Class on "The Holy Spirit"

Pastor Esther of the Myanmar FMC asked me to speak on the topics "the Holy Spirit," "speaking in tongues," and "the Pentecostal movements." Currently in Myanmar there is a strong Pentecostal movement, and speaking in tongues is widespread - it is considered a sign of a spiritual Christian. Pastor Esther wanted our Free Methodist Church young people and leaders know the teaching of the Bible.

Therefore, I decided to teach Acts chapter 2, "spiritual gifts" from Romans, I Corinthians and Ephesians, being "filled with the Holy Spirit" in Ephesians 5, and "spiritual fruit" in Galatians 5, as well as studying the life of Joseph in Genesis. The Holy Spirit helped me to prepare and also gave me a very good interpreter in Pastor Esther. Most of all, the Holy Spirit led the participants into His truth. They were so attentive and responsive, and tried to link the lessons to their daily lives. At the end of the first day, I told them to read the story of Joseph in Genesis, and they did it! I divided them into 5 groups and had them act out the different life periods of Joseph, and had them share what "spiritual fruits" they could find in Joseph' s life. It was really an excellent class.

The Light and Life kindergarten

The Chin church in Yangon is not far from a university. The people living in the area there are mostly quite poor and cannot afford to send their children to school. The aim of the kindergarten is to help the children with schooling. There are about 20 children in the kindergarten. They only pay a very small amount for the school fee. This kindergarten is not like other kindergartens in Myanmar that give three meals a day to the children (because of the very low school fee income), but they do have very good quality teaching, songs and games, and also teach Bible lessons. When the parents bring their children to the kindergarten in the morning, they also bring their food-baskets and water. All the children come from Buddhist families. It is amazing that their parents are willing to send their children to a Christian kindergarten. They are surprised to see the obedience and smartness of their children after studying in the Christian school. Some mothers told the teacher that their children told Bible stories at home and requested the parents to pray for Jesus' blessing before eating!

There is one head teacher and 3 other teachers in the kindergarten, and they work almost as volunteers because there is little income in the kindergarten. However, the church is very considerate to give them love gifts. These 4 teachers do home visitation to build up relationships with the parents, and hope eventually to have home Bible studies with them. The response is quite good.

Plan to start a Light & Life Bible School

Another burden of the church is to start a Bible school. There are Bible schools in Yangon, but many are liberal and follow the Pentecostal movements. Among the churches it is said that if you do not speak in tongues that means you are not filled with the Holy Spirit and you are not a spiritual Christian. They have classes teaching people to speak in tongues and also to prophesy, (for example, to find out God' s plan for your future, so that you can go to prepare yourself accordingly and walk in God' s will to please Him). The hearts of Pastor Pa Kep and some of our pastors are very heavy due to some of our church members studying in these Bible schools because the Free Methodist Church does not have its own Bible school. They are planning to start a Bible School in May 2005. Pastor Pa Kep said, "We have no resources, but we just look to our God for provision. Two church members are willing to be the teachers. They may even resign from their present work and help full time; and I will teach part time. It will be a help if FM pastors from other countries can come to teach intensive courses. We hope to teach God' s Word and holiness. Proper teaching on the Bible and holiness is a very urgent need in Myanmar because very few churches talk about holiness, they only talk about being "filled by the Holy Spirit."

Candle Festival

Every year after the full moon in October. it is time for the "Candle Festival" in Myanmar. Myanmar is a Buddhist country. They believe that after the full moon, the gods go back to "heaven" to report, and also to visit their dead mothers and teach them the teachings of Buddha so as to return their mother' s nurture. People light candles to welcome the return of these gods from heaven to earth. All schools have a week's holiday, and offices also have a holiday. People go to visit family members and go to the temples. (During this time the Chinese FMC and Chin FMC in Yangon had joint Bibles classes for two days.) When I returned back from the Bible class in the evening, I could see many streets were very crowded because people were going to the temples. In front of the doorways of the houses, shops, and restaurants, there were rows of lighted candles. In those two days there were many monks and nuns walking in the streets asking for alms. I was so amazed to see that some of the monks and nuns were young boys and girls, and the girls were all dressed in bright pink robes. When I watched the news on TV in the hotel, there was about 30 minutes of reporting on the celebrations of different government officials in different temples.

Young novice in the Buddhist temple

Mr. Chan, the male pastor of the Chinese Free Methodist Church, told me that he and his elder brother had lived in a Buddhist temple for two years during their early teens. At that time their father had died and it was very difficult for their mother to feed them. Many poor families send their children to live in the Buddhist temples so that their children can have food and an education, and also learn skills, palm-reading, fortune telling etc. A boy also may be assigned as an assistant monk teacher in the temple when he becomes old enough.

After I heard this story, I felt so sorry for these young monks and nuns. And I thought to myself how the Christian Church could serve these people. Jesus said, "...to preach good tidings to the poor... to proclaim release to the captives...and recovering of sight to the blind...to set at liberty them that are bruised," (Luke 4:18-19). Then I realized the relevance of the aims and the significance of the kindergarten of the Chin church.

When I prayed, the street scene came to my mind: flocks of young monks and nuns walking in the streets, and big golden temples everywhere. People in Myanmar are captives and blinded by the idols. Who is going to tell them the true way to have salvation and set them free?

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.