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!