matt2819.com/myanmar

Prayer points – Semtember 2010

Martin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:42:31 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

For some much needed down time (relaxation) in between deputation duties.
For the opportunity to preach and speak about the work in Myanmar at many churches in QLD during August.
For the encouragement and support of so many people in various QLD churches who have been very welcoming and interested in the work the Lord is doing in Myanmar.
In answer to our prayers, financial pledges have been coming in over the past couple of months. My support is now at around 60% of what’s required. This is a real blessing and indeed praiseworthy.
For the faithful supporters both in prayer and finances. I’ve been blessed by many in getting by financially since February and I know the prayers have been there too. Thank you Lord and thank you friends.*

Petition:

Still struggling with time management and making time to spend in the Word and regular prayer. Please pray that I would make these a priority and keep them as such regardless of my schedule.
On August 25th I pulled a muscle in my lower back which has been causing me a great deal of pain when sitting and standing. It’s on the mend but movement is still restricted and all activities are being done slowly and carefully. I’m in the middle of deputation and have a lot of driving around QLD still to do. Please pray for healing.
Many things are still to be done and, God willing, I’ll be leaving in just over 6 weeks. Please pray that I’ll be organised and able to do all that needs to be done in light of my back problem. Please pray that all goes ahead as planned with the fewest problems and delays from here on.
For all my baggage and boxes to make it to Myanmar safely. Though insured, it would be of considerable inconvenience to lose any of it (it will leave when I do as unaccompanied baggage, which usually takes a week to arrive at its destination).
To find suitable housing in Yangon and to set it up so as to be useful as an office, meeting place, training centre (for small groups), visitor accommodation, and my home.
Elections in Myanmar have been scheduled for November 7th. Please pray that they will go peacefully and that they will actually bring about positive change for the country.
For financial pledges and promises to come in soon. Without them I’ll not be able to leave as planned in October. We, mission partners and I, are looking for pledges and promises of support totalling $25,000 per year.*
For my walk with the Lord to deepen and my dependence on him to increase*
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

For God’s providence in teaching and preaching the Word, and that they are able to teach Bible college students continually without any problem.
For having English classes at RBI with Betty Murray, Jan Turner and Peta Cato from Australia.
For getting a phone for RBI very recently.

Petition:

Pray for the people in Chin state who are under famine because of the rat plagues of the last few years.
Pray for school children (70) at Sami for their health, education, and food. They are suffering with malaria and food shortages are causing difficulties.
Pray for Mor Dan who is now working in Tada Myo. This mission needs to purchase a single plot of land for ministry.
Pray for Thang Bwee’s second son Benjamin, for his university education. They wish him to get and international education.
Pray to get a single truck for RBI for transportation for students and to carry rice.
Pray for Siama, Ram Uk and Tin Soe Hlaing who are doing theological study in other countries.
Pray for the farm that God will bless the growth of rice in the paddy fields.
For Rev Dr T. Bwee who is fully engaging with teaching and pastoral ministries.*

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Thanksgiving (as quoted from James’ latest e-mail):

I praise the [Lord] that we have already [bought] a plot of land for FRCM and GBS, (that everything came from APWM). I am very thankful to director, all of APWM Committee and all of donors. God bless you all.
Finances have been made available (happened last week of August) to purchase a plot of land with a small house of two stories next to the new land mentioned in the previous point. This is a well-timed blessing and a huge help to our ministries and our future plans. Thank the Lord for the generosity of the Australian Presbyterian Churches.
Our church and Bible school is well under God’s hand, because of your prayer for us. Praise God for people who faithfully pray and uphold us.
God gave 15 students at GBS, our Bible School. We received [support for the] students from APWM.

Petition:

Finances for the construction of our church and Bible school building.
Pastors and lecturers salaries.
That God would give the leadership team an abundance of wisdom, humility, obedience, and love for all they minister to.
For zealous evangelists to minister to the many needy and broken people in their part of Yangon.
For a telephone in the new premises.*
For all the teachers and students of GBS – their health, their learning, and their support.*

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in a previous prayer letter.

The Meaning of Your Discontent

Martin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:00:07 +0000

This is the final in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

You can find the other posts by clicking here. If you enjoyed reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

Many of you should stay where you are in your present job, and simply ponder how you can fit your particular skills and relationships and resources more strategically into the global purpose of your heavenly Father. But for others reading this book, it is going to be different. Many of you are simply not satisfied with what you are doing. As J. Campbell White said, the output of your lives is not satisfying your deepest spiritual ambitions. We must be careful here. Every job has its discouragements and its seasons of darkness. We must not interpret such experiences automatically as a call to leave our post.

But if the discontent with your present situation is deep, recurrent, and lasting, and if that discontent grows in Bible-saturated soil, God may be calling you to a new work. If, in your discontent, you long to be holy, to walk pleasing to the Lord, and to magnify Christ with your one, brief life, then God may indeed be loosening your roots in order to transplant you to a place and a ministry where the deep spiritual ambitions of your soul can be satisfied. It is true that God can be known and enjoyed in every legitimate vocation; but when he deploys you from one place to the next, he offers fresh and deeper drinking at the fountain of his fellowship. God seldom calls us to an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of his sustaining grace.¹

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 178.

Ponder Your Destiny

Martin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:00:03 +0000

This is the seventh in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The final post will appear next Friday. If you enjoyed reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

No, you don’t have to be a missionary to admire and advance the great purposes of God to be known and praised and enjoyed among all peoples. But if you want to be most fully satisfied with God as he triumphs in the history of redemption, you can’t go on with business as usual—doing your work, making your money, giving your tithe, eating, sleeping, playing, and going to church. Instead you need to stop and go away for a few days with a Bible and notepad; and pray and think about how your particular time and place in life fits into the great purpose of God to make the nations glad in him. How will you join the great global purpose of God expressed in Psalm 67:4, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy”?¹

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 177.

Ponder Christ’s Amnesty

Martin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:00:52 +0000

This is the sixth in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 2 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”¹

Christ has come into this mutinous world, which he made for his own glory, and paid for an amnesty with his own blood. Everyone who lays down the weaponry of unbelief will be absolved from all crimes against the Sovereign of the universe. By faith alone enemies will become happy subjects of an everlasting kingdom of justice and joy. Advancing this cause with Christ is worth your life.²

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1 – Abraham Kuyper, “Sphere Sovereignty,” in Abraham Kuyper, A Centennial Reader, ed. James D. Bratt (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998), 488.
2 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 177.

The Day of Missions is Not Over

Martin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:00:33 +0000

This is the fifth in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 3 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

So “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38), and ask him if you should be one. Expect this prayer to change you. When Jesus told his disciples to pray it, the next thing that happened was that he appointed twelve to be his apostles and sent them out. Pray for harvesters, and you may become one. God often wakens desire, and gives gifts, and opens doors when we are praying and pondering real possibilities and real needs.¹

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 176.

God Issues a Call to This Generation: Listen

Martin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:00:23 +0000

This is the fourth in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 4 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

There is a call on this generation to obey the risen Christ and make disciples of all the unreached peoples of the world. I am praying that God will raise up hundreds of thousands of young people and “finishers” (people finishing one career and ready to pursue a second in Christian ministry). I pray that this divine call will rise in your heart with joy and not guilt. I pray that it will be confirmed with the necessary gifts, and a compelling desire, and the confirmation of your church, and the tokens of providence. Fan into flame every flicker of desire by reading biographies, and meditating on Scripture, and studying the unreached peoples, and praying for passion, and conversing with mission veterans. Don’t run from the call. Pursue it.

Let your mind dwell on the lostness of perishing individuals, but also on whole people groups that do not have any access to the Gospel. This was Paul’s great ambition: “to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named” (Romans 15:20). There will always be unconverted people to win where the church is already established. That is not the unique task of frontier missions. Frontier missions does what Paul aimed to do: Plant the church where there is now no possibility of ministry. This is the great need of the hour, not only for missionaries who go to serve the established church in other countries (which is a great need, especially in leadership development), but also for missionaries who go to peoples and places where there is no church to serve.¹

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 174-5.

Our Situation in the World Today

Martin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:00:04 +0000

This is the third in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 5 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

One way to describe the situation is to say that about 1.2-1.4 billion people have never had a chance to hear the Gospel;¹ that is, they live in cultures where the preaching of the Gospel in understandable ways is not accessible. Other analysts estimate the number of unevangelized somewhat higher. For example, the “Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission 2002″ by David Barrett and Todd Johnson reports that there are 1,645,685,000 unevangelized people in the world. That means 26.5 percent of the world’s population live in people groups that do not have indigenous evangelizing churches.²” ³

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1 – Patrick Johnstone, The Church Is Bigger Than You Think (Ross-shire, England: Christian Focus, 1998), 215. Johnstone is more optimistic than Barrett in his numbers: About 20% of the world’s population are unevangelized; 47% are non-Christians living where they are likely to be evangelized; and 33% are professing Christians.
2 – David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, “Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission 2002,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 26 (January 2002): 22-23.
3 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 173.

We Will Not Know Him Fully Outside His Mission

Martin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:00:04 +0000

This is the second in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 6 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

We will not know God in his full majesty until we know him moving triumphantly among the nations. We will not admire and praise him as we ought until we see him gathering a company of worshippers for himself from every people group on earth – including all the Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist peoples. Nothing enlarges our vision of God’s triumphant grace like the scope of his saving work in history.
    ”I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
     yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
     I will ponder all your work,
     and meditate on your mighty deeds.” (Ps. 77:11-12)
and,
    ”Praise him for his mighty deeds;
     praise him according to his excellent greatness!” (Ps. 150:2)
and,
    ”Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
     and let all the peoples extol him.” (Rom. 15:11, quoting Ps. 117:1)¹

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 172-3.

