Mark: Welcome to the GoMission Podcast. I’m Mark Gilmore, missions traveler and trainer. Today, I want to give you an international update to call you to daily prayer for a matter of critical urgency.
A country that’s dear to my heart is Myanmar, or Burma, where God has worked in spiritual breakthrough in past generations through the sacrifice of great missionaries like Adoniram Judson. Perhaps you’ve read his biography or heard of his influence.
People groups within Myanmar like the Karen and Chin tribes have come to Christ by the hundreds and thousands. Even here in Milwaukee, I regularly meet with Burmese believers who are the fruit of these breakthroughs in the past.
Even now in Myanmar, there continues the work of national preachers who are bold men of faith, partnering often with American ministries to translate, print Bibles, train more Gospel leaders, and preach the Gospel in unreached regions of Myanmar and surrounding nations. Some of these are my friends who I have visited in Myanmar and who have visited us here as well in the US.
On February 1st of this year, one day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in newly elected members of the government, a military coup occurred. Myanmar’s ranking general declared the results of their election void. He declared a state of emergency and ordered the arrest and detention of every democratically elected official. He then appointed his own interim president.
Immediately in every major city, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in peaceful protest. Many vividly remembered the previous brutal military regime of the 80s and 90s and early 2000s; they feared that those days were returning.
Today, it’s two and a half months later, and the situation has become worse than previous takeovers the country has ever known. It stands on the brink of civil war. Nationwide, families are in crisis. Factories and farms have shut down. Stores and shops are closed. Banks are closed. There is a food shortage. Prices are doubling and tripling. Many are undernourished. Unarmed demonstrators have become victims of gunshots, RPGs, and grenades.
Now these people are arming themselves. In every city, roads are blocked, and the two sides face one another armed and exchanging gunfire. The people stand alone. China and Russia are supplying the military, and the people have really no one to stand with them. It’s truly a David-against-Goliath situation.
I am amazed at the faith of believers and leaders in this desperate situation. I know of one Karen evangelist. I’ve seen video of him. He resides in Australia, but he has chosen to stay with his people inside Myanmar, fleeing with them into the forest for protection, so that he could preach the Gospel to them. Many are turning to Christ.
I want to call you to pray for these Christians to be Spirit-led, bold witnesses for Christ. Pray that at this time they might lead many Buddhists to Christ, as this is the religion of the majority of the people in the country. Pray that many who were born into Christianized villages might realize that they must personally repent and receive Christ as Savior. Also, pray for supernatural protection upon these hundreds and thousands of people fleeing the brutal responses to the people’s protests.
The crisis is unimaginable, as the military can invade any home at random and shoot and kill any person at any moment. Pray for God to intervene in the course of this nation. There is no other hope for peace and safety outside of God Himself. Some are fleeing over the borders as refugees. Pray that they might find safety and help from those who would provide shelter and food.
In Matthew 24, Jesus responded to His disciples as they asked about the future and the end of the age before Christ’s second coming. Jesus said, “[Ye] shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Then He added, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
As we face uncertain times in the course of nations, and even our own nation, we must be comforted that our God is in full control of world events, and His number one concern is the progress of the Gospel into and within every nation and people on earth. Jesus wants us focused, not fearful.
Perhaps there are people around you facing turmoil and fear, possibly from world events or from disruption within their own lives or family. Could God use you to be a bold witness for Christ at a moment in which they desperately need peace and comfort? The greatest peace that anyone could ever know is peace with God.
Romans chapter 5 says, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace regarding your eternal destiny brings peace when facing temporal disaster and difficulty.
Determine to be a witness for Christ and pray daily for the nation of Myanmar, a nation in need of Christ in its desperate days of crisis.
Remember, the only way to stay at peace in a world of turmoil and uncertainty is to stay on-mission with Jesus in His GoMission.
