New Christians in Myanmar

After graduating from Shiloh Bible College in Myanmar in 2018, John moved the following year to a Hmong village in eastern Myanmar where only two Christian families lived. John’s desire was to plant a church there.

The Hmong people are thought to have moved from the Yellow River basin in China in centuries past; today, the Hmong can be found in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and eastern Myanmar.

Their beliefs and practices are as textured as the intricate embroidery long practiced by Hmong women. Traditions include hand-sewn clothing for their new year, love songs marking the various stages of their weddings, and a funeral song designed to guide the soul of the deceased back to its ancestors so it can be reborn.

Hmong lady in traditional dress

The Hmong are animists, believing in evil spirits and the authority of a shaman to bring healing from illness. A shaman has at times also served as a leader in uprisings against political authorities. They have taken advantage of a messianic fervor, a belief among the Hmong that some day a prophet will come and restore their traditional form of writing, lost at the dawn of time.

As John has lived and worked with the Hmong people over the last year, seven more families have chosen to follow Christ. The one true God of the Bible answers the deep longings of the Hmong culture:

In His sovereign will, all the events of their lives, whether good or bad, can be woven into a beautiful tapestry just like their embroidered garments (Romans 8:28).
He is the Lover, pursuing His bride, the Church, and singing over her (Ephesians 5:25 and Zephaniah 3:17).
He brings freedom from the bondage of fear and the promise of life everlasting (2 Timothy 2:17 and John 3:16).
And all messianic hopes have their fulfillment in Jesus, the Word of God who restores us and gives us the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

In February, Andrew Bawi Ceu, director of Shiloh Ministries, visited John’s church and baptized 18 converts and led the new church in communion.

Please pray for John (one of the church planters we help support) and the Hmong village where he works. The people do not speak Burmese, but John is working to see that they are trained in the Bible.