His Hands for Myanmar
Building a home for Christ in Myanmar
Rev. Dr. Stephen Gammon, former Conference Minister of CCCC (2003-2011), and currently Superintendent of Church of The Apostles, Coventry, Rhode Island
The World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship (WECF) provides our CCCC family sweet communion with Christian brothers and sisters in many nations, including Myanmar. In February 2016 at the Triennial Meetings of WECF hosted by the CCCC in Orlando, Florida I was blessed to establish a personal friendship with Pastor Go, director of the Myanmar Evangelical Mission. I marveled to hear him describe how ministers and churches of his fellowship faithfully serve Christ in a culture steeped in darkness, desperately needing the light and Shalom of God. When we departed, Pastor Go and I agreed to remain in personal contact and in prayer for one another.
Buddhism is the state religion of Myanmar and there are no legal protections for religious minorities. Followers of Jesus often face persecution, but the Church remains devoted to loving God, loving others, and making disciples for Jesus. They faithfully fulfill this purpose through ministries of disaster relief, church planting, literature distribution, and children’s homes.
Pastor Go described the history of the Shalom Children’s Home, which was born in 2008 from the prayers of the Church after a national flooding disaster when many died and many children were left homeless. The Church’s vision was to establish a Christ-Centered home where children are loved and cared for, and discipled as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor Go described how God has so richly blessed them despite limited resources and how they have been repeatedly evicted from rented homes.
In June 2017, with clear orders from God, I journeyed to Myanmar with my sister and her friend to see firsthand the work of this Children’s Home. We experienced firsthand the love of Christ and discerned the glory of His presence. I was especially impressed at the depth of their worship, being entirely convinced that these children are devoted disciples of Christ and are destined to be future leaders of the Church in Myanmar. With His Hands Support Ministries we established a means for people to make tax-deductible donations to sponsor individual children via monthly donations or to make one-time donations toward a permanent home. More information is available at www.hishandsformyanmar.org.
Their need for a permanent home was recently highlighted again when police came to their rented home in response to complaints from their current landlord. They were ordered to stop worshipping Jesus there. These precious Myanmar children need a safe, permanent home with no more evictions or cramming into too small rental spaces or annual struggles to find another home and raise funds for yet another lease. When at last their permanent home is built they will have a place where local Christians can gather for worship.
I invite your prayers and generosity as the Lord leads you. Our fund-raising goal is $120,000 to purchase and prepare a lot, then build a home to house 50 children. At the time of this writing, $63,000 has been raised, and an offer has been made to purchase a building lot. Will you please pray for all necessary funds to be provided soon so the lot can be prepared and a home built for Jesus Christ in Myanmar? Will you give what you can, and pray that God stirs some to write substantial checks, and others to take a special offering or give a gift of any amount so a home is built in answer to the prayers of the children? This investment will bear fruit for Christ until He comes again!