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When I walked into the international airport of MM, I found the weather was a bit cool. The local people wore jackets. It was winter time, and the temperature was still around 25 degrees Celcius.
New street sceneIn the streets I found the most obvious change was cosmetic shops, with the women putting on lip stick and nail polish. Another thing was that there were a few construction projects going on. And the third thing was that all foreigners had to exchange US$200 or the equivalent upon arrival at the airport. Two years ago it was US$300. I can use this money at the hotel only, and needed to exchange into Kyates again.The cars were still old ones with a lot of pollution. When I was sitting in the taxi, the pollution from the exhaust made me cough badly.
Stay in hotelsAll foreigners have to stay in hotels. There are many hotels. I stayed in the Lai Lai Hotel, for US$15 a day, which is one month¡¦s salary for average people.
MM is a Buddhist countryOn the street you could see monks going to different houses for almsgiving. There were even small children serving as novices. Pastor Esther Hwan told me that some families were so poor that they sent the boys to the temples as novices. The Buddhist temples also sometimes serve as ¡§student hostels¡¨ because there are no dormitories in the universities. If the students cannot afford to rent an apartment, or no friends can accommodate them, they sleep in the Buddhist temples.
Student hostelPraise the Lord that our Chinese Church now uses a part of the apartment as a ¡§student hostel¡¨. In this way the church can reach out to young people and can also develop leaders for the church. And Pastor Pakep of the Chin Church in Capital has started the church near the biggest university in Capital, with the plan to reach out to these student leaders.
New Burmese Preaching Point in DakongI traveled by tricycle for a short distance and then by bus to the new Burmese preaching point. For one single journey it was Kyates 20 only. But when I took a taxi to and from the airport, it was Kyates 2500 for one trip. That is about 8 days¡¦ salary for an ordinary person. I came early for the Sunday worship, and saw that the lay pastor and his wife were wearing shabby clothes. They changed into better clothes for the worship service. I gave a skirt and T-shirt to their daughter.
Poor livingMany people living in the villages are very poor. Pastor Esther told me that at the preaching point in Dakong, sometimes the Christians cannot come for the Sunday worship service because they do not have the money for the bus fare. It is only Kyates 40 for a round trip. The exchange rate for US$1 is about Kyates 950. Pastor Esther helps these people with their bus fare. She is thinking to help these church members in their livelihood long term so that they can have enough to eat. Will a kind of ¡§helping them to help themselves¡¨ project be workable? Or can a kind of ¡§mini-bank-loan fund¡¨ help them? These poor people usually eat rice mixed with fried peppers and very tiny dried shrimp. People are very much in need of help, including medical help, in these villages outside the city of Capital.
EducationThe government supports education so that the school fees from primary school to university are not high. However, some people still cannot afford to send their children to school because the parents have to pay for the books, uniforms and travel. There are 1st-4th grade in the primary school/ basic education, 5th-8th grade in middle school, 9th -10th grade for high school, and the students have to pass the 10th grade examination in order to have a certificate for finding a job or entering the university.
Training classes
 The purpose for this trip was primarily to visit the church and Pastor Esther for a few days. But she asked me to give a 2 day training class to the leaders. It was from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with only a 1 hour lunch break. She asked the lay pastor Manng Manng and his wife, their daughter, and two other lay leaders from the Burmese church, plus some Chin brothers and their Pastor Pakep to come for the training.
They were very attentive. The Christians in the church were very eager to learn and also eager to follow the words of God. I used my limited Mandarin and Pastor Esther interpreted into Burmese. I preached in the Dakong Burmese Preaching Point on Sunday morning and in the Chin Church in the afternoon. When I was in the Dakong, the leaders shared what they have learned in the training classes. I was so impressed with their sharing, and it reminded me what Jesus said , ¡§Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they will see the Kingdom of God¡¨
Restrictions on house churches
In MM the church can have their activities within the church buildings. However, all our churches are house churches. If the owner of the house knows that you will use it for Christian meetings, they will not rent the house to you. Or if they find out there is some trouble, they will not continue the contact with you, or will raise the rent so much that you will think it is not reasonable and move out.
Our churches have tried many times, and finally they have this place for meeting as well as for the pastor¡¦s residence. It is God_s grace to find an apartment, especially for the Chinese Church which has rented a house for 4 years already. Pastor Esther Hwan had the experience that the head of the area called her and questioned why there were so many people in her house, and why they were having meetings there. One night she could not sleep because of this ¡§scary¡¨ experience, she prayed in the middle of the night, and God comforted her with the words ¡§a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.¡¨ (Isaiah 42:3). Since then the head of the area and the police have not come to bother her.
January 2-6, 2003
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Creative Access Country MM
