Myanmar (MNN) — Remember the Church in Myanmar. This Southeast Asian country has been mired in a civil war between rebel groups and the military junta since 2021. The conflict has killed an estimated 90,000 children, women, and men, not just soldiers.
Christians don’t escape these realities; instead, they endure persecution on top of it. Myanmar is among the top 15 countries where it’s hardest to be a follower of Jesus. Consequences for following Christ are often violent and community-based.
Mike* with Global Catalytic Ministries (GCM) offers a glimpse of a resilient Church.
Hard pressed but not crushed
“They’re human. You know, we’re all human,” says Mike. “We think of the underground church as these super soldiers, super-human people.”
He tells the story of one Christian in Myanmar and his driver who were stopped by soldiers. There was a scuffle, and a military man executed the driver on the spot. Then he put his gun at the Christian’s head.
The Christian began going into shock, which included mumbling incoherently.
“[The soldier] was like, ‘Oh, he’s just mentally handicapped,’ and he walked away,” says Mike.
“So it’s like, it wasn’t his faith and his strength in the Lord that got him out of that situation. Even in fear, even in this shock moment, God still protects and still moves.
“It’s messy and it’s nuanced, but it’s so inspiring to see, even in the midst of such massive persecution and loss, that they still move forward at all costs.”
Persecuted but not abandoned
Yet the years of devastation and struggle in Myanmar can make believers feel closed off from the global Church.
“There’s so much trauma, there’s so much death, there’s so [many] issues and survival and stress and PTSD,” says Mike. “When you’re up against it and feeling pressure, you get frustrated at times and feel like no one cares.”
(Photo courtesy of Jesse Schoff via Unsplash)
But he says feelings of abandonment are often met with the truth that God is with the Church in Myanmar and is their strength.
“It’s this constant kind of adjustment as the emotions rise up,” he says.
Pray for the believers in Christ in Myanmar. Learn how you can support and stand with them alongside GCM at catalyticministries.com.
“We support them as much as we can, but we’re still so much under what they should be receiving,” says Mike.
“It’s truly a beauty from ashes. I would just love for people to understand or even taste a little bit of what they have to go through, and maybe sacrifice a little bit to help support them. There’s so many other things that I can’t get into when it comes to how they have to operate.”
*Pseudonym
Header photo of Bagan, Myanmar courtesy of Ajay Karpur via Unsplash.
