I safely returned early Sunday from Myanmar and, though delayed here by the Great Race and only half present in mind, got to attend worship service at our home church, OIF. The flights went well. My foot is a bit better so I did not need wheelchair assistance on the return trip. Praise God!

Looking back, I see that this Myanmar (Burma) STM trip, enabled by God, your prayers, and faithful donors, was very fruitful. Thanks to you all! Let me share some of God’s blessings.

Strategically Empowered

The 3 newly published Burmese books were greatlywelcomed. They are not only being sold at the main Yangon Christian bookstore but also freely distributed to key leaders throughout places in Myanmar, including various tribal pastors. I had great difficulty using the Burmese font on my computer so I gladly brought back 25 of each of these books for use here.

Numerous attendees have ministries or part-time ministries in far-off places in Myanmar. For example, we might not have a solution to the Rakhine State problem (the press is rather one-sided so be careful of your conclusions), but one brother shared that the next day he was returning to a tribal group there, who are more animistic than Buddhist. No one had reached this group, consisting of 10-15 villages, prior to him with the Gospel of Jesus. But now already over 150 are baptized. Though he has four children and no support, he leaves his family for a time to minister to them. Meanwhile, God miraculously provides for them.

Many church planters are in similar situations. I could identify with them by saying, “Yes, we have been in this ministry for 17 years and don’t always know how God will provide. But looking back, we can see that He has been faithful!” Deep down they all have experienced and know of God’s faithful provision.

Vitally Equipped

The 3 seminars were deeply appreciated by the pastors, coworkers, and numerous students in discipleship programs. These students, with proper maturity and training, will be sent off to start their own churches. Each day we had about 5 hours of training, including question and answer time. The most challenging seminar for me to teach was “Abiding in Christ: Walking with Jesus”. This book was never intended to be a seminar, but the coordinator really desired for me to teach these important lessons. The book is filled with real experiences of how the Lord personally and powerfully challenged me by gospel lessons. I imagined that I was with the other disciples watching and hearing Jesus. I remain changed and bettered by these times that the Lord used His Word to further transform me.

Besides the above, I also taught 3 lessons on Genesis, 12 on The Life Core: The Heart of Great Training, and 8 on Life in the Spirit!: Experiencing the Fullness of Christ. So now, I have 30 new unique Burmese (bilingual) videos to be edited and put on the web for the Burmese around the world. Ten are completed but twenty remain to be done.

The Life Core uses two powerful analogies to show how we are to work with the Lord in developing growth in other believers. Life in the Spirit! (pre-published) shows how the Holy Spirit carries out all of God’s purposes in and through our lives including making us more like Christ. This series has a subtle purpose of unifying the churches who hold to varying views of the Spirit’s work through a careful exposition of God’s Word and the resulting insights. This seminar is also difficult to teach as attendees have all sorts of fixed beliefs, but by God’s grace, the Word was readily received.

Not only was I vigorously invited to return next year by each group, several others invited me to speak to their groups, too.