June 2008 Volume 2, Issue 3 Myanmar Hope Christian Mission, Inc. 308 South Oxford Road Springfield, Illinois 62704-1258 http://www.myanmarhope.org info@myanmarhope.org (217) 415-9187 Summer Greetings What a difference a few months make! The last time we sat down to write the newsletter, it was a blustery cold, wet, March day. Today the weather is perfect (or about as perfect as weather can be in Central Illinois). While it is not quite summer yet, it is starting to feel like it. It has been a cool, wet spring for us, and many of the farmers in our area have been struggling to get their crops planted. Hopefully things will dry out soon, and they can finally get the crops in. We have put in a few crops of our own! Last fall, Palal and Chuck tilled up a section of our back yard, preparing it for planting a garden this spring. Palal did most of the work, and has done a superb job of Palal tilling the ground last fall cultivating and planting tomatoes, corn, beans, peas and peppers. Now, if we can just keep those pesky rabbits at bay In This Issue: Greetings...1 News Flash...1 Cyclone Nargis...1 Storms in the North...4 Support Programs Update...5 Recent Speaking Engagements...5 Emergency Distribution Update...5 Small Group Extravaganza...6 Family Update...7 Matching Grants Programs...7 Land Purchase Update...7 The Leadership Bible by Palal...8 News Flash!! Vahneikim and Solomon are coming to America! Last night, June 4th, the U.S. Embassy in Yangon finally granted Vahneikim and Solomon visas to travel to and stay in the United States until next June, when Palal will be finished with his studies. Read more about it on page seven! Cyclone Nargis On Friday, May 2nd, a devastating cyclone smashed into the Irawaddy Delta region of Myanmar. This was the strongest storm to hit the country in decades, and it caused extreme destruction and loss of life. Even now, nearly a month after the storm, accurate figures of the dead and missing are impossible to ascertain. Some put the figure of lives lost to the cyclone at over 100,000, and many people are still missing and unaccounted for. The storm caused massive flooding along the delta, which is one of the most densely populated regions of the country. Whole villages were wiped out overnight, and scenes of the cyclone s aftermath are both disturbing and heart-rending. The military government prevented foreign aid organizations from rushing in to help, even though they were mobilized and ready within days of the storm. Ships full of emer-
MYanmar HOPE Christian Mission, Inc. Page 2 gency food, water, medicine, and shelters, sat idly off the coast, waiting for permission to enter the country. Aid workers were denied entry visas, and hundreds of willing volunteers remained stranded in neighboring Thailand, while the people of Myanmar were dying of disease and starvation brought on by the storm. Only recently (the last week of May), after a meeting with U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki Moon, did the leadership of Myanmar acquiesce and give permission for aid workers to enter the country. It still remains to be seen how much of the promised aid will actually reach the people, however. For many families, the aid, if it finally arrives, will be too late. Yangon Christian Church Spared The storm downed trees and power lines all over the delta region, which includes the largest city of Yangon, where Palal s wife and family reside. It is also the location of Palal s church, Yangon Christian Church, which meets in Palal s home. the front yard would not fall into the house. She could hear trees falling all around, and she feared that if the mango trees fell into the house, they would all be killed or seriously injured. When they went outside the next morning, their trees were still standing, even though trees all around them were lying on the ground or smashed into houses and buildings. They seemed to be leaning over toward the house, but at least they were still standing! She said she believed that two angels were outside the house, holding those trees up. We believe her! Even as we mourn the many victims of Cyclone Nargis, we praise God for the fact that every member of Yangon Christian Church came through the storm safely. Not only that, but the house/church in Yangon suffered only minor damage to the roof. Just one small section of the tin roof was lost, thanks to the owner of the building putting on a brand new roof only weeks before the storm hit. Communications were impossible in the days immediately after the storm, and we tried not to worry for our family in Myanmar as we prayed for their safety. Finally, on Monday, May 5th, Palal was able to contact Vahneikim on the telephone. This was indeed a miracle, since nearly everyone in the city was without telephone service for weeks after the storm, and service has still not been restored to all areas. Not only did she have telephone service three days after the storm, but she also had running water. People from all over the neighborhood were coming to their home for water and to make phone calls. Vahneikim told Palal that during the storm they stayed awake the whole night, praying for protection, and also praying that we would not worry too much for them. She said that they prayed that the two large mango trees in Many of you will remember that just about one year ago, we raised funds to move Vahneikim, Solomon, and the rest of the family to a better house in a higher location. Had we not done this, the story would have a very different outcome. The old house suffered extensive damage from both the wind and the floods. Vahneikim said that she cried when she saw the damage the storm had done to the old house.
