Category: Trials
COVID, Famine, War: A Report from Myanmar
[The following report is from pastor xxxxxxxxx in Myanmar.]
Greetings in Jesus’ name!
The [new] Stay at Home declaration was also announced to our city last night. The spread of COVID19 was so rapid and many were dead daily. The Government’s shopping centres and all shopping markets will be closed from Friday and the cost of all things will be highly increased day by day.
During [this] crisis, the civil war movement was reaching the whole country. Humanly speaking we are so regretful of it but it leads us nearer to the Lord.
In Kalay town there were more than 15 persons per day who died with this sickness and many pastors were killed by it thus we regret hearing such bad news everyday.
As the situation in our country is getting worse and worse, in many villages, towns, and cities, there is no money in banks nor in the hands of the people. We all are now facing this crisis in the whole country.
We are going to start facing problems for daily living. Some have no sufficient daily food for their families. During this time Covid 19 problem is increasing especially in Chin Land/State and Kalay Valley, Sagaing Division, 65 Chin pastors and 450 people were killed by this Covid 19 virus last month June and we were so sorry for them.
Agape orphanage (50) children could not go to school, the increments of daily living are so rapid and the Covid 19 problem is also rising up and we do not understand what will happen in our future. We are looking only at the Hands of the Lord with prayers. We hereby humbly request you to have special considerations and understanding more than before due to the crisis we are facing now. All the costs of things are rapidly increasing day by day. I humbly request you to pray for us and help us.
The Mission for Myanmar Organization is planting 15 house churches at 15 different places in Myanmar now. Each village has its own house churches where new believers come together to Sunday worship regularly. Due to the pandemic and our current situations, our missionaries and their new believers are running out of foods such as rice and oils. We are facing daily food difficulty with co-worker missionaries now. They really need help.
Many families across the country are starving for food now. We thought that the situation was getting better. But now we are in the third wave of Covid-19. Our dear friends and relatives are passing away with the virus everyday. Because of the military coup most medical doctors and health workers are not giving any service to the people. They do Civil Disobedience Movement to against the coup so that the junta will not be able to run the Government. Because of CDM most of the hospitals are closed. The people suffered more than words can say. They have no place to go when they are sick. They don’t know if they are covid-19 positive or not. In this way, they spread the virus among each other and families.
The military also forced the parents to let their children go school or they will be punished with a criminal case. They traced and followed the students who did not come to school. They got the list of students and their addresses from school record books. One of my friends who is also a pastor was beaten almost to death for not sending his children school. Now 200 students at a school are covid-19 positives and 100 students at another school. But they tried to hide the news from the people. Some school teachers died from covid-19. The military doctors announced the cause of death is not covid-19. They don’t want to close the school. They want to show the world that everything in Myanmar is normal now by running the schools. But that is not true.
The pastors and missionaries are working as health workers in villages without any protection such as PPE or mask in Kalay Township, Sagaing division and Chin State. They didn’t know that the person they took care of and prayed for was covid-19 positive. In this way many pastors got infected. Our close friends, pastors, Evangelists were passing away even right now while I am writing this I got information. They request our prayers and help. They badly need donations of PPE , Portable Oxygen, Oximeters. They need those to take care of the patients and to handle the dead bodies for funerals.
Now the people formed a “people defense force” in every division and state to protect the villages and towns by themselves from the junta. Now there is fighting between the military and pdf in every city and town. The military arrested or killed every young person they met on the street, suspected them to be pdf members and burned villages where they believed some of the pdf members live. Many villagers are afraid to live in their villages. Some of them run to the city and stay at a buddhist monasteries. Many people are wandering for a place to stay and food to eat. Some villages, they run to the forest and hide there as the military comes and burns their villages. Now is the rainy season in Myanmar. The suffering of those who live in the forest without extra clothes, mosquito nets, light or food is unimaginable.
The PDF just announced that there will be more fighting and war in the months to come. They encourage the people to find a shelter or safe place to run at any time. We can say that the civil war has begun already even though what happens on the ground does not reach the tension of international news media as it should. Crying to the Lord with tears for help and healing of our nation is what we can do for now.
Now there is also more war and fighting happening at our mission field in Lashio city areas Shan state. The people are seeking a safe place at buddhist monasteries. There are many people who are seeking help, especially food at our mission center in Pone Htun. If we can help their basic and daily needs such as food and drinking water to them, it will open ways to preach the Gospel to them.
A pastor from Yangon called me today saying that there is not enough food for many families in Yangon areas. They can only eat food one time a day. It will become worse in the weeks to come. A great famine is hitting Myanmar now.