Mission to Myanmar Newsletter – June 2010

Martin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:29:49 +0000

Hello friends. In this edition I’ll be sharing with you what’s been happening since the last newsletter, sharing news and events in brief, and wrapping it up with some prayer points.

From Learning to Yearning – The Final Stage

View from the balcony of the Evangelical Reformed Church (ERC)

Well I almost can’t believe it. On Friday, June 18th I handed in my final assignment for Bible college which brought me to the completion of my Associate Degree of Theology. Many of you may already know that I’m not much of an academic, so Bible college was not all smooth sailing but I would certainly say I’m better off for the experience. Living in community at SMBC, loads of reading and in-depth research for nearly 40 written assessments, plus exam preparation definitely stretched me. What a blessing to be immersed in that environment though, and to learn from experts in their field.

So now that it’s all over what’s in store? Well my focus has changed, as the title suggests, from learning to yearning. I’m yearning to return to Myanmar and begin the next stage of my life and I’m yearning to immerse myself in the culture of the country which I’ll be calling home for the foreseeable future. But before I can do any of that there are a few more things to do here in Australia. Firstly, I’m booked in to do Mission Interlink’s Transition Training. I’ll spend 3 weeks in Belgrave Heights, Victoria, experiencing many things, not least of which is how to effectively transition from one culture to another. After that I’ll spend a relaxing week with friends in Broadford, also in Victoria, and then it’s home to Newcastle for a week. Then, a week later, on August 1st, I’ll start 6 weeks of deputation (also known as Partnership Development) in Queensland. I expect to go as far north as Cairns but won’t get too far inland; at the moment I’ll be visiting Toowoomba and perhaps Stanthorpe near the NSW Border.

Shopping centres are common but much more expensive than the more common street markets.

Something that I’ve been learning more about recently is the issue of wasting time; so many of us struggle with it and I’m certainly out the front of that pack. It’s interesting how we perceive the things we’re involved in and how very important they seem to us. Of course there are things we do which are very important, but how many of them aren’t? It’s difficult though to be objective when we’re so close. One of the things which has helped me take a more objective look at my own life has been through the reading of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life.¹ In the book he talks about existing to make Christ appear in the world as what he really is – Magnificent. He says that God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives. We struggle in this though because we are “fallen, comfort-loving creatures. We are always on the lookout for ways to justify our self-protecting, self-securing, self-pleasing ways of life.” (72) The opposite to a wasted life is to “live by a single, soul-satisfying passion for the supremacy of God in all things.” (43). He suggests we ask ourselves some helpful questions by which to measure our behaviour: “How will this help me treasure Christ more? How will it help me show that I do treasure Christ? How will it help me know Christ or display Christ? The Bible says, ‘Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). So the question is mainly positive, not negative. How can I portray God as glorious in this action? How can I enjoy making much of him in this behavior?” (119) It’s a challenge, that’s for sure. Please pray with me as I take my self-focussed life with its aroma of wastefulness to the feet of the only one who can do anything about it. Please ask me how I’m going with it next time you see me.

News & Events

Students learning English using "The Hope" on DVD

Both RBI and GBS, the Bible colleges of our 2 partner churches have begun their 2010/2011 academic year.
In my last newsletter I mentioned Kyaw Htin, a severely ill student of RBI. His recovery had been very slow and full recovery was expected to take at least another 2 years, however at 8pm on June 22nd he departed us to be with the Lord. This came as a surprise to us all and is very sad indeed.
The Free Reformed Church of Myanmar (FRCM), the second of our 2 partner churches, has been able to purchase land thanks to the very generous support of the Presbyterian churches in Australia. This will allow them to settle down in the one place, a luxury they have not had for many years due to the difficult rental market in the area in which they minister.
National elections, which were initially expected to take place in May, have been postponed. Media pundits are speculating that it might be around October or November but the ruling Junta has not set a date.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi, still under house arrest, celebrated her 65th birthday on June 19th.

Things to Pray for

For me:

Praise God that he has been strong and faithful in keeping me and encouraging me since returning from Myanmar in February. He has also equipped me and given me the ability to complete all my assignments (11,000 words in total) during the Bible college semester just gone.
And praise him for the opportunity to speak about the work in Myanmar and preach at a few churches in NSW and QLD during the last few months.
I’ve busied myself so much lately that I’ve neglected spending time in the Word and regular prayer. Please pray that I would make these a priority and keep them as such regardless of my schedule.
Beginning August 1 I’ll be in QLD for 6 weeks visiting numerous churches and church groups talking about the work in Myanmar, requesting their financial and prayer support. Please pray for safety while travelling as I’ll be driving to most of the destinations, and please also pray for the Lord to move in the hearts of the church folk there to support the work.
And please pray for financial pledges and promises to come in soon. Without them I’ll not be able to leave as planned in October. We, mission partners and I, are looking for pledges and promises of support totalling $25,000 per year.

Rev Dr Thang Bwee in his church office (Jan 2010)

For ERC:

Praise God for the sending of rice to Chin state for famine relief of those affected by the rat plagues of the last few years.
Praise God for and also pray for the 9 new students who have started Theological training at ERC’s RBI.
Pray for the urgent need of Tada Myo mission. Thang Bwee writes, “We need to find a regular sponsor for Mor Dang [(the graduate pastor who has been put in charge of that church-plant)] and also the need to buy a single block of land for building. Presently I have rented a house to live. Things there seem to be going well in the mission. I might be able to manage for house rent but need some donors to buy land there and for the building.“
Pray for Rev Dr T. Bwee who is fully engaging with teaching and pastoral ministries.

For FRCM:

Praise God for He has guided them all the way in their church ministry. The Lord is surely gracious and able to deliver them from all the struggles in ministry to this today.
Praise God for being able to purchase a plot of land for the FRCM church and GBS (Bible seminary) building.
They request you “in Jesus Name to please pray for FRCM church ministry. The children’s ministry in South Dagon is needed to return as well as pastors needed for many ministries.“
And please pray for a telephone for the new premises.

For more prayer items please visit this month’s Prayer Points page.

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I hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter; any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Remember too, if you’d like any Mission Informational Sheets or Prayer Calendars please just let me know by using the Contact Martin page.

Grace be with you,

Martin
http://matt2819.com/myanmar

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1 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003). You can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

Something Ought To Be Done

Martin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:00:53 +0000

This is the first in a series of eight short posts. They are direct quotes from the last few pages of John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life and I have found them to be informative, stirring, challenging, and/or motivating and so wanted to share them with you.

The remaining posts will appear each Friday for the next 7 weeks. If you enjoy reading them as much as I did you can download a free copy of this book here (link sourced from this page).

Missions is not only crucial for the life of the world. It is crucial for the life of the church. We will perish with our wealth if we do not pour ourselves out in ministries of mercy at home and missions among the unreached people. We are very wealthy in America. All the money needed to send and support an army of self-sacrificing, joy-spreading ambassadors is already in the church. But we are not giving it.

In 1916, Protestants were giving 2.9% of their incomes to their churches. In 1933, the depth of the Great Depression, it was 3.2%. In 1955, just after affluence began spreading through our culture, it was still 3.2%. By 2000, when Americans were over 450% richer, after taxes and inflation, than in the Great Depression, Protestants were giving 2.6% of their incomes to their churches.¹

Moreover, “If members of historically Christian churches in the United States were giving an average of 10% in 2000, there would have been an additional $139 billion a year going through church channels.”² Now add to that the really shocking fact that of the money given to the church, less than 6% goes to foreign missions, and of that amount, about 1% goes to fund breakthroughs to unreached peoples.³ This is not to say we should pull back on any front. The point is, there is plenty for all the breakthroughs if we live to show that Christ is our Treasure.⁴

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1 – http://www.emptytomb.org/research.html [accessed March 28th 2003].
2 – http://www.emptytomb.org/Chapter6hlites.html [accessed March 28th 2003].
3 – http://www.emptytomb.org/newslinks/statewe.htm [accessed March 28th 2003].
4 – John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, (Wheaton, Illinois: 2003), 172.

