News from the General Secretary...Myanmar Baptist Convention!

Success in mission comes with cooperation and partnership. Rev. K. D. Tu Lum, General Secretary of the Myanmar Baptist Convention, wrote to me this morning emphasizing that the needs are still great and he is grateful for the help of Baptist bodies like the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, the Asia part of the Baptist World Alliance who visited Myanmar to talk about a more coordinated aid program for the relief of the many who are still suffering from Cyclone Nargis.

Here, in part, are his comments:

We are trying to help the Nargis affected people in the coast area of Myanmar. Last month, we discussed with APBF General Secretary, Bonny Resu and Baptist world Aid Director, Paul Montacute in order tomake contributions to the Nargis affected people. We are expecting theAmerican Baptists to assist us in this time of disaster. You would see and know our needs during your visit in October.We are doing our best. Please remember us in your prayers.

With best wishes,
Rev.K.D.Tu Lum
General Secretary of the MBC

While it is true that Rev. K. D. Tu Lum is a non-native speaker of English and it may be that his comment, "We are expecting American Baptist to assist us in this time of disaster." is stronger than he intended, I think not. No matter how low we are on the economic ladder living here in the West, we would be among the "wealthy elite" in places like Myanmar and most of SE Asia. We can give and even though it may seem a bit forward to say it so plainly as Rev. Tu Lum has, I invite you to prayerfully think about what God is "expecting" from you (and me!) to meet the great needs that are still going unmet.

The Crisis Continues - But There Is Hope!

Greetings to you in the strong Name of the One who brings relief in the time of need!

There has been a long, dry spell in adding information to this blog. Since the time immediately following Nargis, it has been difficult to get information and pictures to publish. This is not because there has not been news but more because the persons doing the relief are wholly overworked and have little time to write reports and send pictures. Additionally, they place a stronger emphasis on doing what they can do by trying to meet the great needs at hand and less on telling others about it. Nevertheless, I have some hopeful news! I just received a report from the treasurer of the Myanmar Baptist Convention this morning and I want to share it with you. We have sent a good portion of the One Great Hour of Sharing funds that have come in to help with the relief efforts of the Myanmar Baptist Convention and its 18 people/ethnic conventions.

Here is what he says:

Dear Rev. Stanley Murray,

Regarding the Nargis relief work, we received funds from International Ministries through the Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship.

1. Karen Baptist Convention : Homes totally destroyed are 13,722 & death toll is 4594. Thirty churches were damaged or destroyed.
2. Myanmar Burmese Churches Union: Affected villages were 78 & 7,215 families,, Twenty Churches destroyed or damaged
3. Pwo Karen Baptist Convention: About 2,472 homes affected & 1,372 completely destroyed. Thirty-eight churches ruined.

4. Asho Baptist Convention : 12 villages affected containing 3,960 homes.

To these ( 4 ) Conventions, we have distributed rice, oil, water filters, medicines, mosquito nets, boats, tarpaulin, and seeds for cultivation.

Most of the pictures included in this posting are from the work being done with the Pwo Karen and were given by Dr. Ko Ko Lay, General Secretary of the Pwo Karen Baptist Convention via Dr. Paul Aita, Senior Pastor of the Japanese Baptist Church, Seattle Washington who with his wife just came back from a lengthy time of volunteering at Myanmar Institute of Theology in Insein, Myanmar.

Please continue to give to the One Great Hour of Sharing. There is still much to be done!

More news very soon!

Progress in Myanmar!

These are three pictures just in that bolster the hope that aid and assistance is beginning to get through. These are rice and tractor part shipements on their way to the hardest hit areas!

Some Good News for a Change!

I received word this morning that there is some glimmers of hope in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Some tractors have been purchased and are on their way from Yangon by truck and by boat to help the deeply affected area (mostly Karen) to begin the new rice-planting season! The news I received also stated that the government of Myanmar is starting to bow to pressure from the outside and allowing more humanitarian work to bring aid and assistance to the people most in need.

This brings hope for certain but this is far, far from over! Funds are needed to pay back loans taken out for the tractors and to buy a myriad of other bare essentials (temporary shelter, food, seed, housing re-construction materials, etc.) for the victims. The people who live in Myanmar are extremely resourceful but materials with which to be resourceful are very limited. We continue to funnel all income from One Great Hour of Sharing (Nargis relief) directly to the most needed area. Nearly $30,000 is on it way presently. Thank all of you who are concerned about the victims of this disaster and have given (and will continue to give) sacrificially to meet this ongoing need!

Helping Myanmar with our prayers and support

I was honored to be asked to represent American Baptist International Ministries at the recent Roundtable talks concerning ways Baptists from around the world could aid both Burma and China in the recent disasters which have hit both countries within the last month. It was heartwarming to see the amount of support being offered from so many countries and organizations.

I have especially been concerned for Burma and our Karen brothers and sisters who are suffering from the devastation of their homes. I have also been praying for many families which have lost loved ones as a result of the storm and the lack of help which has been given them from their own government.

As I sat and listened to a report on what the Myanmar Baptist Convention has already done to help its people, I was awed by the faith and humility in the face of such loss. As I looked at the pictures shown of bodies lining the river, families huddled under bamboo shelters which were so small that no more than one or two of the ten to twelve people were sheltered from the rain, the lack of clean water and food, the vast devastation of the entire countryside, I couldn’t help but weep at such sorrow.

Read the full missionary journal at www.internationalministries.org/read/5792

Baptists meet in Bangkok to work on aid to Myanmar and China

Representatives from several Baptist agencies, including American Baptist International Ministries, met in Bangkok on May 24 to discuss ongoing relief efforts related to both Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province.

In addition to International Ministries, and an official from the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC), other participants included representatives from, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Mission, Baptist World Aid, and the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, as well as counterparts from Australia, Hungary, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.

Read the full story at www.internationalministries.org/read/5733

Pray for our Myanmar students during the cyclone crisis

Dear Family and Friends,

With the tragedy of Myanmar (Burma) in the news, we thought it would be good to remind you that in our international master of divinity degree program we have several Christian students from Myanmar. I want to mention our three seniors.

Read the full missionary journal at www.internationalministries.org/read/5660