Pioneer American missionary Adoniram Judson arrived in Burma in
1813. He was 24 years old and Burma was a hostile place. Judson
laboured for six years before seeing even one convert. In 1828 a
former slave and hardened criminal named Ko Tha Byu became the
first ethnic Karen to receive Christ. By God's grace Ko Tha Byu
became a mighty evangelist. After 18 years of ministry Judson
observed in 1831 that a 'spirit of inquiry' was spreading across
the whole land. Operation World (2000) estimates that Burma is
now
8.7 percent Christian. The 70 percent Burmese majority is
strongly Buddhist, whilst the ethnic minorities are
predominantly Christian.
In 1962 the Marxist-influenced military seized power in a coup.
Foreign missionaries were then expelled and all private (mostly
Christian mission) schools and hospitals were nationalised.
Political repression and isolation escalated further after the
major crackdown of 1988, and again after the junta received an
influx of arms and military hardware in 2005. The junta is no
longer defined by ideology but by its addiction to the perks of
totalitarian power. Its violent, corrupt, discriminatory and
self-serving regime fuels resistance to its rule, which the
military then violently represses. Thus goes the perpetual cycle
of conflict.
A genocidal conflict is presently being waged against the ethnic
Karen. (See 'Burmese Darfur: The Silent Genocide of Myanmar',
Spiegel online, 6 Sep 2007.) This has created around 540,000
IDPs (internally displaced people) in eastern Burma and forced
some
200,000 Karen into refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Most
of these refugees are Christians.
The United States 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA)
decrees that the US Commission of International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) designate as Countries of Particular Concern
(CPC) those countries whose governments engage in or tolerate
systematic and egregious violations of religious liberty. Burma
has always been on the USCIRF's CPC list, being re-designated a
CPC most recently on 2 May 2008. Over recent years the
increasingly desperate and paranoid junta has escalated its
efforts -- as its official policy states -- to 'destroy the
Christian religion in Burma'.
On 3 May 2008 the 190 km/hr (120 miles/hour) winds of Cyclone
Nargis ripped through Burma's Irrawaddy delta. The toll of
injured,
dead and missing is spiralling upwards at a horrendous rate. On
Tuesday 6 May Burma's state television reported that 10,000
perished in the town of Bogalay alone. Rescue operations will be
difficult due to the remoteness of the disaster region which is
a major rice-producing area and home to 24 million people. The
risk of disease is high. However, Cyclone Nargis has blown open
a door. The junta that has kept Burma closed, isolated and
violently repressed for decades has now issued an appeal for
international assistance.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR GOD TO --
* work through the affliction caused by Cyclone Nargis, to
deliver Burma from its affliction of violent, repressive,
totalitarian rule; may he open the ears of multitudes of Burmese
to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
* bless all Burmese pastors, Christian leaders and teachers:
inside Burma; in the refugee camps; in the Burmese diaspora; and
especially those who are presently fleeing or suffering in
terror. May the Holy Spirit fill the leaders with the wisdom,
faith, grace and strength to shepherd the Lord's flock through
these difficult times.
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | No. 477 | May 7, 2008
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