Volume 2, Issue 3 My Hope Responds! As soon as we heard from Vahneikim, we began making arrangements to secure emergency donations to send over. Also, people began contacting us, asking how they could help. By the end of the first week, we were able to send over about $2,500 to purchase rice, water, candles, salt, and cooking oil for as many families as possible. Page 3 truly grasp the nature of the poverty in a country like Myanmar. When we hear about prices increasing, we think we understand, because we, too, have experienced sharp increases in the price of gasoline, dairy products, and the like. Our home church, West Side Christian Church, was very generous, and allowed us to set up a table for collecting donations for disaster relief. The funds collected over two weeks were distributed to three mission organizations working in the area, and that are supported by West Side. With the generous donations that have come in so far, we have been able to help dozens of families. We are still sending the donations over, a couple thousand dollars at a time, and will continue to do so as long as the emergency funds last. The Current Situation For most people in Yangon, their situation is desperate. Food prices, which were already on the rise due to the global food shortage, skyrocketed in the days after the flooding. Thousands of tons of rice were destroyed by the storm, and there is much speculation regarding whether or not Myanmar will be able to put in a full rice crop the first two weeks of June. A 100 pound bag of rice, which is barely enough to feed a family of four two meals a day for one month, nearly doubled in price. The cost of drinking water, salt, cooking oil, and many other staples likewise shot up. Those who were already living on the edge of utter poverty were pushed over that edge. The poor who were already malnourished and living in desperation are now living close to death. It is difficult, if not impossible, for Americans to Item However, even with our recent price increases, most people in America can still afford to buy food. Those few of us who are living at or below the poverty line have many government programs to help, and there are a plethora of community food banks, and other private organizations to turn to for help. Not so in Myanmar. In a recent email update, we sent the following information to try to help people here grasp just how difficult life is for the people in Myanmar to whom we minister (see the table below, The High Cost of Living in Myanmar ). As you can see from the numbers in the table, it is nearly impossible for most poor people in Myanmar to survive, let alone thrive. Can you imagine having to spend two months of income just to feed your family for one month? You can see why your financial gifts are so critical to these needy folks. The High Cost of Living in Myanmar Actual Price Myanmar Kyats Actual Price American Dollars % of Avg. Myanmar Monthly Income 1 1. The average annual income in Myanmar is about $222.00, or 19.00 per month. 2. The average annual income in the U.S. is about $46,500.00, or about $3,875.00 per month. Equiv. Price American Dollars 2 Rice (100 pound bag) 40,000.00 $39.00 215% $7,960.00 Cooking Oil (1 liter) 5,100.00 $5.00 27% $1,015.00 Bottled Water (2 liters) 1,020.00 $1.00 5% $203.00 Candles (Pack of 5) 815.00 $0.80 4% $162.00 Gasoline (1 gallon) 8,000.00 $7.84 43% $1,600.00
MYanmar HOPE Christian Mission, Inc. Save a Village Campaign Please be watching your email for a very important Cyclone Update. We have just identified a village in the Irawaddy Delta that was almost totally wiped out by Cyclone Nargis. My Hope wants to help this village try to get back on their feet, and we need your help to do this. We have an incredible opportunity to save an entire village, but we have to act fast! Storms in the North Even as the storm was ravaging the southern coast, a different type of storm was terrorizing the villagers of Bokkan, in northwest Myanmar. As many of you know, Bokkan Village is the home-town of Palal, and is where his mother, father, brother and several other family members live. It is also the home of Bokkan Christian Church, which My Hope helps support. The next week, another storm hit the village. Palal s elderly father and mother were in their one-acre field, working, when a group of rebels approached them and forced them, at gun-point, away from their land. They wanted to use the spot as a staging area for raids on the nearby Asia Highway. They threatened Palal s mother and father with death if they reported the rebels to the police. Needless to say, Palal s mother and father were very frightened, and went back to their home in the village. They were devastated by this sudden turn of events. Not only had they lost their land to the rebels, they could not do anything about it. Their lives revolved around working the land, and they were very sad to have to stay at home all day long. Page 4 A few days later, they heard that the military had chased the rebels off their land. Apparently they had been stopping vehicles along the busy Asia Highway, demanding money in order to let the vehicles Palal s elderly parents pass. The military found out about it, and came with force to capture them, but they escaped into the forest. In America this would be a good thing, but everything is backwards in Myanmar. The next stop the