indigenous missionary teaches about Christ to ethnic
Lahu in eastern Burma.
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Among tribal peoples in Burma (also
called Myanmar) so isolated that people in one village often cannot communicate
with those of a neighboring area, an indigenous ministry has found ways to
plant self-sustaining churches.
With the help of translators, the
ministry based in Yangon (formerly Rangoon) brings the gospel through dense,
semi-tropical jungles – tigers and poisonous snakes included – to such remote
peoples. Its indigenous model for planting churches also solves the common
problem of prospective church leaders going abroad to seminary and not
returning to their impoverished, strife-torn country.
Among the ethnic groups the ministry
is reaching in Shan state, in eastern Burma, are the Lahu and Pa'o. Overall the
225,000 Lahu in Burma are now 80 percent Christian (43 percent evangelical),
according to the Joshua Project, but the ministry targets villages where the
gospel is unknown and finds Lahu who are primarily animists.
Originally from the Tibetan Plateau
in China, the Lahu are known to the Chinese as tiger hunters, the
"La" of their name meaning "tiger" in their language,
according to The Peoples of the World Foundation. The Lahu make offerings and
animal sacrifices to various spirits and ancestors in an attempt to secure
safety and well-being.
"They worship and fear
spirits," the ministry director said. "In one village in east Shan
state four years ago, we told the animist priest about the one God who casts
out angels from heaven*. He said, 'This is a
mighty God – okay, your God is greater,' and they destroyed their idols and the
whole village became Christians."
Shan state rebels came under heavy
government fire last fall, and about once a month fighting between rebels and
government forces flares up in areas where his missionaries work, he said. The
ethnic Pa'O, many of whom have fled to Thailand to escape Shan fighting between
rebel and government forces, practice Buddhism, though often mixed with animist
beliefs. Their mythology holds that they originated from a shaman and a female
dragon.
Indigenous missionaries on motorcycles sometimes have to
overcome lack of roads to reach remote villages. The ministry director has
promised to provide fuel if they can find ways to reach villages where there
is no knowledge of Christ.
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"In Burma, many Buddhists are
not really Buddhists," the director said. "Most of them don't really
know what they believe."
Seeking to bring healing to the
towns and villages the ministry visits, near-culture missionaries provide
otherwise unavailable medicines.
"In these areas there is
malaria, dengue fever and dysentery," he said. "For the people in
these areas there is no way to reach any hospital or any clinic. So medication
is a very effective way to open the way to share the gospel with them."
The team holds week-long evangelistic
meetings that include lunches each day. They then leave a missionary who
follows up with those who have made decisions for Christ.
"This ministry does a good job
of planting churches in unreached areas by hosting camps when the farmers are
not as busy, in December and during summer holidays," said a leader at
Christian Aid Mission, which assists the ministry. "After the week is
over, they leave behind a missionary to do follow-up and to plant a church.
They then seek key youth from the tribe who believe in Christ to go to Bible College,
and the ministry then returns them to be the pastor in their home
village."
The new candidates for church
leadership train for four years, at no cost to them, at the ministry's Bible College,
which also offers one-month trainings for those who cannot be away from their
villages too long. Budget limitations reduced the previous three-month training
to one month, the director said.
With five teachers and 19 students
at present, the Bible school is the engine driving the ministry's deep-rooted
establishment of churches. Tribal graduates sent back to minister to their own
people in their native language learn to establish "self-governing,
self-supporting, and self-propagating" churches. The college, which offers
bachelor's degrees, teaches the missionaries to seek ways to earn a living to
help provide for their families.
Students also participate in
evangelistic outreaches. The teachers and some students from the school went to
southern Shan state for one of its four evangelistic campaigns last month.
"We were teaching every day and
preaching every evening," the director said. "By the grace of God and
through your prayers, 18 new believers have professed that they belong to the
Lord Jesus Christ and got baptism."
Many children also professed that
they had been born again, he added. The team went to another village to teach
and encourage previously established Lahu and ethnic Hmong churches, before
heading to a site from which villagers had fled fighting but have resettled after
government and rebel leaders gave them land.
"Now many have started bamboo
houses and started to make paddy fields there," he said. "We have
been invited by the Lahu and the Hmong to preach the gospel to them and help
them start churches. This time, as there are no proper houses, we stayed
overnight preaching to them and postponed the evangelistic camps to the end of
this year."
The ministry identified area needs
it hopes to meet for water, a children's school and a church building.
"They need special prayers and
help, as they are civil war victims who have run from village to village,"
he said.
In another village, a wealthy,
ethnic Danu who is a devout Buddhist invited the evangelistic team into his
home. The director said he was looking for peace in his heart.
"We stayed at his house and
shared the gospel with his family," he said. "Now they are ready to
listen to the gospel at any time. Danu people are the strongest Buddhists in
Burma, but this Danu and his family members are opening their hearts and home
for the Lord. Please continue to pray for this family."
Before the team's trip ended, they
held an evangelistic camp in two northern Shan state villages as well, he said.
Besides the evangelistic camps, the ministry at any one time has eight to 12
missionaries traveling to villages where the gospel is unknown. Each requires
$40 in medicines per month, as well as a living allowance of $150 per month, he
said.
"Our greatest need is support
for more missionary workers – every year we have more volunteers, and we need
to raise support for them," he said. "Our missionaries have a big
burden and heart for the unreached people in their own areas, but as every one
of our missionaries has a big family, they have been struggling with their families'
daily needs. This is the big obstacle for our ministry. Thank you very much for
your prayers and support for reaching the lost people with the gospel."
*Luke 10:18; Revelations 12:7-12; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel
28:12-18
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