Myanmar (MNN) — Myanmar’s crisis deepens after a widely disputed election.
Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has been sworn in as the country’s new president, five years after he ousted a government chosen by the people. “It’s essentially a continuation of the old guard,” Greg Kelley of Unknown Nations says.
“Nobody recognized this election as legitimate. Most of the opposition groups were excluded from it. There was no voting in huge swaths of the country because of the ongoing civil war.”
Min Aung Hlaing, Senior General of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, in Tianjin, China on August 31, 2025.
(Prime Minister’s Office (GODL-India), GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons)
Fighting shows no signs of slowing as the conflict continues. “The military only [controls] about half of the country,” Kelley says.
“The other half is [controlled by] the various rebel groups that banded together in their common goal of fighting against the military… leading to further displacement of people and deaths,” he continues.
“The hope is that the people can take back their country, so there could be a legitimate election that is a voice of all the people, instead of just people who are in power.”
Christians respond
Myanmar has been engulfed in tragedy since the 2021 military coup. “Over three and a half million people have been displaced [and] nearly 10,000 people have been killed,” Kelley says.
Yet hope remains. “Churches [and] Christians are targeted, but the Gospel is moving forward in Myanmar,” Kelley says.
“There are amazingly brave and courageous men and women of faith who are sharing the Gospel in the midst of this civil war.”
Myanmar is still largely unreached — only about five percent of the population follows Christ, and millions have never heard the Good News. But local believers are taking action.
With help from Unknown Nations, “Burmese are multiplying themselves; they’re raising up healthy disciples,” Kelley says.
How to help
Please pray for peace in Myanmar. Ask the Lord to protect His followers.
“Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers among the Burmese people and help them to understand the truth of Christianity, the love that Jesus represents,” Kelley requests.
Support Unknown Nations’ work among unreached people groups here.
Header image is a representative stock photo depicting the flag of Myanmar.
