Myanmar

Than Aung works as a church planter for the Christian Reformed Church of Myanmar where the Luke Society has been training church planters there to teach community health. These skills have allowed church planters to improve the conditions within this impoverished and isolated country and have given them an inroad to share the gospel with villagers in some of the most remote and hostile regions. This is his testimony.

My name is Mr. Than Aung. My parents died when I was a boy, and I could not continue my education. I felt lonely, and to seek peace of mind and happiness I went to a Buddhist monastery and became a monk. After several years, I still had not found peace. I left the monastery and began to spend my time with those who used drugs. I became an addict, but found no peace or happiness there either. Finally, I married a Buddhist woman, hoping that marriage could end my loneliness and give me peace.

Life only got harder as we had nine children, and the burden to feed them became overwhelming. With limited education, I couldn't find a good enough job to support my family.

After we had moved to Matupi in 1983 I decided to go to the Christian Reformed Church. For the first time in our lives, we heard the good news of the gospel. The words of the Lord worked in our hearts, and with joy we became children of God.

After several years, I felt that I should also tell others the good news that I received, but I didn't know how. One day the church made an invitation for an evangelist to preach the gospel in Rakhine state, which is the most difficult state to present good news to the people of Myanmar. The people who live there are very strict Buddhists. I decided to apply, and the church appointed me to go.

After walking with the children for five days, we took a boat to a town called Kyauktaw, where we stayed for six years. I went to villages in the township and shared the gospel with the people. Some became Christians, but because of village leaders and Buddhist monks, they were afraid to profess their faith publicly. Still, they remain faithful Christians to this day.

In 1994, the church asked me to move to the remote mountaintop village of Dilawngkung in the Southern part of the Chin state--about a four-day walk to the nearest large town. The people practiced animism and knew very little about medicines and sickness. The only way to get water is to carry an empty gourd down to the stream at the foot of the mountain. Water from the stream isn't clean, and the people drink it without boiling it.

About 15 years ago, almost half of the villagers died of diarrhea, and the rest fled from the village. They thought the guardian spirit of the village got angry and killed the villagers, but they simply were not boiling their water or cleaning their food.

The villagers raise domestic animals such as dogs, pigs, and chickens for the sole reason of sacrifice. They slash and burn the jungle to grow dry rice and corn, but their crops are always in danger of destruction from either too much or too little rain.

Diarrhea, malaria, peptic ulcer, flu, typhoid and dysentery all plagued the village, killing many children. When Luke Society director Rev. Chan Thleng invited the church planters to a health training seminar, I was excited and praised the Lord for His wonderful plan for us.

After returning from Yangon with basic health education training from the Luke Society, I began to explain to villagers about health and disease prevention. I visited them house-to-house and invited them to come to church. After the worship service, I would explain to them how to prevent diseases. Now, more than half of the villagers have latrines and drink boiled water. They also wash food before they cook and wash their hands before they take meals. I visit other villages teaching basic health and selling medicines from the Luke Society Siloam Clinic at prices they can afford.

The villagers are happy with the basic health education and medicines they get from me. Now they understand how to prevent malaria and diarrhea and how to cure them. They also have heard the gospel, and most of the villagers have become Christians. I trust that the Lord will bring all his sheep into the fold through this holistic ministry.