Besides the current situation of military coup, covid-19 third wave and great famine is destroying the people of Myanmar who deserve freedom, health and well being. It is the darkest time for Myanmar. We earnestly pray and hope that the dawn will come and the light will shine again soon in Myanmar in Jesus name.
Now is the time Myanmar is crying for help.
With humbly request,
Your brother in Christ,
xxxxxxxxx
Please Pray for Christians in Myanmar
Peace On Earth. . . (Repost)
Today I am reposting “Peace On Earth,” which was written and posted four years ago.
There’s a scene from some movie that just popped itself into my mind. There’s an angry man spouting off about something, and another man says to him, “Ah, does someone need a hug?” Anger isn’t exactly an emotion; rather it attempts to cover an emotion. And a hug from “Mom” can go a long way to rid one of anger, expose the underlying emotion, and sooth it. Unless, that is, that a person has a problem with Mom. Dr. Sigmund Freud was hung up on “Mom” and sex, and peoples Oedipus-like desires to have sex with their moms and kill there fathers. He thought that while we were still babies our fantasies centered around having Mom all to our selves and not letting Dad near her. It didn’t work too well, and some people never got over it all. They grow up to find other ways to get even with their moms and dads.
So with 300 million people living in America and a social media that puts everyone in everyone else’s face all the time, feathers are going to be ruffled as we play out our Oedipus fantasies on each other. People have their underlying emotions stirred, that then surge, and the result is that angry words spew forth. People discover there are other people that feel the same way, and they gather together to protest someone they feel has offended them. Lately it’s been presidential candidates who’ve modeled the use of verbal assault weapons, and become the object of protests. Conflict. And the television/internet media gets to watch, film, and report all of it to an eager audience, perpetuating the cycle of conflict.
Why can’t people just get along? Why isn’t there peace on Earth?
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [Jesus said]
— Matthew 10:34
Why? Why does it seem there needs to be conflict? In a writing class, I was once instructed on the use of conflict and resolution. In a story the author allows conflict to drive the story along. building a certain tension. At some point the author must allow the reader to feel resolution, too. There must be some form of resolution after conflict has built or the reader will feel let down.
Just as conflict drive an author’s story, so does it drive our lives. But conflict is only useful if we are able to find a resolution to the conflict. A solution. An answer. Conflict drives us to look for answers.
On the back of a Jeep was a bumper sticker that summed this issue up well. It read:
Jesus is the Answer. Now, What was the Question?
Unbound!
“Hang in there!” isn’t something one wants to hear after sharing a particularly severe trial or painful ordeal. It’s usually said as the person walks away, perhaps as an afterthought. Clearly the person doesn’t relate, doesn’t understand the pain, or can’t deal with it. And then there’s the time someone gets all scripture-quoting with advice, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 is a great verse, but does it really apply to our particular need or stance?
Being pretty literal in my approach to life and scriptures, I think of it in terms of stopping all action. I think in terms of taking time to plan next steps, or regroup from a previous event. It’s less physical, slowing down. Or I suppose it could mean simply to calm down. It’s a plea to consider G-d’s input on a particular direction. I stop and look around, and promptly get nervous after a short time wondering if when I am suppose to act next. I come upon a plan, a particular desire that has set upon me, and want to go, go, go.
One particular time I remember being totally unable to do anything to move ahead and out of a particularly bad situation in which I found myself. Change was needed, but it felt as though I was stuck in a bucket of cement. I had the means to literally move away, and into another job hundreds of miles away. But I felt totally unable to move. In the end, someone else took it upon themselves to act on my behalf; things came together and the change was thrust upon me—the cement fell away. I fretted too much the whole time, unfortunately. Take a look at how Peter handled things.
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. Acts 12:6-9
Bound is what I’m talking about. Sometimes there are emotional chains that bind. For Peter, it was literal chains that bound him. What did Peter do? Fret about it? Nope! He fell asleep between two soldier while more soldiers guarded the prison doors. I like this next part a lot. A light illuminates the cell. Peter continues to sleep. The only way to wake Peter was getting stuck in the side. Then he’s ordered to dress, wrap his cloak around himself and to follow the angel. Peter thought he was still asleep, having a vision, so he got up and followed.
Peter wasn’t in a boat in the middle of a stormy sea. It wasn’t a matter of calming the waves and getting the strength to continue rowing. Peter was bound and needed rescuing. The Lord sent help. And Peter was unbound.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
At the Helm of a Small Boat in a Storm
At the helm of a small boat in a storm. Or maybe it was when I was a very young child, at night trying to sleep, and the monsters attacked. It’s all the same, really. I am fearful. I cry out in distress. It is my mother that pops her head in the door, light shining into my dark world. I can’t really scream, but simply gasp.