Prayer points – June 2010

Martin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:39:10 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

The Lord has been strong and faithful in keeping me and encouraging me since returning from Myanmar in February. He has also equipped me and given me the ability to complete all my assignments (11,000 words in total) during the Bible college semester just gone.
For finishing my Associate Degree of Theology at Bible college.
For the provision of a vehicle after mine was written off (minor accident, I’m fine).
For the opportunity to speak about the work in Myanmar and preach at a few churches in NSW and QLD during the last few months.
For the faithful supporters both in prayer and finances. I’ve been blessed by many in getting by financially since February and I know the prayers have been there too. Thank you Lord and thank you friends.
For the blessing of Bible College and the opportunity to learn and be equipped for future ministry*
For God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far*

Petition:

I’ve busied myself so much lately that I’ve neglected spending time in the Word and regular prayer. Please pray that I would make these a priority and keep them as such regardless of my schedule.
I’m spending June 29th to July 15th in Victoria doing Mission Interlink’s Transition Training. Please pray that I’d get the most out of it whilst being stretched and strengthen in preparation to serve full-time.
Beginning August 1 I’ll be in QLD for 6 weeks visiting numerous churches and church groups talking about the work in Myanmar, requesting their financial and prayer support. Please pray for safety while travelling as I’ll be driving to most of the destinations, and please also pray for the Lord to move in the hearts of the church folk there to support the work.
For financial pledges and promises to come in soon. Without them I’ll not be able to leave as planned in October. We, mission partners and I, are looking for pledges and promises of support totalling $25,000 per year.
For my walk with the Lord to deepen and my dependence on him to increase*
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

For the successful completion of a two weeks refreshment course by Rev Dr T. Bwee to candidates for full time ministry in April/May.
For the sending of rice to Chin state for famine relief of those affected by the rat plagues of the last few years.
9 new students have started Theological training at ERC’s RBI.
For the increasing number of school children at the training centre compound in Sami,lower Chin State. (An increased number of children means more are being educated. Having more at Thang Bwee’s compound means that they are being cared for by trusted Christians in a safe and nurturing environment).
For the opportunity to preach the Gospel at Tada myo by Rev Dr T. Bwee during a recent funeral service. Tada myo is a new church-plant by ERC. Christian outreach was made possible there during Cyclone Nargis (view Nargis related posts here). ERC went to offer assistance and care for many affected by the cyclone and afterward were allowed to return to share the good news of Jesus.
For Thang Bwee’s second son Benjamin who has passed his University entrance exams. Traditionally these exams are very difficult to pass.

Petition:

The urgent need of Tada Myo mission. Thang Bwee writes, “We need to find a regular sponsor for Mor Dang [(the graduate pastor who has been put in charge of that church-plant)] and also the need to buy a single block of land for building. Presently I have rented a house to live. Things there seem to be going well in the mission. I might be able to manage for house rent but need some donors to buy land there and for the building.“
In order to get help for the 70 school children during schooling at Sami where Mr. Issac is looking after them. This includes their food and shelter and other items. These children are also the victims of the rat famine.
To get sufficient help in finance for 15 RBI students and 6 staff members.
For the trip of Betty Murray and Jan Turner, members of one of the Toowoomba Presbyterian churches, to Myanmar in August and September 2010.
For Rev Dr T. Bwee who is fully engaging with teaching and pastoral ministries.
For Thang Bwee’s father who is now over 90 years old and whose health is becoming very poor.

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Thanksgiving (as quoted from James’ latest e-mail):

I praise the Lord for He has guided us all the way in our church ministry. The Lord is surely gracious and able to deliver us from all struggle ministry ’til today.
I praise the Lord for we have already [bought] a plot of land for FRCM church and GBS building.
Now we have opened our Bible School GBS.Praise be the Lord !! Some students are converted in our Bible school and ministry and they become really Christian. And now they are studying the Word of God at Grace Bible Seminary it is very praiseworthy.
It is very difficult for the working of our church and Bible school, but our Lord leads us in His hand ’til today.
I really praise the Lord [for] our faithful Partnership mission between mission partners and FRCM, and all of our friends in Australia. The Lord is merciful when He heard the prayers of both [mission partners] and FRCM.

Petition:

request you in Jesus Name to please pray for FRCM church ministry. The children’s ministry in South Dagon is needed to return as well as pastors needed for many ministries.
For the construction of better buildings for FRCM and GBS on the newly purchased property.
For a telephone in the new premises.
For all the teachers and students of GBS – their health, their learning, and their support.

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in a previous prayer letter.

Mission to Myanmar Newsletter – March 2010

Martin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:38:45 +0000

This is my regular … long awaited … occasional newsletter. In it I’ll be sharing with you what’s been happening since the last newsletter, sharing news and events in brief, and wrapping it up with some prayer points and some photos.

My Life in Myanmar

On December 3rd last year I headed off to Myanmar for my fifth short-term visit. A few days before that I was at my graduation ceremony of SMBC, and only a couple of weeks before that I was sitting exams. Second semester last year was my busiest and also my most successful. I had four very demanding subjects and a total of sixteen thousand words to write for my seven assessments. Thanks only to the grace of God I managed to get all my work in and pass my exams. I was quite relieved to be able to go to Myanmar with all of that work successfully behind me.

I arrived in Yangon around midday on December 4th to the welcome arms of Rev. Dr. Thang Bwee and his wife Nellie. Straight away we began to talk about our plans and hopes for the coming weeks as well as some of our more long-term plans. It was great to get stuck into things right from the get-go and to be involved in the work he is doing. The entire time I was there Thang Bwee was keen to include me in everything and all the while nurturing me and shepherding me like the wise pastor he is.

In the past I have gone to Myanmar for somewhere between two and four weeks to teach English or assist others in their teaching, however this trip was quite different in many ways. The most obvious difference was that I would be in Yangon for nine weeks straight, which would involve overstaying my twenty-eight day tourist visa. Prior to leaving Australia I had spoken to the Myanmar embassy in Canberra and e-mailed Thang Bwee to double-check, and according to everyone we spoke to it was quite normal to overstay. The only penalty would be a $3 per day fine payable at the airport on departure. A small price to pay for the convenience of being able to get more done in one trip. And it was as they said – hassle free for just $3 a day.

Late August 2009 Thang Bwee had e-mailed me asking if I could please teach a subject on Ephesians when I came in December and January, but as college was so busy I didn’t have a chance to start preparations until after my exams in November. And even though I made a start, I didn’t get very far before having to leave on December 3rd. But I still had some time up my sleeve. A few days after arriving in Yangon, Bill Lutton (the director of the mission organisation that is sending me) and his son Will arrived to teach English for one week. During that week I stayed in the hotel and continued my Ephesians prep. I managed to get about four lessons finished in that week, and although I was ahead of myself, I didn’t feel too good that it was only a few days’ worth of teaching. As a consequence, I spent almost every afternoon and evening over the following 7 weeks preparing the next day’s lesson. It turned out ok though and I learnt a lot from my preparations and really enjoyed the process of burying myself in one book of the Bible, surrounded by commentaries and of course, a constant supply of my much loved Jasmine Green tea.

The schedule was the same each week after Bill and Will headed back to Australia. I taught Ephesians to the Bible College students from 10am to midday, then had lunch with Thang Bwee before returning to the hotel to prepare for the next lesson. Wednesdays and Saturdays were ‘free’ days, but I found myself either preparing more Ephesians lessons or preparing a sermon. I was asked to preach two sermons every two weeks, and even though it added to my busyness, I really enjoyed the time in the Word and the learning that comes with sermon prep.

So that was “My Life in Myanmar” for the nine weeks of December and January and I loved every single bit of it. So much so that leaving to come home was difficult. Thang Bwee and I joked about how maybe there would be a problem with my overstay and I’d be stuck in Yangon for weeks. We were both overjoyed at the idea and laughed at the other problems it would cause – like not being able to finish my Associate Degree course at college.

There were a number of things that made it such a great trip. Being amongst the believers of Thang Bwee’s church is always an encouragement. They’re lovely, humble people, and so keen to know more of the Lord and be involved in what he’s doing in the church’s ministry. Teaching is something I enjoy, so that too was an enjoyable experience as well as the preparation. I got to talk at length with some Buddhist monks about Jesus and his death and their perceptions of that – this was part of some research I was doing for a college project this semester. But I think what made the trip so great was that I was living the life I’ll be living when I move there as a resident. Granted, I was living in a hotel and not having to cook and clean for myself, but every other aspect of my week resembled that which Thang Bwee and mission partners have come to see as my role there. After the first twelve months of learning Burmese at the Yangon University I will be primarily involved in teaching at the Reformed Bible Institute (RBI), the Bible college of the Evangelical Reformed Church (ERC) – Thang Bwee’s church. Among other subjects this will include English teaching, but in addition to that I’ll also be teaching English to some of the non-Christians in my community. As has been our plan for a long time, this will be done using a Bible-based curriculum and will be one of our many works of evangelism. I will also be involved in preaching at ERC and working with and mentoring some of Thang Bwee’s young leaders.

I realise that some of the people and places mentioned might be new to some of my readers. If that’s you, please visit “The Work” and “The Workers” pages to learn more.

News & Events

Both RBI and GBS, the Bible colleges of our 2 partner churches have finished for the 2009/2010 academic year and almost all the students have returned to their families in Chin State (see a map of Myanmar at http://www.5starmyanmar.com/MyanmarStatesMap.jpg).
For the few students remaining in Yangon they will be involved in various ministries including pastoring churches, children’s ministries, and evangelism.
Kyaw Htin, a severely ill student of RBI is still in intensive care. In 2008 he was hospitalised with an unknown illness which had him in a coma for many weeks. When he came out of the coma he was paralysed and continued to require assistance with breathing. He has since regained consciousness but remains mostly paralysed with only limited head movement and still requires a machine to assist with his breathing. Fortunately the doctors were able to diagnose his condition a few months ago and operated on a bone tuberculosis in his neck. His mother and sisters remain by his bed 24/7 and ERC provides food and financial assistance. His recovery to date has been very slow and full recovery is expected to take at least another 2 years.
The health of all others known to our 2 partner churches (ERC and FRCM) has been good. Tuberculosis (not bone tuberculosis), which is normal for at least one member of these churches to have has not been reported in many weeks. The only person reporting illness is Mor Dang who has been recovering from Hepatitis C. He is about 95% recovered but still gets tired very easily. Mor Dang is in charge of Sunday School coordination for all ERC churches in the Yangon area and one of the main pastors at ERC’s most recent church-plant.
ERC continues to plant churches around the Yangon district and though the congregations are small they are strong. Repentance has been a noticeable factor in many who have come to know the Lord, and although this brings tensions within some Buddhist families, the believers are standing firm and looking always to the Lord for comfort and guidance.
National elections are set to take place in May and many people are hopeful that they will be a positive turning point in their country’s history.

