Myanmar Mission Trip Day 6

27 July 2019 (Saturday)

Day 6

Our final day began with devotion and prayer shared by Elder Cheong from Psa 121:1-8 before proceeding to breakfast. Mrs. Julie Loke decided to complete her sewing class at GBCH and walked over there after breakfast. The remaining 5 members chartered a vehicle to visit and minister to Myanmar Evangelical BP Church at South Dagon and were accompanied by Preacher Jeremy, its pastor.

The group had been told by Preacher Jeremy to expect some 20 members. However, we were pleasantly surprised that 38 persons attended thereby filling the whole hall in the home to capacity. We were informed that some of those attending were non-believers. Preacher Jeremy made good use of the new projector which had been given to him. Mrs. Angie Sin taught 2 songs to the members comprising a mix of adults and children before Elder Cheong shared from Acts 8:26-40 emphasizing that all of us had been given a mission by God. For believers, their mission was to share the gospel message just like Philip

while the mission for non-believers was to find out the truth like the Ethiopian eunuch. Elder Loke continued with the gospel theme with his sharing from Rom 10:9-10. Kam Weng then took over and taught the people there how to build a crown from paper. Many of the members enjoyed themselves and even took photos of themselves wearing a completed and multi-colored crown on their heads. Rev Sin closed the meeting with prayer before we left. We also treated each person to a packet lunch each.

We had lunch at a local restaurant at South Dagon before proceeding back to the hotel to meet up with Elder Habbakuk on his future plans for GBCH. Both Rev David and Rev Thawng came to the hotel and kindly sent all of us to Yangon International Airport. The team took a KFC dinner at the airport before boarding Jetstar flight 3K584 for Singapore. After a flight of two and a half hours, the team arrived at Changi Airport at around 11.45pm.

Conclusion

The team comprising members from both Singapore and Melbourne had a spiritually fruitful time during its 6 days in Yangon. Although each day was fully packed with activities, this gave the group much insight into the life and ministry of pastors and ordinary people living in Myanmar, in particular, Yangon. Most of the pastors and Christians are found in Chin State with others coming from Shan State. The harvest truly is plenteous as only some 6 percent of the Myanmar population of about 54 million, are Christians.

We visited some 6 churches and bible colleges/seminaries during our trip as well as GBCH where Elder Habbakuk has done sterling work for the Lord in housing so many children, which are not his own, despite his limited financial situation. The team is still discussing how to assist him both financially and more importantly, spiritually as the children become teenagers, in the longer term.

It was most edifying to us to see small pockets of Christians worshipping all over Myanmar despite the predominance of the Buddhist religion in the country. Many of them do not have any place to worship except in their homes reminiscent of the first century Christians. Surely their faith and hope in the Lord should be an inspiration to all of us who worship in air-conditioned comfort. Little wonder that both James and the Apostle Peter wrote that suffering, trials, and tribulations are necessary to build up our faith in Christ. After the visit, we can appreciate a bit better of how the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The fervency of the Chinese Christians was in sharp contrast to the staid prayer meetings

found in most reformed churches in Singapore. This should encourage us to examine how we can build up a passion for Christ and passion for souls in our members, especially during prayer meetings when we call on the Lord for help and power in time of need.

In conclusion, we thank God for enabling the 6 of us to visit Yangon for 6 days to see and better appreciate the work of the gospel in that country. We believe that we have received far more in spiritual blessings and insight than what we so modestly gave. Truly, the Lord is good to us for despite the incessant rain during our 6 days there, none of us fell sick while the Lord preserved all our outgoing and incoming without a single accident or mishap.

Myanmar Mission Trip Day 5

26 July 2019 (Friday)

Day 5

The morning devotion was taken by Elder Loke who shared from Matt 28:18-20 before the group proceeded for breakfast at the hotel. Since Rev Sin would be giving the morning devotion at the BIT, Mrs Angie Sin proceeded to MTS to oversee the fourth quiz for the 7 students and to show 3 short videos on the Crusades, John Hus, on behalf of her husband. Mrs Julie Loke made her way separately to GBCH for another sewing session.

The 4 men were taken to BIT in Rev Thawng’s car where Rev Sin spoke from Heb 12:1-4 to encourage the students to look backwards, look upwards, look inwards and look forward in their Christian walk. After a quick show-around of the BIT campus, the men then went back to MTS where Rev Sin resumed his morning lesson at about 9.30am. For convenience, lunch was taken at MTS where Rev David brought in food purchased from outside the seminary. The 2 ladies walked over to join the lunch.