“Oh, dear, it’ll be okay. Go back to sleep,” she’d not say. Would she? If she did say that I can picture the scene in my head.
“Don’t you see them,” I’d gasp, barely able to cry out. I can imagine the terror of monsters crawling toward me as the door closes and my mother walks away.
“It turned out nice again, didn’t it?” she’d say as she walks away. That is what she always said when unpleasant things happened. But despite that, my mother still wouldn’t walk away.
I remember one time when I was maybe six or seven years old. I felt sick and had a nightmare. My mother gathered me into her arms and carried me into the living room. She and my Dad were watching the “Phil Silver’s Show” on their first television. It had a smaller screen than an iPad and was in black and white. I remember being wrapped in a Welsh wool blanket, and sat between them for the remainder of the show. Then, calmed and feeling a bit better, I was carried back to bed.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Mark 6:45-50
Those guys were in a major panic. Waves taller than their boat was long threatened to toss them into the water. The wind whipped them about, trying desperately to turn the boat broadside to the wind, where it would capsize with the next wave. Were they exhausted trying to row against the wind, the waves? I am sure they were.
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
“What are you talking about?” they’d try to scream if they could catch their breaths. “You’re just a spirit and can’t drown out here alone in this awful water.” What comfort are words in a time of distress. Sure. Y’shuaJesus sent them out into the water, and now saw their distress. He came to them, too, across that water. All he’s going to do is peak at them through a closed door and say, “Don’t worry, dear.” That it?
I read a short devotional in which the well-meaning author wanted us to understand that when we are in the midst of trails and don’t feel the comfort of the Lord in our lives, He will see us, come to us, speak to us. When I read it it bothered me. It was too open ended. The Lord says everything’s fine. Don’t worry. Go back to those waves that look like they are going to consume you, and just relax, don’t be afraid. Those disciples must have known that’s not the end of the story. Our Lord, our G-d, isn’t going to leave us stranded in the middle of a raging storm. My mother didn’t shut the door and say sleep tight.
And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. Mark 6:51
That, like Paul Harvey said at the end of his radio broadcast, “Is the End of the Story.”
When the LORD sees I am in great distress, He comes to me, speaks gently to me, AND gets right next to me in my storm-tossed boat and wraps His arms about me. I close my eyes and my storm is calmed, my wind ceases, the wrath toward me is ended.
The LORD is One, The LORD is G-d. Thank you LORD.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
It’s a small world after all
Bobby said he wants to write about his experiences with his crazy wife. He said no one would believe him if he wrote or even told anyone the things that have gone on in his life. Except me. I believe him. Bobby figures as a story, it could pass as weird fiction. He said he played around with beginning a story of a routine incident, that is pretty mild, just to get things started. Routine incident, is how Bobby put it. Those are like when a bolt of lightening strikes a tree next you when it’s a perfectly wonderful day, all blue sky with no clouds. Bobby’s story begins like this:
“It’s a small world after all.” Luke was dozing off. He thought he heard the song playing from the Disney ride, thought he was on it. That nice gentle ride with music from countries all across the world. Soothing. Calming. Dozing off.
It’s a small world, it’s a small world
It’s a small world, it’s a small world
It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears
It’s a world of hope and a world of fears
There’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware
It’s a small world after all.
“You need to tell him he wears too much cologne.” From where did that come?
“I haven’t noticed,” Luke said. “If you don’t like it, tell him.”
The bump Luke felt next jolted him upright in his seat. He wasn’t on the Small World ride. This was Space Mountain and the cars had reached the top.
“I SAID YOU NEED TO TELL HIM,” she spat, venom drooling down her chin.
“IT’S YOUR JOB AS HIS FATHER TO TELL HIM THAT HE SMELLS HORRIBLE AND. . .”
Luke’s rollercoaster car was now dropping downward, picking up speed, and he was still groggy from his nap. The car headed for the first and biggest curve.
“Well, I don’t notice any smell,” Luke said. “Perhaps you’re just a bit over sensitive.”
Screams as everyone on the first rollercoaster car were thrust to the right. Luke’s car lurched up, down, then it felt as though it would fly off the track. Luke was awake now. He grasped the rail as he was flung to the right.
“MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU DO HIS LAUNDRY,” Luke’s wife screamed louder than if she’d really been on a rollercoaster ride.
Woosh! Luke’s wife heading for front door. Whump! The front door slams shut.