Things to Pray for

For me:

For my final two subjects at Bible college this semester (11000 words to write)
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry
That I would be obedient to the Lord, patient in all things, always humble and always striving to know and glorify God more and more. (1 Pet 1:14-15)

For ERC and FRCM:

Pray for Rev Dr Thang Bwee (ERC), Pastor James Mang Khen Thang (FRCM), and their eldership teams – that they facilitate the ministry of the Gospel and be wise with finances and management. (Eph 5:15-17)
Pray for Thang Bwee, James, the directors, lecturers and visiting teachers, college wardens and other staff – for wisdom and faithfulness to the Gospel and the Scriptures. (2 Tim 2:15)
Pray for the students as they prepare for service, that the Lord would sustain and encourage them as they learn. Pray also that they would retain what they’re learning. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
Pray that the Partner Church congregations of ERC and FRCM would be people who are committed to thinking and acting with Jesus as Lord of all, living out his Lordship in all aspects of life. (Jude 24, 25)
Pray that each of the Sunday services would be effective for the building up and encouragement of the saints. Pray that they would be welcoming, loving, and seeking to always spur each other on to love and good works. (Heb 10: 24, 25)
Pray for all those involved in teaching, that they will be examples in speech and conduct, love, faith and purity and that they will rightly handle and explain the Word in truth. Pray for the children and for their growth in Christ. (2 Tim 4:5)
Pray that through faithful and Bible-centred ministry, God’s community at ERC and FRCM will grow in numbers and influence. Pray that they might be known as being passionate about people, lovers of the truth, and eager to serve Christ. (Acts 2:46-47)
And pray for Kyaw Htin’s speedy recovery from bone tuberculosis and also for and his family as they tend his needs.

Photos

This is the street outside the Evangelical Reformed Church (ERC).
I will walk down this street almost every day whilst in Yangon.

Some food and tobacco stalls in the street outside the ERC.

After each chapter of Ephesians we would get together like this
to discuss what we had been learning. The students found this helpful
for cementing some of what they had been taught.

On Christmas day the church folks got together
for a fellowship lunch.
On the menu — A VERY spicy Thai noodle dish.

This is just a very small portion of the rice grown from Thang Bwee’s
11 acres of rice paddies. He uses the rice to feed his family,
the college students, and his friends. What’s left over he
sells at market to help pay for the next year’s seed.

Tea shops are very common in Myanmar.
This is an outdoor one and is very popular with the locals.

——

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter; any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Remember too, if you’d like any prayer cards, or better still the prayer calendar, or any information cards or support cards then please just let me know by using the Contact Martin page.

Grace be with you,

Martin
http://matt2819.com/myanmar

Myanmar 101

Martin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:25:35 +0000

I’ve visited many places speaking about Myanmar and what we’re doing there and so I thought I’d share with you the top 3 questions I get asked.

1 – Where is Myanmar?
Myanmar is bordered by Tibet and the People’s Republic of China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. See a map and learn more about The Country.

2 – How do you pronounce the name of the country?
It’s correctly pronounced myan-mar (only 2 syllables and the stress is on the underline) where myan is like the first 2 syllables in piano when said quickly.

Incorrect pronunciations are MEE AN MAR or MY AN MAR (where ‘MY‘ is like my hat, my house).

3 – Are the Christian churches persecuted?
Short answer is no. At this time the churches are reporting to us that they are experiencing “the most freedom in the history of the country”. There are restrictions of the purchase of land for building a church and many church related activities require the approval of local authorities, but the same is required by any other group wanting to have a gathering. Many reports have been appearing in the media, both secular and Christian, about churches being closed down and pastors being imprisoned however we’re being told by our contacts in Myanmar that these reports are either misrepresenting the situation or not providing the full story, choosing to omit details of law-breaking which may have led to short detention.

Mission to Myanmar Newsletter – Jun 2009

Martin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:43:12 +0000

This is the June 2009 edition of my “Mission to Myanmar” newsletter.

What’s News?

Another semester of Bible College almost finished, which leaves just one more to go. It’s not been an overly eventful semester which is why you haven’t heard from me – nothing much to say really. I’ve been chipping away at my college work since February plus our annual “mission trip” in April. I enjoy the more hands-on ministry learning (as opposed to classroom learning and essays) so the mission trip was a highlight for me.

This year our mission team of 14 went to Blaxland Presbyterian Church in the lower Blue Mountains where we engaged in all sorts of ministries including Scripture teaching, hospital and nursing home ministry, commuter handouts, community surveys, preaching, Sunday school, and a “Backyard Bash”. The Bash was aimed at getting the community to come and visit. We had activities for the kids, a coffee shop for the adults, a photo competition, and a free sausage sizzle. Then afterwards we had a bush dance with a great live bush band. Everyone had a great time and it was a good outcome for the church-folk.

Each member of the team was billeted out around the area with different members of the congregation. I was blessed to stay with Harry and Elizabeth who were so welcoming and looked after me like family. A terrific granny-flat style setup for me, great meals and even a packed lunch every day. I was spoiled, which is always nice.

After our mission week we had our 2 week semester break which saw me working on college assignments, and also a weekend up in Newcastle visiting my Mum which is always nice and relaxing. After the holidays it was back to classes and more assignments which has kept me busy up to now. We have exams coming up in a few weeks but I have a couple more assignments to get finished before that.

So not a lot out of the ordinary for me, but what about the folks in Myanmar? Well, between February and May it’s holiday time for students so some of Thang Bwee and James’ students head back to Chin State to visit family, but the majority of them stay in Yangon and do other ministry work like evangelism, and some even get part-time work. A couple of them have been laid up with illness too, with one in particular being in hospital for many months now. No-one seems to know what’s causing his illness but it has been very serious, almost fatal. He’s still recovering and Thang Bwee expects it will take at least another year before we see any significant improvement. The lad’s name is Kyaw Htin (pronounced Chore Tin) so please remember him in prayer especially.

Early May was the anniversary of cyclone Nargis which devastated parts of Myanmar last year. Much has been done by way of aid for the millions affected but there is still so much more to be done. Blame can be laid in the usual place and we can only hope and pray that things will improve more speedily.

On a completely different note, I sent a package of calendars to Thang Bwee earlier this year – not expecting it to get through due to mail going “missing” – however I’m happy to tell you it made it. And just so you know, in case you ever want to send anything over, it took 10 weeks to arrive.

In the Media

Child soldiers still common in Burma: UN Report

The Burmese military regime’s army and nine other armed groups, including ceasefire groups and active anti-government forces, are still recruiting child soldiers, according to the latest Annual Report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict.

Referring to official reports shared by the junta, the UN report said the Burmese government continues to screen and release under-age children found in its armed forces during the training process. The junta reported that 68 children were detected in various military training schools and were released to their parents and guardians.

The 68 cases included 12 children who were released through the International Labor Organization (ILO) mechanism, one released and reported to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and two released and reported to the ILO and ICRC.

The ILO, through its mechanism to eliminate the use of forced labour, has verified the release of 23 children, mostly from involuntary military enrolment, based on complaints filed by parents and relatives. An additional 14 cases either await government response or remain open while the process continues, it said.

The report also said that even as the regime has informed the UN country task force that it has put procedures in place for the rehabilitation and reintegration of under-age recruits, the UNICEF has not been given access to children who were released through the government’s mechanisms for follow-up purposes.

Please Pray

Mon: Praise God that a dear friend has helped me understand how to more effectively study and prepare assignments.

Tue: Our partner churches in Myanmar. Pray for the leaders (Thang Bwee & James) and their helpers.

Wed: Severe drought and famine in Chin State due to a devastating rat plague.

Thur: Evangelism of Buddhists in Yangon and Chin State. Pray for opportunities and also for wisdom and boldness.

Fri: The Myanmar government. Pray for the Lord to change hearts and to bring justice, peace, etc.

Sat: Sick students, especially Kyaw Htin. Others suffer from recurrences of Malaria, and tuberculosis is common also.

Sun: Pray that God would continue to lead all those involved in the Myanmar work (in AU and in MM)

And praise God daily for the opportunities he’s opened up in Myanmar and for his constant blessing and abundant provision thus far.

