Myanmar

Myanmar's Luke Society director, Rev. Chan Thleng, has seen God work powerfully in the face of persecution. His government has put restrictions on the building of churches, the preaching of the gospel and the rights of Christians. But God continues to work through his faithful followers.

Recently, while Chan was in the U.S. for the Luke Society's International Conference, he received word that 10 Buddhists in a town 90 miles north of the capital had recently converted to Christianity. Aye Ko and his wife, Aye Aye, both of whom Chan baptized earlier this year, had been inviting their neighbors to worship with them in their house. Students from the Reformed Theological College in Yangon were using the two-story house as a church since the government had banned construction of church buildings.

When Chan arrived back in Myanmar, he found out that it was not 10 but 50 men and women who had come to know the Lord while he was away, and 13 of these new believers visited him in Yangon.

"We were so excited to hear their testimonies," Chan said. "We were so encouraged when we saw that the Lord has been blessing the work of the church in spite of government restrictions and persecutions. Yesterday a woman from them came to me and reported that the families and local authorities are threatening them to turn back to their old religion. But they replied fearlessly that they will never turn back. It will be easier for them to die than to renounce their faith. They are now facing difficulties and persecutions from their own relatives and families."

Shortly after their conversions, Aye Ko and Aye Aye were summoned by the government and told that they could no longer hold worship meetings in their home. The house has also become a target for vandalism.

"The local government was afraid that many people would become Christians, so they hindered them by threatening them. We sent some of our students to them, but the police officers watched them so they couldn't speak to the new believers. But they couldn't stop the people who became Christians. They told them their testimonies. We are so encouraged to see that the Spirit of the Lord is working among the Buddhists."