(via Lifeword newsletter) February 1, 2022, marked the one-year anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. Sparked by a general election that caused protests on both sides of the conflict, it has now turned into a civil war across the country.
Rama, Lifeword’s global partner (and BMA missionary) explains, “The conflict is between the military junta and the People’s Defense Forces (PDF) all over the country every day, and traveling is dangerous.”
“Recently, an evangelist was preaching in a village and Buddhists who didn’t like Christians reported them to the military. A few minutes later they came and arrested him. Several pastors have been shot dead by the military, and villagers are being paid to report gatherings of more than five (people).”
Despite the fear and uncertainty of this endless coup, Rama has not stopped ministering to people in nearby villages. He still conducts small-group Bible studies in several communities, hosts three-day evangelistic camps, does house-to-house visitation and distributes the gospel tracts he makes.
But his most effective method of sharing the gospel is through Burmese-language Lifeword programming. Although most forms of communication are tapped and commandeered by the military, it is still possible to utilize a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to send and receive programming to a playout center in Singapore to beam the programming back into Myanmar.
Rama will continue to share the good news of the gospel despite pastors being arrested, homes being searched and church members being interrogated. He says the PDF, the small opposition army, has promised to begin more severe strikes against the military junta. The PDF have also begun making their own weapons and adding soldiers to their ranks. Still, he says, military forces have become more brutal and there is no sign of peace.
“The military is checking churches and pastors’ houses where our house church is,” Rama says. “They have not yet come to our house church. Our team and I will continue working in those mission fields and try to stay away from brutal military and police as much as we can. Last Sunday, we met without singing so we would not be noticed.”
Please pray for Rama and his ministry leaders as they continue to share the gospel in Myanmar and other Burmese-speaking areas despite the danger.
Team Lifeword
We are excited to announce that Lifeword Sunday 2022 is Oct. 23! Stay tuned, as we will be announcing this year’s theme soon!
If your church would like to schedule Donny or another team member to come and share what God is doing through Lifeword’s ministry, contact Jennifer Herrel at jennifer@lifeword.org.
Please join us in praying for the salvation of non-Christians in Nepal who faithfully listen to and watch Lifeword Nepali content and for their understanding of the truth of the gospel being shared with them.
We praise God for our Lifeword team member traveling to Kathmandu to train the local network of churches. He reports exciting results — baptizing 10 people in the last month and beginning two discipleship groups in the coming weeks.
We also praise God that Lifeword will be adding languages #134 and #135 online by the end of month.