Grace be with you,
Martin

Prayer points – May 2009

Martin — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:38:43 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

For the assistance of a dear friend in helping me understand how to do proper and effective research for college assignments. I now feel empowered to succeed in this aspect of college.
For consistent financial support which has helped toward this semester’s college fees
For the blessing of Bible College and the opportunity to learn and be equipped for future ministry*
For God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far*

Petition:

For humility, patience, grace, love and faithfulness
For my walk with the Lord to deepen and my dependence on him to increase
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through*
Financial support required – estimated $2000/month*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

Three months of ministerial training has been completed successfully by His guidance. About 16 young ministers received training for ministry.
Ram Uk, who has been studying in India, has now safely returned to Yangon for a short time of holidays
Be Nwe has been accepted to enter to PTS, India for M.Div program
Siama is in a good mode of study at PRTS (Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Michigan USA)
ERC have been able to provide food for about 10 villages in Chin State, releasing them from the starvation which has ravaged that part of Myanmar

Petition:

Financial sponsors are needed for Be Nwe and Ram Uk who are studying in India
For the work of the RBI’s rice paddy farm which will begin by June. This rice paddy is one of many ventures owned by ERC and RBI to assist them in gaining financial independence.
The next academic year of RBI will begin in June and continue on until March 2010. Please pray for students and staff.
To have more financial support for the starving people of Chin State (read more here)
To build a dormitory for the school children at Sami in Chin State
Kyaw Htin is still in hospital with a serious illness which the doctors are still unable to diagnose. Though he has improved slightly over the last 4 months he is still paralysed and in need of constant care and attention.
Future education of Thang Bwee’s son, Bowie Benjamin, who is now doing a computer course

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Thanksgiving:

Everyone is well by the grace of God
Students are doing well with their studies. They are giving their hearts, their time and energies in studying the Word of God with complete devotion.
Praise the Lord that missionary work is very useful to convert unbelievers
We have a new Church at Htauk-kyant. It was started on April 5th, 2009, having no church members yet, while we focus on children mission area. The Pastor, Rev. John Piang Zam, and his family have a worship service there, and some of the local people are now interested in what our ministry is offering.
All students are sponsored by people of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. This allows the college to provide food, accommodation, books, travel and various other tools for the students, ensuring them the best opportunity of a quality education.*

Petition:

Richer people in the neighbourhood are very difficult to convert
Some believers are going through difficult times and always need your fervent prayers
Rev. John Piang Zam with his family in the new Church-plant at Htauk-kyant
Funds:
- for house rental. This house will be used for worship and the Bible School (GBS)
- for teaching staff
- for the new Church-plant in the township of Htauk-kyat (pronounced towk-chat)
- for the young children’s ministry in South Dagon, especially for daily food, clothing, shelter, and equipment*
- for the installation of a telephone for the Church and Bible School*
- Students’ learning and health*
View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in the previous month(s)

Prayer points – Feb 2009

Martin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:23:08 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

For rest and refreshment during the December/January college break
For the blessing of Bible College and the opportunity to learn and be equipped for future ministry
For recent financial support, meaning that I can now afford this semester’s college fees
For God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far*

Petition:

Bible college has begun. Please pray that I would be able to keep up with the assessment deadlines and that the Lord would keep me encouraged as the semester progresses.
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through*
Financial support required – estimated $2000/month*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

By the grace of God two books have been published in Myanmar and are now selling in book shops in Yangon. These books are “The studies of the person and work of Christ” and “Concise Theology” (refer June ’08 prayer points)
All students are sponsored by people of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. This allows the college to provide food, accommodation, books, travel and various other tools for the students, ensuring them the best opportunity of a quality education.

Petition:

For the students to keep faithful in their given ministries
For RBI to find two lecturers, and also to find students who are called by God for ministry
For Thang Bwee to manage things properly according to God’s will and under His guidance
There will be three weeks of ministerial training at Sami in Chin State in early March. Rev. Pyi Su, Pye Si, Pa Bawh, and Be Nwe will teach in that in-service training.
4 students are ill, 3 with TB and another, Kyaw Htin, is in hospital with a serious, life threatening illness which the doctors are unable to diagnose.
Ram Uk, studying in India, and Siama who will begin studies in the United States early 2009. Pray that they would assimilate well into their new countries and study and learn with the Lord’s blessing*

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Thanksgiving:

All students are sponsored by people of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. This allows the college to provide food, accommodation, books, travel and various other tools for the students, ensuring them the best opportunity of a quality education.

Petition:

Funds:
- for the Church Building, firstly to purchase a plot of land
- for the FRCM members who are in need for their daily living, food, clothing and shelter
- for the house rent, so that James, his family, and the Bible College students may continue to use the house now occupied
- for the young children’s ministry in South Dagon, especially for daily food, clothing, shelter, and equipment
- for digging a good well, so that the ministers and the church members in South Dagon no longer have to buy water every day
- for the installation of a telephone for the Church and Bible School
- for Church planting
Students’ learning and health*

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in the previous month(s)

Mission to Myanmar Newsletter – Jan 2009

Martin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:36:50 +0000

This is the January 2009 edition of my “Mission to Myanmar” newsletter (previously called “Myanmar Musings”).

New Year, New Start, New Look

It’s almost 12 months since I sent out my last newsletter so I’m thinking of calling this the “Anniversary Edition” (ha ha). When I started the newsletters it was my intention to send one out every couple of months. I amended that to every few months, and now … well, I’m not making any more promises. I would like to say sorry though. Sorry for not writing, and sorry for not letting you know what was going on.

What was 2008 like for you? For me it was up and down. First semester was very busy with many assessment tasks plus a college mission trip to Tasmania. The mission trip was a great learning experience and I really enjoyed my time with everyone down there. Upon return though, there was a lot of work to do before the end of semester which brings with it exams.

I’m happy to say that, by the grace of God, I managed to get all the work in and passed all my exams. It was a great relief and encouragement to me, and I was looking forward to second semester.
The mid-semester break saw me working on TESOL (yet again) plus an overdue visit to the dentist (“he didn’t have to drill”), and an even more overdue visit to the optometrist who has provided me with a nice new set of reading glasses (I left him an arm and a leg as payment).

Then came second semester – one I’d be happy to forget. I never really got on top of it and, as a result, can’t boast of first-semester-like success. Suffice to say I’ll be re-doing some of those subjects this year.
End of year break, the one I’m at the end of now, was spent in Newcastle at my Mum’s house. It was a great place to be and afforded me, not only some much needed rest and recuperation, but also an environment conducive to catching up on things like TESOL (yes, there it is again).

So, it’s a new year and a new start. I’m in the process of simplifying things and pushing aside distractions so I can focus almost entirely on Bible College. Lord willing, I’ll be finished my studies at the end of this year and ready to head off mid-2010.

There have been some changes
You’ll have noticed a change in the design of the newsletter. The reason is to simplify it and make it easier to compose (and therefore send out more regularly).

The website has changed too, which some of you will have already read in an e-mail I sent out.

What you need to know …

me.malleeblue.com is now being redirected to

matt2819.com/myanmar

which will be the new website relating to my efforts, and the efforts of mission partners, in Myanmar.
My 2009 Myanmar prayer calendar is also available on the website or by requesting a copy, or copies, from me.

The new website address is more relevant I think, and the new design will hopefully make it easier for everyone to find the information they’re looking for. I hope you like it.

There are other changes too with the prayer and support cards, and also with the “Learn of the Lord’s work in Myanmar” brochure (now a double-sided card). If you’d like some of these new cards please let me know how many and I’ll have them in the post ASAP.

In the Media

There has been much concern about news that came out on January 8th about…

Christians in Burma’s former capital of Rangoon find themselves in a precarious state as local authorities on Monday banned the holding of regular church services and threatened to seal off churches if congregations failed to comply.

“They [the authorities] warned us that our churches would be sealed off if we continue worshipping,” said a pastor of a church in Pabedan Township who attended the meeting.

“Eighty percent of the churches in Yangon [Rangoon] are included in the order.”

In short, our partner churches are not affected by this, though that may change. Please pray that the Lord would give them guidance and wisdom, and that He would look after them as He always has. Please also pray for the people in the churches which have been affected, and that the Lord would be made known as a result of this persecution.

Please Pray

Mon: My year ahead at Bible College. Pray that the Lord would sustain me and keep me focussed.

Tue: Our partner churches in Myanmar. Pray for the leaders (Thang Bwee & James) and their helpers.

Wed: Students attending Bible Colleges in Myanmar. Pray for their learning and as they evangelise.

Thur: Evangelism of Buddhists in Yangon and Chin State. Pray for wisdom and boldness.

Fri: The Myanmar government. Pray for the Lord to change hearts and to bring justice, peace, etc.

Sat: Health & travel safety, here & in Myanmar. In particular, some students have Tuberculosis.

Sun: Pray that God would continue to lead all those involved in the Myanmar work (in AU and in MM).

And praise God daily for the opportunities he’s opened up in Myanmar and for his constant blessing and abundant provision thus far.

Grace be with you,
Martin

Chin refugees in India forced back to Myanmar

Martin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:38:56 +0000

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Up to 100,000 Christian Chin who have fled to India in the past 20 years to escape persecution by Myanmar’s Buddhist military rulers are at risk of being forced back, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

The New York-based rights said local authorities and community organisations in Mizoram frequently targeted Chin migrants, one of the former Burma’s many oppressed ethnic minorities.

“They live at the mercy of the local population,” HRW said in a report on the plight of the Chin, whose ancestral homes are in the mountainous reaches of northwest Myanmar.

“The Chin in Mizoram lack jobs, housing and affordable education,” HRW consultant Amy Alexander said, adding most were relegated to temporary, labour-intensive and low-paying jobs, earning around 100 rupees ($2) a day for 10 to 16-hour shifts.

The report comes at a time when attention has turned on the Rohingyas, another minority group in Myanmar, who have been fleeing abuse and harassment.

In the last two months, 550 Muslim Rohingyas are feared to have drowned after the Thai army forced 1,000 found in the Andaman Sea into wooden boats before towing out to international waters and cutting them adrift.

Despite relatively close ethnic ties between the Chin and Mizoram natives, tensions between the two populations regularly flared into anti-Chin pogroms, the HRW report said.

“Because they are stateless and marginalised and the poorest of the poor, they tend to be the scapegoat whenever there’s an incident at the border,” HRW researcher Sara Colm said.

The largest such campaign was in 2003, when the Young Mizo Association (YMA) forced 10,000 Chin back into Myanmar, HRW said.