military made was to the home of Palal s parents. Bokkan Christian Church There is on-going military activity in the area around Bokkan Village, and the week after the cyclone hit, Bokkan was being hit with mortars from the Indian army. They were trying to drive out a group of rebels from the Meitei tribe, who had fled across the India/Myanmar border to relative safety. (The Meitei pay large bribes to the local Myanmar officials so that they can take refuge across the border whenever necessary.) There are over eight hundred families in Bokkan, and several people have been killed and many more injured by the mortars. Many of the villagers took refuge in Pastor Jonah s house, not because it was any stronger than the other houses, but because they wanted to be near their pastor during the shelling. Thankfully, no one from Bokkan Christian Church was hurt. The officials assumed that his parents had voluntarily allowed the rebels the use of their land, and they spent an entire day harshly interrogating them, trying to get them to admit to a crime they had not committed. Finally, at the end of the day, the police said they would not be arrested this time. However, they told Palal s mother and father that if the rebels ever came back to the area, or showed up on their land again, Palal s parents would not be arrested; they would just be shot and killed. Now they were afraid of being killed by the rebels, because the police had found out about them, and they were afraid of being killed by the police. As soon as we found out about this, we sent money to Pastor Jonah to enable him to purchase plane tickets for Palal s mother and father, so they could fly to Yangon to stay with Vahneikim for a while. A flight to Yangon costs about $100.00 and takes between two or three hours. A trip overland would cost almost the same, but would take two or three days, and is very dangerous.
Volume 2, Issue 3 It took close to a week for Pastor Jonah to get permission to buy the tickets, and then actually purchase them, but the arrangements were finally made. On Sunday, May 25th, Palal s parents were picked up at the Yangon airport by Vahneikim, Solomon, and several other members of the family. Palal s mother cried with joy when she arrived, and she and her husband were both very relieved to be away from the danger in Bokkan. Needless to say, Palal was relieved as well (as were we all). MaryAnn thoughtfully sent over enough money to purchase another mattress so that Palal s mother and father would have a place to sleep when they arrived. When Palal s mother saw the mattress, she dropped to her knees and cried. She thanked and praised God, and dedicated the new mattress to the Lord, while tears of joy ran down her face. Neither she, nor Palal s father, have ever slept on a mattress before, even though he is 70 and she is 65. Page 5 Recent Speaking Engagements We are so thankful for all of the churches and organizations that have allowed us to share the ministry of My Hope. We are especially grateful for the compassion and generosity of these groups and individuals for the suffering people of Myanmar. Hill s Home Group; Lincoln, Illinois (4/13) Tuesday Morning Alive With Christ Bible study; West Side Christian Church, Springfield, Illinois (4/22) Springfield Christian School, Springfield, Illinois (5/7) College Park Christian Church; Normal, Illinois (5/11) Support Programs Update FAMILY AND PASTOR SUPPORT We are always looking for people to adopt a Myanmar family or pastor. By sending regular, monthly support, you are helping to change the lives of people who really need our help. These are the poorest of the poor, and many have no regular source of income. Your monthly donations can really make a huge impact on these families, and can help them out of the extreme poverty which keeps them in a constant state of malnutrition, sickness, and anxiety. Please consider becoming a sponsor today! WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A SPONSOR? If you are interested in sponsoring a family or a pastor s family, we would love to talk to you! Give us a call at (217) 415-9187, or email us at info@myanmarhope.org. By becoming a sponsor, you can change the life of an individual or a whole family! You ll be glad you did! OTHER WAYS TO HELP There are many things that you can do to help our brothers and sisters in Myanmar. Here are some ways: Purchase a bicycle for a pastor ($80.00) Purchase a short wave radio for a village ($35.00) Purchase one or more Kuki language Bibles ($5.00 each) Purchase a pig ($150.00) Purchase a mithun (water buffalo) cow ($500.00) Palal speaks to a Sunday school class at College Park Christian Church Upcoming Engagements: Palal is Camp Missionary at Prairie States Camp, Watseka, Illinois (6/8 8/15) Witt Christian Church VBS; Witt, Illinois (6/27) North American Christian Convention; Cincinnati, Ohio (7/1 7/4) Bartonville Christian Church; Bartonville, Illinois (7/20) World Convention; Nashville, Tennessee (7/30 8/3) ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) Convention; Denver, Colorado (10/2 10/3) National Missionary Convention; Tulsa, Oklahoma (11/19 11/23) If your church or group would be interested in hearing Palal s story, please contact us. No group is too large or too small. Call us at 217-415-9187, or send an email to our engagement manager at MaryFern@MyanmarHope.org.