“Hope the door didn’t hit you in the butt on your way out,” mumbled Luke
When I spoke with Bobby, he said his wife was still not speaking with him, and it had been three days. He told me it it will all be over in another day. That was a small rollercoaster ride. Major blow ups take a lot longer to get under control.
I asked Bobby once why he didn’t do something about his wife’s behavior. He said he read about personal boundaries, and even tried them. It made things worse for him. Eventually Bobby will leave his wife—once the kids are old enough to be on their own. He said there is no way he’d leave the kids with someone as crazy as she is to fend for themselves.
Bobby’s wife’s behavior isn’t at all uncommon. There are about 14 million Americans like her—with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). According to the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder this disorder “occurs in the context of relationships: sometimes all relationships are affected, sometimes only one. It usually begins during adolescence or early adulthood.”
“While some persons with BPD are high functioning in certain settings, their private lives may be in turmoil. Most people who have BPD suffer from problems regulating their emotions and thoughts, impulsive and sometimes reckless behavior, and unstable relationships.
“Other disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse and other personality disorders can often exist along with BPD.”
What about treatment, I once asked Bobby. He told me it was sorta like the psychiatrist and the light bulb joke. Heard it? How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to be willing to change.
BPD affects both men and women. It is women that fair the worse and they are the ones most heard about. Men with BPD can be physically as well as emotionally abusive. We don’t hear as often about men in relationships with BPD women. It’s difficult for a man to admit a woman literally rules his days and nights.
Christian women often have it very bad. They are often told by their pastors and other church members, that they must submit themselves to such treatment, because it is somehow Biblical. Bobby said he’s of the opinion that any pastor or Christian that says anyone must submit to abuse is totally out of line, not walking with the Lord, and shouldn’t be paid any attention. He says those people will be judged. Harshly.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
Peace On Earth. . .
There’s a scene from some movie that just popped itself into my mind. There’s an angry man spouting off about something, and another man says to him, “Ah, does someone need a hug?” Anger isn’t exactly an emotion; rather it attempts to cover an emotion. And a hug from “Mom” can go a long way to rid one of anger, expose the underlying emotion, and sooth it. Unless, that is, that a person has a problem with Mom. Dr. Sigmund Freud was hung up on “Mom” and sex, and peoples Oedipus-like desires to have sex with their moms and kill there fathers. He thought that while we were still babies our fantasies centered around having Mom all to our selves and not letting Dad near her. It didn’t work too well, and some people never got over it all. They grow up to find other ways to get even with their moms and dads.
So with 300 million people living in America and a social media that puts everyone in everyone else’s face all the time, feathers are going to be ruffled as we play out our Oedipus fantasies on each other. People have their underlying emotions stirred, that then surge, and the result is that angry words spew forth. People discover there are other people that feel the same way, and they gather together to protest someone they feel has offended them. Lately it’s been presidential candidates who’ve modeled the use of verbal assault weapons, and become the object of protests. Conflict. And the television/internet media gets to watch, film, and report all of it to an eager audience, perpetuating the cycle of conflict.
Why can’t people just get along? Why isn’t there peace on Earth?
Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [Jesus said]
— Matthew 10:34
Why? Why does it seem there needs to be conflict? In a writing class, I was once instructed on the use of conflict and resolution. In a story the author allows conflict to drive the story along. building a certain tension. At some point the author must allow the reader to feel resolution, too. There must be some form of resolution after conflict has built or the reader will feel let down.
Just as conflict drive an author’s story, so does it drive our lives. But conflict is only useful if we are able to find a resolution to the conflict. A solution. An answer. Conflict drives us to look for answers.
On the back of a Jeep was a bumper sticker that summed this issue up well. It read:
Jesus is the Answer. Now, What was the Question?
Train ’til its right. . .
I’ve heard it said that some train until they get it right, while others train until they get it wrong. What’s that mean? Well. . .
Quite a while ago, while bumming around India, I was blessed to contract a persistent stomach bacteria, which came and went in varying degrees of severity for a number of months. I was just a day ahead of the monsoon rains, which made my travels especially hot and humid, with little relief. Despite this I was given the grace to take it all in stride.
On one particular adventure/trial, I travelled in last class on a train with two Brits and two Sweds. We ran into each other while trying to find a few feet of space in a crowded train car. One of them gained access to the overhead baggage shelf that was empty, and we all clamored up to join him. There we rode for twenty-three hours and twenty-three minutes. At the time, I hadn’t known where I was to go, only that I was to be on that train. I’m not sure which pair of guys, the Brits or the Sweds, was headed to Kashmir, but we all thought that a good place to visit. We deboarded the train and hopped a bus north into the mountains of Kashmiri. As the bus arrived, local rental agents boarded suggesting houseboats to stay on. I, along with the Brits and Sweds and a Jordanian man, teamed up to rent a houseboat from one of the rental agents. We deboarded the bus and were led across a path to the lake and a large houseboat.