In September 2008, the YMA issued an order for the Chin to leave Mizoram by the end of the month. The threat did not materialise, but it was enough for them to go into hiding, close their churches and wait till tensions were over, HRW said.

Such incidents showed India failing in its obligations to protect refugees or asylum seekers, Alexander said.

New Delhi has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention but under international law, is bound by the principle of ‘nonrefoulement’, which protects migrants from being returned to any country where they could be persecuted.

In addition to what HRW described as “decades of systematic abuse” at the hands of the Myanmar army, the Chin’s woes have been compounded by a 2007 infestation of rats that destroyed huge swathes of crops and food stores.

A recent U.N. survey estimated that 40 percent of people in Chin State, Myanmar’s poorest, did not have enough food, increasing the number of people trying to leave the country.

[ Original article ]

Prayer calendar

Martin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:08:30 +0000

On behalf of those in Myanmar, and from me, thanks for your support and prayers. I know the Lord is working through your faithfulness.

If you’d like my 29-day prayer calendar you can download a PDF version here [196kb]. Print both pages on one sheet, back and front (i.e. double-sided), and then fold it in half and in half again so there are 4 sections.

If you’d like a stack of these then please order some from me – they’re FREE. Just use the Contact Martin page and they’ll be in the mail next-day.

[ If you need a PDF reader I suggest Foxit or Acrobat ]

Some great places to put your new calendar:

Inside your Bible – but remember it’s there
On your corkboard or whiteboard
On your bathroom mirror – pray while you brush, shave, wash, etc.
On the back of your toilet door – it’s a great place to pray

Share About the Work

Martin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:00:01 +0000

These are some ways to share about the work and to let others know what the Lord is doing in Myanmar…

Order some Ministry Information Sheets from me (using the webform)
Print and share my prayer calendar with your small-group.
Have me (when I’m in Australia) or Chris, my Home Support Coordinator, come and talk to your group or church. Contact me initially using the webform.
coming soon → A video about the work in Myanmar. This will be a link to a downloadable video of the work going on in Myanmar. You can download this and present it to your church or small group; it’s almost as good as having me there
Express your interest in this idea using the webform.

Support continues after cyclone Nargis

Martin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:25:41 +0000

Last May (2008) Nargis, the most deadly category 4 cyclone to ever cross Myanmar’s shores, took over 140,000 lives and left in excess of 1,000,000 people homeless (this image shows the path of the cyclone).

Support from outside Myanmar has been strong and I’m happy to report that the Presbyterian Church of Australia answered the call to help with donations totalling more than AUD$50,000.

As relief efforts continue, please pray for the people and government of Myanmar, and that the Lord would be gracious toward them and cause many to call on the name of Jesus for salvation.

Prayer points – Nov 2008

Martin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:30 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

For the Lord’s comfort, patience and long-suffering with me over the last few months
For opportunities to share with some churches and small groups about the work the Lord is doing in Myanmar
God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far*

Petition:

Semester 2 2008 did not see me pass too many subjects so please pray that I will do better in 2009
To finish the correspondence TESOL course I’m still working through
Financial support required – estimated $2000/month
Bible college – to understand and retain what’s being learnt*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

Work has been completed on the RBI dormitory building (read more about it and see photos here)
Ram Uk has been accepted and is now in India furthering his theological studies
Siama, long-time assistant and adopted son to Thang Bwee will be leaving mid-January 2009 to further his theological studies in the United States

Petition:

Ram Uk, studying in India, and Siama who will begin studies in the United States early 2009. Pray that they would assimilate well into their new countries and study and learn with the Lord’s blessing
Different students continue to contract Tuberculosis (TB) which, though curable, isolates them for 6 months as well as halts their learning and weakens their bodies. Names aren’t important but your prayers for healing are, currently there are 3 students with this illness.
A 4th student is ill, though it’s not known what his illness is
Graduate student, now staff member at RBI, Be Nwee, hopes to do further study in India. Contact has been made with the faculty of PTS in India but no reply received yet
Famine throughout Chin State (read an article here)
Students and staff would have the leading of the Lord in evangelism*
Rev. Pyi Su in Chin State and his outreach to Buddhist families*
Church planting in Yangon and Khumi area of Chin State*
ERC’s Sunday school classes around Yangon*

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Petition:

Continued financial support*
Students’ learning and health*

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in the previous month(s)

RBI has a new building

Martin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:35:35 +0000

Thanks to more fund-raising by the Presbyterian Church of Australia, the Evangelical Reformed Church (ERC) has been able to build a solid and permanent structure at the Reformed Bible Institute (RBI) site. This building will be used for male student accommodation as well as meeting room/classroom facilities.

They’ve sent us a few photos, click here to have a look.

Rampaging rats bring starvation to Burma

Martin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:55:05 +0000

In Burma’s north-west Chin state, thousands of people say they are starving. The Mara tribe say hundreds of their community have died in the past two months alone.

Local human rights groups say of an estimated 500,000 population, 100,000 people are at crisis point.

They blame a natural phenomenon, which occurs every 50 years in the region – a plague of rats.

The last time it happened – in the late 1950s – an estimated 15,000 people died from famine.

Across the border, India has implemented emergency measures to deal with the threat, but Burma’s military government has been silent on the matter.

Bamboo flowers

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has conducted an assessment in the region.

In an email earlier this year to a Burmese non-governmental organisation, the WFP’s country director for Burma, Chris Kaye, concluded that “people are not dying of starvation” and that the “distribution of WFP relief food would be inappropriate”.

It is a response which inspired over 50 people from the Mara tribe to walk for days through thick, mountainous jungle to meet me at a secret location on the India-Burma borderlands.

They say that the WFP’s assessment did not include southern Chin where they live and that if the international community fails to take them into account, their tribe may not survive.

They all tell the same story of how, when the bamboo flowers, it causes a plague of rats.

When the rats have finished gorging on the bamboo fruits, they go on to devour farm crops, which provide the main form of income for the Mara people.

“You can track the movement of the rats,” one man said. “Overnight the whole mountain range can be destroyed.”

Another told me how he had tried to fend off the rats by building rat traps all around his field of maize.

“More than 100, but it’s meaningless, I cannot protect the farm,” he said.

Painfully thin

The nearest hospital is miles away through mountainous jungle. All the villagers I met were painfully thin.

Dr Sasa is a local from southern Chin state and a medical student in his final year of studies in Armenia.

Before the food shortages took hold, villagers gave their livestock to pay for his training so that he could return and be their doctor.

He was not due back until he finished his studies but when he heard the WFP had dismissed claims of a famine, he set up mobile clinics in the borderlands.

In the two months he has been back in the region, he says he has delivered dozens of dead babies and seen over 200 people starve to death.

“Many of them die of malnutrition,” he says.

“Our whole body needs to be filled with food, which builds our immunity against disease. When you are malnourished, disease comes to you and you have no ability to resist.”

Government inaction

Dr Sasa and the villagers all say that the WFP’s assessment did not include them.

That view is shared by the chief minister of Mizoram state in neighbouring India, Pu Zoramthanga. Mizoram is also affected by the bamboo flowering.

“Those visitors went to the accessible areas. There will be no famine there,” says the minister. “If they had visited the area near the border with Mizoram, certainly people are suffering. They have to go back and see.”

He says if protective measures had been put in place by the Burmese government, the famine would not be happening now.

“The government of India sent a good amount of money for advance preparation to combat this – to make storage of rice and instead let us grow cash crops like ginger and turmeric, which the rats won’t eat,” the minister adds.

“With this we combat the bamboo flowering and famine.”

The villagers I have met all tell me that the Burmese government is doing nothing to help. If anything, they say, the government is making the situation worse.

They say that the military – which has increased its presence in Chin state – taxes them, takes their possessions including their livestock, and forces them to work without pay as labourers or porters.

One pastor told me he advised his parishioners to do whatever the military asked of them.

“We ask God to endure this suffering,” he says.

When I asked him how it would help, he referred to the Bible.

“If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn the other, we taught like that. Is this right? I don’t know,” he asks.

[ Original article by Bernadette Carroll ]

Prayer points – June 2008

Martin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:25:07 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

Semester 1 2008 was a very busy one with 7 assessments due totalling 15,000 words and I managed to pass all subjects
God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far*
Some generous and thoughtful people have again provided me with some very timely financial support*

Petition:

Boldness in evangelism
To have more regular personal devotions and prayer times
All the preparations for life in Myanmar
Bible college – to understand and retain what’s being learnt*
Travel mercies (safety, health, etc.)*
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry*
Financial support required – estimated $1500/month*

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

During a teaching trip to his home state, Thang Bwee found an orphanage which needed financial and spiritual assistance and has begun supporting the work there

Petition:

Thang Bwee is translating J.I Packer’s “Concise Theology”, 50% is complete (Answered! see Feb ’09 prayer points)
RBI needs at least two part-time lecturers in theology for the 2008/2009 academic year
For the welfare of the country
Need sponsors for the costs of printing 3 translated books
RBI students – for their study and evangelism
Students and staff would have the leading of the Lord in evangelism*
Rev. Pyi Su in Chin State and his outreach to Buddhist families*
Church planting in Yangon and Khumi area of Chin State*
ERC’s Sunday school classes around Yangon*

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Petition:

James is looking for 2 other men, similar to elders, to support and guide him in his ministry
For the Lord to encourage and guide James
Provision of some visiting lecturers
Continued financial support*
Students’ learning and health*

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

* Thanksgiving and petition items with an asterisk indicate an ongoing prayer point, that is, one that was listed in the previous month(s)

Myanmar After Cyclone Nargis

Martin — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:15:47 +0000

Hello everyone,

I’ve been silent on the matter of cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar a little over a week ago simply because I didn’t have any accurate information that I could send out. Plus there was a fair amount of media coverage around keeping you more informed than I could have – I don’t even have a TV so you probably knew more than me most of the time.

