Hello!
My team and I arrived in Shwe Pyi Thar Township near Yangon, Myanmar early last Saturday morning.
Let me tell ya. I LOVE it here.
Our hosts name is Hung Ling, but we call him Henry. He is from the Chin state of Myanmar, which is closer to northwest Myanmar over some mountains from where we are now, near yangon. When he was a kid some Burmese missionaries came to his village, back then you had to take a very long bus ride and hike over the mountains, and they shared the gospel and he became a Christian. He was very poor but he worked very hard and he said that he learned English and other subjects by standing outside the school and listening because he couldn’t afford to pay to go to school.
Now he has moved to Shwe Pyi Thar Township, he planted a church that he now pastors called Fellowship Bible Church Myanmar, he runs an orphanage and preschool at his house, and he started and is president of a Christian college called Myanmar Bible College, which is where we teach English during the week.
All of this in a country where, in the words of Henry, “it’s not technically illegal to be Christian but it’s not really legal”.
My prayer these days is to have the same faith and passion that Henry does.
Wow. God is on the move, my friends. I am SO pumped for what He is doing in Myanmar through Henry and other passionate, faithful warriors for the kingdom. It’s so cool to see what really living a life sold out for the gospel looks like and how the Lord is so so faithful in that.
Makes me want to pray the big prayers and do the crazy things in America, ya know?
This month I’m praying for boldness and confidence to walk in the identity and purpose that the Lord has given me. I’m praying for deep heart conversations and life-giving new friendships. I’m praying for all the things to be done and said so that at the end of this month we can say that we did all that we could do for the Kingdom and for each other and it wasn’t wasted or just chalked up to “another month on the race”.
As I hit the half way point on the race, I’m also praying for home. For the country and the people that the Lord has SO given me his heart for. I have loved every country I’ve been to, but every time I go somewhere new the Lord just reminds me even more of the deep love and passion that I have for America and His kids there. Wow I’m excited. Because I know that that love and passion doesn’t come from me, it comes straight from His Papa’s heart for us and my love for our country comes from His even deeper love for our country. And let me tell ya, I LOVE America. So the Lord must REALLY love America. He has such good plans for revival and redemption and wow I’m excited to be a part of that.
So so so so pumped for what the Lord is going to do. Wow. Man he’s good!!!
Love ya always,
Alley