After lunch, Rev Sin commenced his final 3-hour lesson while the ladies continued with their sewing lesson. Before concluding his final lesson, Rev Sin gave some tips to help the students study for the 3-hour examination which would be held the next morning.

Today would also be our last session at GBCH. Once again, Mrs Angie Sin taught a new song to the children while revising those taught earlier as well as the memory verse. Elder Cheong presented the final lesson, this time focusing on Solomon’s disobedience in his later years, where he multiplied horses and chariots, gold and, most of all, wives and concubines, in disobedience with God’s command in Deut 17:15-17. This was followed by a video on Solomon’s disobedience to complement the lesson. After this, since it was once again raining heavily, Kam Weng had to confine himself to playing paper ball inside the house. At the end of the games, each child was given a paper ball each. There was also a birthday

celebration for one of the children which warranted the purchase of a 4 kg birthday cake which everyone enjoyed. The children were also treated with ice cream before having dinner.

Earlier that day, Elder Habbakuk received a new fridge to replace the one which had broken down beyond repair having been in constant use for more than 8 years. This gift to him came from a Sovereign Hope BP Church member back in Singapore who had heard about his plight. We thank God for His timely providence and care for His children.

The group met both Rev David and Rev Salai for dinner at Ocean Restaurant. Both of them hosted the dinner in thanksgiving for our presence and assistance at the MTS. Halfway through the dinner, there was an electricity brownout but power was quickly restored after a few minutes. This reminded us not to take the uninterrupted electricity supply in both Singapore and Melbourne for granted.

Myanmar Mission Trip Day 4

25 July 2019 (Thursday)

Day 4

The fourth day began once again with a time of devotion and prayer led by Elder Cheong who spoke from Psa 90:10-12 before breakfast. The 4 men then proceeded to MTS for Rev Sin’s lessons while the 2 ladies made their way to GBCH where Mrs. Julie Loke would begin her sewing lesson to help the ladies in the home to save on expenses by sewing items like clothes, cushions and toilet holders themselves. This could also be a source of longer-term income for the home as the home expenses are expected to increase in the future as the children grow up and prices increase with inflation.

Rev Sin again conducted 2 3-hour classes, one in the morning and the second in the afternoon. Like the previous 2 days, the morning lesson began with a 15-minute quiz based on the previous day’s lessons. Since this was their third quiz, most of the students had become used to the quiz format and hence improved in their quiz scores. Rev Sin announced that only 3 of the 4 quizzes would be used for assessment, in other words, the lowest-scoring quiz for each student would be discarded for the purpose of assessment. Lunch was taken at Asia Restaurant.

After lunch, Rev Sin proceed with his second 3-hour lesson on Church History I for that day while the 2 ladies continued with their sewing lessons at the children’s home. At about 3.30pm, the 4 men proceeded to GBCH for another afternoon of lessons and games. Mrs. Angie Sin began the session by teaching another 2 new songs while revising the earlier one before Elder Cheong gave the lesson focussing on Solomon’s obedience in building God’s Temple in Jerusalem. A papier-mache model of the temple built by some of the ladies earlier in the afternoon was also used as a teaching aid and later used to teach the children a memory verse from Mark 12:30 on loving the Lord with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. A video showing Solomon’s temple in all its glory complemented the lesson

before Kam Weng brought up the 5-stone game and taught the children how to play this simple game. The children enjoyed themselves immensely. Before leaving, the group arranged for a nasi bryani dinner for the children as well as Elder Habbakuk’s family. The children were pleased with this treat and it was reported that some ate 2 packets of the already substantial nasi bryani dinner.

The group met up with Rev Thawng Ne Bil from the Bible Institute of Theology (BIT) for dinner fellowship at Kone Myint Thar Restaurant. It was good that Rev David was able to join the dinner as well. Arising from the dinner, Rev Sin was invited to speak at the morning devotion at BIT the next morning. The group then went back to the hotel after another packed day.

Myanmar Mission Trip Day 3

24 July 2019 (Wednesday)

Day 3

Day 3 began with a group devotion and prayer led by Elder Loke from Psa 37:23-26 before the group proceeded for breakfast at 7am. Since we had arranged for a visit to various Yangon sights as other than Rev and Mrs. Sin, the other 4 members had not visited Yangon before, there would be no program today at GBCH. The men proceeded to MTS where Rev Sin continued with another 2 3-hour sessions while the 2 ladies walked over a bit later to join the class.