However, over the last couple of days, I’ve had information come through from one of our Partner Churches in Myanmar and would like to share some of it with you, I’ll also include some prayer points. Regarding general news items, I’ll leave that to the TV, radio and newspapers; this article will cover the Presbyterian Partner Churches in Myanmar that I’m involved with.

Firstly, a heartfelt thank you from me, and also on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Myanmar, for all the concern, e-mails, prayer, etc. for them during this difficult time. I was particularly touched by e-mails from Ollie and Barra, thanks guys.

LATEST NEWS
We have heard from 1 of our 2 partner churches in Myanmar, the Evangelical Reformed Church, and, by the grace of God, they report that they’re all alive and well.

These are the words from Rev Dr Thang Bwee:

Praise the Lord for His marvellous love and protection. It was a terrifying typhoon which destroyed several buildings, messed up everything, and many thousands of lives have been lost. We were kept safe under His wings.

There were some small amounts of damage such as roofs missing from our buildings and our living room became like a bathroom with heavy rain. Also all the cashew trees from my farm were completely destroyed. The 3rd of May was a terrifying morning for us all.

People are now suffering with the consequences of the cyclone as public transportation, communication and trading have all stopped. We have no lights and no water in most of the city. Yangon looks like a war zone at this moment.

People are keeping busy with seeking food, water and to repair their damaged houses and buildings. The price of everything has risen two to three times its normal price.

Bill Lutton, director of mission partners, the Australian Presbyterian World Mission, says he is “hoping to be able to go as soon as possible to take money for immediate needs and for reconstruction etc.. It is so hard not to be able to be in touch with our dear brothers and sisters in that country, but God knows their needs and is attentive to the cries of His people.”

PRAYER POINTS
We have not yet heard from our other partner church, the Free Reformed Church of Myanmar, so the first prayer point is for them. Please pray that they’re all well and able to cope with the many difficulties facing them as a consequence of the storm.

Please also pray for

speedy recovery of conveniences and everyday needs
for the people of Myanmar to discover the love and the safety of God in the midst of these circumstances
that God will be glorified through this disaster
that God’s people in Myanmar would be comforted and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, as well as motivated by him to reach out to the needy around them, even in their own difficult circumstances
that we in the west would be moved to give and continue our support, both in finance and prayer
that aid workers would be allowed in and be given the freedom to go where they’re needed
that the military government would be softened toward their own people and deal with them compassionately

———

John Piper wrote a nice short article/blog called 6 Ways to React to the Cyclone, I would recommend it to you, it’ll only take 3 minutes to read.

Grace be with you.

6 Ways to React to the Cyclone

Martin — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:20:49 +0000

John Piper and his team write many fantastic articles on the Desiring God Blog. This one is relevant to Myanmar so I thought I’d replicate it here as well.

(Author: John Piper)

As the carnage from Cyclone Nargis moves toward 50,000 dead and beyond, there is a way to pray and act:

1. Be softened to the pain nearby.

The Good Samaritan knew nothing of the calamities in first century Burma, but was commended by the Lord for mercies at hand (Luke 10:25-37).

2. Pray for the followers of Christ in Myanmar:

That they would be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10; 100:3).

That they would be awakened from the illusion that this life is long or sure or the main point of eternal existence (James 4:14).

That they would be given a new vision of the supreme value of Christ who promises his followers that famine, nakedness, and death will not separate them from his love (Romans 8:35).

That God would meet their needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus, so that they might have to give to those in need (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 4:28).

3. Pray for the millions of unbelievers near the calamity and far from it:

That they would see the helplessness of man before the Power that rules the world and fly to Christ who alone delivers from the final cyclone of God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

That they would not respond like the people in Revelation (9:20; 16:9, 11) who did not repent at the devastation but cursed God.

That they would hear the best news in all the world—not the news of health, wealth, and prosperity in this world, but the news that Christ became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) so that in him we can be more than conquerors in every calamity of life (Romans 8:37).

4. Pray for those of us who live in the seeming security and prosperity of America:

That we would see what is about to break over us in due time—either collectively as God removes the hand of his providential restraint, or individually as one by one we are whisked to the hospital, then wheeled to the nursing home, and then carried to the funeral home (Hebrews 9:27).

That millions would be made to see this and repent from the adultery of treasuring anything more than Christ (James 4:4).

5. Give money to replenish the coffers of compassion “since you also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3).

6. Muster a team from your church, and when the doors are open, be ready to go.

This kind of going always has the promise of a special, “I will be with you to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

[ Original post ]

Myanmar Musings Newsletter – Feb 2008

Martin — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:00:13 +0000

This is the February 2008 edition of my “Myanmar Musings” newsletter.

Download Feb2008_MyanmarMusings.

Prayer points – Jan 2008

Martin — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:20:06 +0000

Martin
Thanksgiving:

God’s providence in the short-term mission work so far
Some generous and thoughtful people have provided me with some very timely financial support

Petition:

Bible college – to understand and retain what’s being learnt
Travel mercies (safety, health, etc.)
For God to prepare the way in Myanmar for ministry
Financial support required – estimated $1500/month

ERC (Evangelical Reformed Church / Thang Bwee’s church)
Thanksgiving:

People are being led to Christ through the outreach and evangelism throughout Yangon
Finances have been provided for the purchase of another a taxi which will help the church and bible college support itself better
Translation work and publication of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) has been completed

Petition:

That the Lord would encourage the church leaders, especially Thang Bwee
The education of Thang Bwee’s children
Students and staff would have the leading of the Lord in evangelism
Rev. Pyi Su in Chin State and his outreach to Buddhist families
Church planting in Yangon and Khumi area of Chin State
ERC’s Sunday school classes around Yangon
Work on the mission field at Sami and at the training center also in Sami

FRCM (Free Reformed Church of Myanmar / James’ church)
Thanksgiving:

US$4000 has been provided through support from the Broadford Presbyterian church members for land so they can now build their own bamboo house for living and college
A computer has been provided for the translation work through support from the Broadford Presbyterian church members

Petition:

Continued financial support
Students’ learning and health
Future projects:
- FRCM church building construction, and a plot of land in Yangon
- telephone for Bible school and church
- FRCM church building in Chin State

View all posts ‘For Prayer’

Myanmar Musings Newsletter – Nov 2007

Martin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:00:20 +0000

This is the April 2007 edition of my “Myanmar Musings” newsletter.

Download Nov2007_MyanmarMusings.

2007 – Jan to Jun update

Martin — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:00:27 +0000

I’ll try and fill you in on what’s been happening for the last 6 months and what I expect is coming my way over the next 6. So, sit back, grab a coffee, and enjoy my ramblings.

———

My work doesn’t need to demand my all, and although that’s true in theory, I seem to be struggling with the practicalities of it.

So why is that? I’m a helpdesk guy, why do I let my job demand so much of me? Why is there very little left in my tank after 8 hours at work? Well, first, it’s usually a little more than 8 hours by the time I’m done, although that’s all I get paid for, but still, even 9 hours shouldn’t be that taxing . . . surely! Well, bottom line, it is, and I think it’s because of the myriad of things I’m involved in with our team and that I seem to be the one to come to for advice etc. Add to this the additional administrative tasks (like process writing, knowledgebase administration, etc) and the normal HUGE workload of support calls and e-mails from our customer’s staff, then my days fill up fairly quickly and my to do list looks like a six-month shopping list from Antarctica. I did try to back off a little after coming back from Myanmar last August (2006), but I just can’t sit by while things around me go downhill. I have to put in my suggestions and that usually means some follow-up with actions and there I go again adding to my list.

So as a consequence of my demanding job, which I really enjoy by the way, I have had very little time for anything. But, as I’ve been a little unwell over the last week or so (nothing serious, just a virus) I’ve had some time to invest here on the site and so it’s has had a face-lift and here I am writing news again.

You’re probably wondering what else has been happening, but I’m sorry to say it’s not been a lot really – as I said, I’ve been too worn out to do much – but here are a few bits of news you might be interested in.

Approved as a missionary

I can’t remember exactly when last year but I submitted my application to the NSW branch of mission partners (the Australian Presbyterian World Mission) and last October they called me up for the official interview. They asked lots of questions and quizzed me about my hopes and aspirations for life in Myanmar and also expressed a concern with the lack of official theological study under my belt. They talked amongst themselves for a short while then advised me that they’d be happy to recommend me to the national mission partners’ committee as a partner church missionary, however it would be pending 12 months of bible college and the completion of my TESOL course. I’d been expecting something like that so I wasn’t too shocked, and in hindsight now I’m glad that I have to do it. It will be invaluable for me to have done the study, and the fellowship and discipline will be very good for me too.

Further to the missionary application, in early February this year the national committee met and accepted the recommendation of the NSW committee and approved my application unanimously (pending the study of course).

TESOL – GRRR!!