MYanmar HOPE Christian Mission, Inc. Emergency Rice Distribution In April, Pastor Jonah and other church leaders completed another emergency rice distribution to New Canaan Village. This is the village that was displaced last year by a government dam project near their original location. When the government forced them off their land, the villagers relocated, with Palal s help, to the area where they are now living. At that time they renamed the village New Canaan. Page 6 The whole event was a lot of fun for everyone involved. Points were awarded for a number of things, such as the whole group getting a photo snapped with Eddie Lowen, our Senior Minister, as well as with the Director of Small Groups, Melissa Sandel. Points were also awarded for costumes, mascots, arriving to the event on time, and so on. There were nine rounds of trivia questions, and many of them were quite challenging! Each team earned points for the number of correct answers given during each round. About half way through the evening, the MC s announced the standings to that point, and, much to our amazement, our group was in the top five! We started to get excited because the grand prize for winning the contest was quite good! Schatzie in her longee, waits patiently for a treat... Villagers of New Canaan gather to receive their manna. They were forcibly removed from their land just after planting season last year, so they were not able to harvest any crops last fall. They were in desperate need of help, so we appealed to I.D.E.S. for an emergency grant to purchase rice. They graciously sent us $5,000.00. We have made three rice distributions so far. There is enough money for one final distribution, which we will make this summer, between planting season and harvest, when the people will be the most needy. When the final trivia round was ready to begin, they announced the standings again, and we were in second place! Only four points separated us from the first place team. We all decided then, as a group, if we won, to donate any potential winnings to Myanmar Hope Christian Mission. Then we prepared to give it our best for the final round. When the final scores were tallied up, we learned that we came in second place. Our team was a little late getting to the event because of a sudden downpour, and the other team received points for being there on time. But, all in all, we had a great time together as a group, and it was an evening we would remember for a long time to come. Small Group Extravaganza! On April 25th, West Side Christian Church held a Small Group Extravaganza, to celebrate the end of our small group season. This year we had a trivia night, and over forty small (home) groups participated. Each group chose a different theme, and wore costumes and brought along props and mascots to go with their theme. Our small group chose a Myanmar theme, and we all wore traditional longees (wrap-around skirts, pronounced lon-jee ) and t-shirts. Our mascot was our miniature schnauzer, Schatzie, who also wore a miniature longee and t-shirt! The Cherry Small Group posing in their longees. Imagine our surprise early the next morning when we read an email from the Director of Small Groups, telling us that a mistake in the scoring had been made, and that our group won first place after all! The group voted that we ask for the cash value of the first
Volume 2, Issue 3 place prize to be donated to My Hope. The SG Director thought that was a fine idea, and before the end of the week we had a check for $400.00 made out to Myanmar Hope Christian Mission. After consulting with Palal, we all decided to use the money to purchase ten piglets, for $40.00 apiece, and donate one each to ten needy families. These families will raise the piglets, and then breed them or sell them for income later on. We thank God for giving us such a wonderful small group, and for allowing us to win the contest for His glory, and for the people of Myanmar! Family Update Finally! After trying two previous times to obtain a U.S. visa from the American embassy in Yangon, we are extremely happy to announce that Vahneikim and Solomon have their visas, and will be traveling to the U.S. within a matter of days! In fact, for some of our readers who receive our newsletter in print version, they may be here already as you read this! Matching Funds Programs Page 7 Does your employer offer a matching funds program for charitable donations? If so, this could be a way for you to maximize your donations to Myanmar Hope Christian Mission, and potentially double your impact for God s Kingdom. One of our generous donors works for a company that has a 100% matching grant offer. Every time this person donates to a recognized, 501(c)3, non-profit organization, his company matches his donation with an equal amount, dollar for dollar. His donations to My Hope are effectively doubled! Not all companies have such a generous program, but even if they match a small percentage, it could make a huge difference in the lives of the poor and needy in Myanmar. If you are not sure whether or not your employer offers such a plan, it would be worth checking out. Contact your human resources department today, and perhaps your next gift to My Hope could have an even greater impact! Land Purchase Update Thank you, everyone, for your prayers for Vahneikim and Solomon, and the whole, long, grueling visa process. Needless to say we are all very excited, and are anxiously awaiting their arrival at Chicago s O Hare airport. The whole family will be attending camp this summer, as the official camp missionaries of the Prairie State Camp in Watseka, Illinois. We also hope that as many of you as possible will get a chance to meet them while they are here for the next twelve months. For those of you living in and around the Central Illinois area, we will be holding an open house at our home in Springfield, so that our friends can have a chance to meet Vahneikim and Solomon, and visit with them in a more relaxed atmosphere. If you are interested in this opportunity, give MaryAnn a call at (217) 415-9187. So far, we have received $17,500.00 toward the purchase of land in Yangon for the building of a school, church, home, and office for Myanmar Hope Christian Mission. Praise God! In order to make a down-payment, and secure the land for later purchase, we need to raise an additional $7,500.00. Purchasing this land is a critical first step in establishing our presence in Yangon, and we hope to have this accomplished prior to Palal returning to Myanmar in June of next year. The total purchase price is $40,000.00. This is a huge amount of money, but we know that God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). We thank God for what has already come in, and look forward with anticipation as we wait on Him to supply the rest!
