Their pastor and his wife aren’t natives of this southern city of Myanmar. They’re transplanted northerners who only came south after months of fighting God’s command for them to do so. “There’s hardly electricity” or “It’s so hot” or “Their culture is so different” were their excuses at first. But they decided to be obedient to God, and they became missionaries to the southern part of their country.
Since Cyclone Nargis hit the area in May 2008, devastating villages all around and killing about 130,000 people, the church has grown with 70 new people giving their lives to Christ. Formerly, most of the church members had been Buddhist. But they’ve found hope in Jesus that they never found in Buddha.
As they meet in a wooden shack and pray on woven straw mats, they’re defying their government, which endorses Buddhism. Each individual is allowed to make his or her choice of faith, but only 12 legally endorsed churches in the country are allowed to exist. All others–all house churches–are breaking the law. By moving south as missionaries, the pastor and his wife are breaking the law. By using their home as a church, they’re breaking the law. By building a bigger building next door to use instead, they’re breaking the law.
In a wooden shack, on woven straw mats, brave warriors fight in the spiritual realm for their country. They’re bringing the victorious Kingdom of GOD into their dark land. And someday they’ll see that Kingdom come to Myanmar.