I’m afraid that 2 years after starting the course I’m still slogging my way through it. The bad thing though is that the TESOL advisor in QLD who heads up the operation here is OZ sent me a curt e-mail about 2 months ago giving me an absolute final deadline of mid-August this year. It means I’ll have to do about 1 assignment/module a week, and in the last 8 weeks I’ve done 3. When I replied to her e-mail about the deadline I said it was probably unrealistic to expect 1 a week, but having me commit to it was what she wanted to hear so I said I’d give it a try. If I can’t get it all done by then then I’ll just find another course I suppose. I’ll be trying as hard as I can to get it all done though but 1 a week might just be a touch too much.

The Rest

Other less significant things have happened too. I discovered Skypecasting so I used it to “Skypecast” English lessons. It was fun while it lasted (about 3 times a week for 4 weeks) but I found it was consuming a lot of my time and I just couldn’t sustain it. I’d love to start it up again but I can’t see that happening between now and when I’m 80.

I worked Xmas day until 3pm and then had dinner with Mum, Helen (my sister), her husband and 4 kids and a couple of other ring-ins. I worked between Xmas and new year, and have been work, work, working ever since.

I’m still on a diet and am not having any success (could be all the cake and chocolate I eat) but I’ll keep on with it anyway.

Most recently I’ve been preparing for what’s ahead, which is full-time bible college in July. Oh, there’s another thing keeping me busy – I’m doing an evening subject at Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC) called “Church history to 1550″ and I’m really enjoying it, but I’m not looking forward to the exam in June … I stink at exams. So, in preparation for full-time college I’ve been seeking alternative accommodation but it’s not looking good, so I think I’ve pretty much decided to apply to live in at SMBC if they’ll accept me as a full-time student. Either way it means moving out of this flat so I’ve been selling off non-essential furniture. All I’m hoping to be left with soon is a fridge, washing machine, bed and a desk. Then, when it’s close to the time to leave I’ll sell those things too.

In Closing

Here’s the schedule for the next 12 months:

Continue to study evening bible college subject until June
Continue to work through TESOL
Leave work late June
Start full-time bible college mid-July
After bible college semester finishes early November, go the Myanmar for 4 weeks, late November to late December (Lord willing)
February 2008 it’s back to bible college for another year

Prayers Please

So please pray for me, especially that I’ll get TESOL done and get through the bible college exams with a pass (otherwise it’s a waste of time and money as I’ll have to do the subject all over again). Also please pray for my financial support as my missionary work really starts this July and I’ll need something around $1500 per month support for at least the next 4 years after which I hope to be generating enough income from the English teaching school in Myanmar.

Hey, thanks for reading this far and for your interest in what I’m up to. I covet your prayers and as recent history has shown me, I really need them. During February I was going through a difficult time and wasn’t too sure why, but thanks to the prayers and support of my friends and my loving church family the Lord broke through and the burdens were lifted. Please keep praying for the battles that come my way, the ones which are in heavenly places.

In His service and for His glory.
Martin

Grace be with you.

Welcome to Texas

Martin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 09:00:50 +0000

Karen migrants find life in America has its downside

When members of the Thai community in the US are asked to help resettle newly arrived Karen refugees from the Thai-Burmese border, old clichés surface. “Are these people members of the God’s Army?” ask some. Others recall headline-grabbing incidents like the murder of a Thai woman by her Burmese maid.

Many Americans share this prejudiced view of the Karen arrivals, believing they have no idea of civilized bathroom or kitchen hygiene. Some are surprised that the Karen actually wear shoes.

It’s difficult enough for Karen émigrés to cope with the prejudices of their adopted country, but further shocks await them.

“I came to America hoping to study, but ended up cleaning in a hotel six days a week in order to help my family pay the rent,” said Htoo Paw, one of the first Karen refugees to arrive in Austin, Texas, under the US resettlement program. “I’ll have to put my dream of further education to rest for a while.”

Htoo Paw is too old to qualify for free education in the US. He’s 18, one year over the age limit. Further education will now have to wait until he can pay for it. His working hours at the hotel also prevent him from taking advantage of English lessons provided by the resettlement program.

Htoo Paw set off for the US from Tham Hin refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border last September, together with 30 other Karen refugees. Tham Hin is one of nine refugee camps along Thailand’s border with Burma, and it’s providing the first batches of Karen for resettlement in the US. Its 9,500 residents are mostly ethnic Karen who fled Burmese army aggression in Karen State.

Until recently, the US Homeland Security Act banned migrants who had contact with armed rebel groups—effectively excluding from resettlement in the US almost all Karen residents of camps along the Thai-Burmese border, because they lived among the Karen National Union rebel movement. But last year, the US government waived the exclusion clause for the Karen, allowing the first groups into the country last August and September.

After approving refugees for admission, the US Department of Homeland Security allocates them to 10 US resettlement agencies. Karen migrants are cared for by the Episcopal Migration Ministries, a non-profit organization of the Episcopal Church. The EMM, in turn, assigns migrants to its agencies in cities throughout the US.

Austin’s Refugee Services of Texas, an EMM affiliate, took 30 Karen last September and is expecting 300 more this year. Refugee Services of Texas greets arriving migrants, provides them with housing, settles them into their new communities and helps them find employment. Modest monetary assistance and food stamps are also provided to help migrants over their first four months in the US.

“I learned last year that America is taking us as refugees, but I had no idea where and how I was going to live,” said Ba Zoe, whose mother and sisters had left Tham Hin camp a few months earlier to resettle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“I wanted to go to Milwaukee because my mother and my sisters were there, but they just sent me here to Austin,” she said. “They sent a car to pick us up from Tham Hin and gave us the airplane ticket. Then, when we arrived, they came to meet us at the airport and took us to the apartment and taught us how to use the heater, air-conditioning and all the electronic devices.”

“It was quite difficult at the beginning to express what we wanted. For example, we cannot live on western food. We need shrimp paste and fish sauce as our staple food, but we did not know where we could buy it. Then, one day, a few Thai students who lived here came to visit us. We told them what we wanted, and they took us to an Asian grocery. Life here is not that bad after we got to eat our own food.”

But life in the US can still be hard if the newcomers don’t speak English. Although Refugee Services of Texas offers English classes, instruction begins at the lowest level and progress is slow. A pregnant woman said she was nervous when the agency told her to call the emergency services number 9-1-1 if she felt the birth coming on during the night or at the weekend—the number means nothing to her.

Refugee Services of Texas found one bilingual translator, but she spoke a Karen dialect scarcely understood by the migrants. A Burmese interpreter was enlisted to help out, but few of the migrants understood Burmese.

The problem was summed up by Ba Zoe: “I don’t understand a single word that the Burmese interpreter speaks, but I don’t know how to tell the agency because I don’t speak English.”

Lack of language skills also condemns migrants to accepting menial, low-paid work.

“The agency told us that the financial help will last for the first four months and that we need to get a job as soon as possible in order to be self-sufficient and to pay back the airfare,” said Aung Gyi, a 30-year-old Karen.

“The women are told to stay home to take care of the children while their men folk work—as hotel housekeepers, for example. once we get jobs, we are automatically cut off from an opportunity to learn English,” Aung Gyi said. His wife is pregnant and his 2-year-old son has a heart problem. Aung Gyi’s job pays him $7.50 (9,370 kyat) an hour.

“Life here is certainly better than in the refugee camp,” said Aung Gyi. “We can go anywhere we please, and we have more things to do than wait for food handouts. And there’s no longer that fear of the Thai police if you sneak out of the camp. But living in America is also a struggle. I can only hope for the future of my children.”

———

[ Original article ]

Myanmar Musings Newsletter – Apr 2007

Martin — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:00:23 +0000

This is the April 2007 edition of my “Myanmar Musings” newsletter.

Download Apr2007_MyanmarMusings.

Myanmar learns to live with the lights out

Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:44 +0000

Chronic power shortages in Myanmar are leaving cities in the former Burma shrouded in almost permanent blackout, driving its citizens to despair and crippling an economy reeling from decades of military misrule.

As with other problems in the once-prosperous ex-British colony, there is little explanation in the state-controlled media, which abound with pictures of generals inaugurating new hydropower projects and promising sufficient power “next year”.

Few people believe them.

“We haven’t been able to use the washing machine for ages as the power never lasts long enough. It now serves as a laundry basket,” said Yangon housewife Hla Myint, adding that all her other electrical goods were virtually worthless.

“We recently decided to retire the rice cooker and we use the fridge as a cupboard. We’ve unplugged the cable and keep the crockery and glassware inside.”

Diesel Fumes
Small businesses such as photo-processing shops or Internet cafés need portable generators to get by and have to hike prices to reflect the high cost of diesel, nearly all of which is imported.

But the use of generators comes with hidden costs for the wider population, mainly in the form of noise and air pollution.

“With all the blackouts, generator noise, diesel fumes and flash floods in the rainy season due to the choked drains, life here has become horrible,” said Ba Tin, a retired civil servant.

Doctors and psychiatrists say they are having to treat an increased number of respiratory ailments and stress-related conditions, which they attribute to the noise and fumes.

The widespread use of generators also creates a massive fire hazard, and local papers are full of reports of neighbourhoods or blocks burnt to the ground due to an unattended generator overheating.

Many in Yangon believe the blackouts are a deliberate ploy to make the port city in the Irrawaddy delta so insufferable that government workers and others will be happy to move to the Nay Pyi Taw, which remains little more than a building site.

“It’s very strange that all the roads are brightly lit even though they are almost deserted day and night, while the crowded roads in Yangon have no lights,” economics student Saw Lwin said.

“You can’t help wondering if the government is forcing all of us to go and settle in Nay Pyi Taw,” added his father, Ba Tin. “With the daily blackouts here every day, we can’t do anything.”

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[ Original article ]