Myanmar

Myanmar is a largely Buddhist country in Southeast Asia. Around 90 percent of the world's rubies come from Myanmar. Sapphires and jade are also abundant resources. Myanmar is known for its large and highly celebrated water festivals. Thousands take to the streets for a huge water fight to celebrate the Burmese New Year. 

KEY CHALLENGES

Since August of 2017, an army operation against alleged terrorists in the Rakhine State of Myanmar has driven more than half a million Muslim Rohingyas to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, in what the UN called a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
Mindat, Myanmar - December 6th, 2015: Chin tribe tattooed faced woman (Daai) is relaxing at home in Mindat while wearing her exceptionally large traditional earrings and traditional tribal dress. The practice of facial tattooing was outlawed in the 1960's and is usually only seen on old generation women. Chin people, also known as the Kakis are a number of Tibeto-Burman tribal people.

Our Approach

We were never intended to live in poverty, divided against one another, with little hope for peace. In the Kingdom of God, poverty, violence, division, and hopelessness will not exist. We believe the Church is God’s primary transforming agent in the world, and that the local church exists to make its community more like the Kingdom of God.   

We partner with local indigenous leaders as they minister to the communities and cultures that they themselves are from. We start projects and programs in the hardest places and set up a plan for them to be self-sustaining in order for them to know independence and the value of reinvesting in their own communities.  

Read on to learn how communities are being transformed in Myanmar. 

Our partners

We have been working with our partners in Myanmar since 1995. Holistically ministering to the peoples of the Mekong River Delta (spread throughout several countries), our partners in Southeast Asia are planting churches, discipling believers, and developing leaders. With a strong belief that all of life is sacred and spiritual, our partners in Southeast Asia are building bridges to minister to communities through vocational training, entrepreneurship, and leadership training—reconciling the concept of work to God's intent in creation. 
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Projects

Mission ONE is engaged with leadership in Myanmar by providing training that helps them to follow Jesus with their whole lives. Economics, cultural contextualization, and leadership are a few topics covered by Mission ONE Training. 

GIVE TO PROJECTS LIKE THESE

Gospel Context

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection carry more collective and cosmic tones in Southeast Asia than we often perceive it does in the United States. Cultures largely influenced by Buddhism have stronger family and communal ties, meaning a decision to follow Jesus is often made as a group. It is easier for people from Southeast Asia to see the way the gospel addresses the conflict between different groups of people. Because of these dynamics, the Church is uniquely equipped to care for the needs of refugees and the poor.  

Working with local leaders in Myanmar, Mission ONE addresses the important topics of honor, shame, and what the gospel says about these cultural influences.  

To learn more about how honor and shame interact with the Bible and how this affects our Western theology, check out The Global Gospel, written by Mission ONE Vice President, Werner Mischke. 

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