Everything was perfect. Well, sort of. The picture-perfect houseboat turned out to be moored by a sewerage outlet from the town. But it only stunk during the day. While the rental included three meals a day, my stomach issues returned with a vengeance, and I could barely eat. But atop the houseboat in the cool of the evenings we all sat around and talked. Despite everything, I was apparently successful at displaying my faith in Messiah Y’shuaJesus, and they saw and leaned something that was meant for them. At the end of our weeks aboard the houseboat, we all went different ways. I hopped the bus south, connecting to a train bound for New Delhi. As always, the train was packed. I found a foot of space in which to place my backpack and kneeled over it and slept all the way to Delhi. The training of these trials was going well. I seemed to be getting it right this time. That seemed to be the point of the trails, to get through them all and to do so while getting it right.
As the train pulled into the station in New Delhi, my stomach was acting up again, and I need to find a loo, as the Brits call it. I managed to stand up. But try as I might I just couldn’t make any headway to the door, as crowds of people tried to push their way into the already packed train car. Al of a sudden I stood to my full six-feet-five-inches and roared. I must have looked to the Indians as a giant bear about to attack. They pulled themselves out of my way. And. . . I’ll not soon forget the old man that was just steeping up onto the car as I barreled through the doorway. His hat fell from his head onto the step. I nearly ran him down. I nearly crushed his hat beneath my feet. I don’t know, but think I did at least retrieve his hat for him. As I walked down the platform, I felt horrible. I’d been doing so well. I’d been getting it so right. My trials took me to that point of success and beyond, until I broke. I found myself realizing exactly what I was capable of. I had it in me to be the worst of the worst. I was overwhelmed. At the same time, I realized that I liked myself. I Liked Myself. I’d trained to get it right, but went beyond and got it wrong. To The Point That I Broke Me. Now I could see myself as G-d sees me, saved through the salvation of Messiah Y’shuaJesus. He and only He experienced a life on Earth getting it totally right, without sin. He died that I might live. I’d known that. But as I walked the platform in search for a loo, I Knew It. And I knew it in a much more pure way.
Train beyond getting it right; train until we get it wrong. Then understand our condition on Earth and the Salvation from G-d.
The Terror of G-d’s Voice
“Ever since man sinned, and heard God’s voice in the garden, unusual appearances of God have been terrible to man. They fell prostrate to the earth, till Jesus encouraged them; when looking round, they beheld only their Lord as they commonly saw him.” —Matthew Henry
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. —Matthew 17:5-8
“We must pass through varied experiences in our way to glory; and when we return to the world after an ordinance, it must be our care to take Christ with us, and then it may be our comfort that he is with us.”—Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry’s conclusion, the lesson he sees for us from Matthew 17, what is subtitled the Transfiguration of Christ, is that we will go through life experiencing many wondrous things, seeing many powerful transformations, but we are not going to remain in them, for they are shadows only of things to come. We return to the mundane, the ordinary, and must take care to bring the Lord back with us, to walk with Him Who walked like common men and women walked.
So, in our common life of Earth, as we walk the mundane path set before us, as we experience the terrors and the wonders, we must hear the Voice of our L-rd saying to us:
Rise, and have no fear.
Faith and Works
The Apostle James wrote (James 2:14):
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him?
This statement has been a subject of controversy. For Martin Luther, it isn’t just the idea of faith and works that is rejected, “Luther made an attempt to remove the books of Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation from the canon (Bible).” —Wikipedia
King David didn’t have a problem with the whole Faith and Works thing. In Psalm 61:7 he wrote:
My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God.
In the same Psalm, 61:12, he wrote:
For You repay each according to his works.
This is one way of explaining how Faith and Works compliment each other: “People in desperation are often prepared to resort to criminal activity such as theft and extortion (verse 11) as means of extricating themselves from the crises they confront. David’s message here is that this tendency results from a lack of faith in the Almighty’s power to rescue and support. If a person truly believes that, as David declares in this Psalm’s final verse, God “repays each man in accordance with his conduct,” then he would never resort to unlawful tactics during times of need. He would instead appeal to the Almighty for salvation and trust in the assistance God extends to His loyal servants.” —Tehillim
Jonah’s Song 