June 2008 Volume 2, Issue 3 Myanmar Hope Christian Mission, Inc. 308 South Oxford Road Springfield, Illinois 62704-1258 Bringing the eternal hope of Jesus Christ to the people of Myanmar in a holistic manner by addressing their spiritual, physical, emotional and educational needs Web: myanmarhope.org Email: info@myanmarhope.org Phone : (217) 415-9187 Myanmar Hope Christian Mission, Inc. is a federally recognized, not-for-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Illinois. All donations made to this organization are 100% tax deductible according to the Internal Revenue Service Code, Section 501(c)(3). Federal Tax Identification: 26-0324244. NGO License Number: BU-1679. MYanmar HOPE Christian Mission, Inc. The Leadership Bible By Palal On Friday evening, March 14, a friend gave me a ride back to Springfield from my class at Lincoln Christian Seminary. In her van, I saw a book with a nice cover. I picked it up and saw that it was a Bible with the title, The Leadership Bible. This is specifically written from a leadership view. I am taking classes for church/parachurch leadership at LCCS, and I was so interested to have a Bible like that for my own. I prayed to God and asked Him where and how I could get a book like that. That evening I was able to communicate with my wife and I told her about the Bible. I asked her to pray for me to receive a Bible. She asked me, Don t you have a Bible? Do you want me to send a Bible from Myanmar? I told Vahneikim that, yes, I have a Bible and I do not want her to send one from Myanmar, but I was desiring a copy of The Leadership Bible by John C. Maxwell, which I saw in my friend s van. Right then we prayed together that I might receive that Bible. I did not know how, or where, or when, I might be able to find a copy. The next morning at Prayer Meeting at West Side Christian Church, one of our sisters in Christ gave me a nice card as a way to comfort me because she sensed I was discouraged and frustrated over the U.S. Embassy s denying visitor s visas for the second time for my family to come to the U.S. When I opened the card, I saw that she had written Scriptures in the card, and also enclosed a twenty dollar bill Page 8 for my personal use. I praised God that He provided this money because I could use it to purchase The Leadership Bible. After prayer meeting, my friend, Don asked me to join him for breakfast. Afterward we stopped at Family Christian Bookstore and looked on the shelves where all the Bibles are displayed, but we could not find the Bible I was looking for. A store employee asked if he could help. When I told him, he could not find it either. Then he walked to the front of the store and picked up a book from a table. He asked me, Is it the Bible you want? Yes! I said. My eyes immediately went to the sticker price on the front cover, and I was discouraged. The price was $34.99, but I only had $20.00. I was disappointed until the clerk informed me that he found the Bible on the 50% off table. I quickly calculated the cost to be $18.86 and realized that I was able to purchase The Leadership Bible after all! I praise God that He provided the money for me to purchase it. He is so good! As I read my new Bible, I came to the topic of the 21 Laws. I couldn t remember where these 21 Laws came from, but I recognized that they were familiar. I checked my bookshelves and found a book called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. I had purchased this book earlier for $1.00 at the Goodwill store down the street. It has been so helpful for my study and ministry. It amazes me how God allowed me to get both The Leadership Bible and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. We see an example of how God gives us what we need for our life and ministry!