At about 10am, the chartered vehicle arrived to bring the 5 of us (excluding Rev Sin) to visit Yangon. Elder Habbakuk was able to join the group and acted as an unofficial tour guide. The group visited Inle Lake before proceeding to visit the famous Shwe Dagon Pagoda in downtown Yangon. The group only took pictures of the pagoda before proceeding to Bogyoke Market where the group did some shopping for souvenirs and fabric (to be used at the sewing session at GBCH) before taking lunch there. 

The group also visited the modern shopping complex at Junction City before leaving downtown Yangon. On the way back, the group managed to visit Judson Church which was built to commemorate the American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson who was used by God to translate the Bible into the Myanmese language. His translation is still used up to this day.

The group picked up Rev Sin from MTS before proceeding to meet a Myanmese sister Li Shun who worships at Yangon Chinese Church at Hlaingtahaya. We had dinner at the nearby Nawaday Restaurant before walking to Yangon Chinese Church where Rev Sin had been invited to speak at its prayer meeting.

Rev Sin preached in Mandarin from Jude 24-25 after which the 30 or so members prayed fervently to the accompaniment of music. It was certainly an eye-opener to see church members pray together in such a fervent manner although one could also say that the fervency could be attributed to the music accompaniment. Rev Sin’s message was received very well and he was asked by the pastor to consider preaching there in a future visit. The group then went back to the hotel after 9pm for a well-earned rest after another packed day of activities and ministry for the Lord.

Myanmar Mission Trip Day 2

23 July 2019 (Tuesday)

Day 2

The group held a time of group devotion and prayer in Kam Weng’s room before proceeding for breakfast at the hotel at 7am. The devotion was led by Rev Jack Sin who shared from Psa 73:22-28. 

From this day, the group would be divided into two: the 2 ladies would proceed to GBCH to teach the ladies there how to sew using Julie’s sewing machine brought over from Melbourne, while the 4 men would proceed to MTS for Rev Sin to continue with his lesson on Church History I. There would be 2 3-hour sessions, one from 8 to 11am and the other from 12.30 to 3.30pm. 

The whole group met for lunch at the nearby Café Sovico for convenience and in the interest of time.

After the second 3-hour session, the 4 men proceeded to GBCH for the late afternoon programme for the children there. Mrs Angie Sin taught 2 new songs to the children before Elder Cheong began his first of three lessons on the life of Solomon. The lesson today began with Solomon’s wisdom before a short video on Solomon was shown to reinforce the lesson. Next, it was games time for the children where Kam Weng taught the children how to make a crown with paper. The other members of the group chipped in to help various children, especially the younger ones, who were experiencing some difficulty with the

folding of the paper to form part of the full crown. 

The group then walked back to the hotel. On the way back, they took dinner at a Myanmese restaurant Yatha Htoo which was opposite the BIMS Hotel.

Myanmar Mission Trip Day 1

22 July 2019 (Monday)

Day 1

Six of us (Rev Jack Sin, Mrs. Angie Sin, Elder Loke Tuck Luen, Mrs. Julie Loke, Elder Jeffrey Cheong, and Mr. Yue Kam Weng) left for Yangon on Jetstar flight 3K581 from Singapore on 22 July 2019. We arrived at Yangon International Airport at 10.20am and were met on arrival by Rev David Khobal from Myanmar Theological Seminary (MTS) and Elder Habbakuk from Gilead Balm Children’s Home (GBCH). After settling in at BIMS Hotel and a Korean-Myanmese lunch at Café Sovico, the group proceeded to MTS where Rev Sin began his first 3-hour lecture on Church History I at 2pm. 

Although 8 pastor-students signed up for this first course in the new MA in Theology program conducted by MTS, only 7 students managed finally to attend this Church History I course. The course would cover the period of church history from the time after the apostles (100AD) to just before the Reformation in 1517. The students would be evaluated by a daily quiz, reading of lecture notes and assigned books, a 3-hour examination to be held on 27 July and a research paper to be submitted in a month’s time, ie by 26 August. To “welcome” us to Myanmar, there were 3 power brownouts during this first lesson while almost the afternoon was punctuated with torrential rain.

After the first lesson, the 6 of us proceeded to meet the children at the nearby GBCH. Other than Elder Habbakuk and his family members, the home housed 15 children in a 2-story rented home. Space was therefore at a premium with some 18 persons and a cat living here. The children squealed in delight when they were handed out almost-new and new clothes contributed by various well-wishes and church members in Singapore. 

The group was treated to a dinner at the home before returning to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.