Our small team: Me, Rhema & Lawrence
I must say that i dragged my feet to get into the plane. I was pretty exhausted with Annual Conference just ended a day before our flight to Yangon. On top of this i had to spend the whole of Nov. 22 make final preparations. To my shame, my thoughts at the KLIA was to get this finished with and come back as soon as possible.
This is our last meal at KLIA before we leave 'civilization' (so its called....!)
As we entered Myanmar airspace, looking down from the plane i saw patches of padi field, all brown in colour. The plane landed in Yangon International Airport at 11.15 a.m. (Myanmar time). After clearance from Immigration, we were taken to our Hotel. My ear was so painful that i felt it was going to burst. My first day in Yangon was plaqued with some sort of deafness and ear pain.
It was not until our first night when our team were praying in the Hotel that we felt what we were up against. It was not so much about political restrictions, or under 'development' but it was spiritual in nature. The Lord seemed to be showing us once again that whatever we were against was indeed spiritual in nature and it ought to be seen for what it is through prayer & intercession. (This is my second visit; i also felt the same in my first visit). As we prayed, God laid a burden for the land in our heart.
Our prayer was for God to open our eyes to see what he wants us to see in this land.
The next five days was really very exciting! We met up with the Youth Leaders on the next day. They were a great bunch of people who were 'on fire for God.' Materially, they did not have much but they were spiritually rich . There was this connection which happened quickly. We felt a certain sense of unity...oneness. As we prayed and worshipped the Lord together, our difference seem small and insignificant.
Some of the youths whom we met.....
Group Picture with some youths in one of these churches
Oh yes, they are crazy too!
From then on God began to show us how He was at work in this beautiful land. The best thing about Myanmar was the people! The people are friendly, warm and beautiful. There is also a deep spiritual hunger in the hearts of the people in this land.
I think this came through very clearly in our church visitation. Initially, my idea of visitation was to just meet with the Youths in various churches and to hear some reports and news about their present situation. But this was not how it happened. After the initial introduction, we began to worship God. Guess what...we sang the same songs but in different languages. Then they asked us to share from the Word some thing from the Lord. I was not quite prepared for this but the Lord through our team members began to speak a message of encouragement to them. Through this we saw God's faithfulness and power at work!
Some pictures of the churches we visited:
The Pastor of this church runs an orphanage of about 16 children. This is how the light of the Gospel is penetrating the land. The church of God which is filled by God's love is reaching out to the community in a tangable manner. I see that there are great people of God with great vision for God! I wondered, what are we doing for God? I think sometimes it is not even a matter of resources. If we have a heart that is given fully over to God, He can do great things through us.
Church In Bago....this is a very poor church. But when the Youths began to worship God, we sensed that God was very pleased with them because their hearts were right with God. As i pondered about this i realised that God doesn't show favourtism. Those who seek Him & obey Him will in find His favour in their life.
This is the Chinese Church in Bago. With blessings comes also added responsibility. We are accountable to God in how we use the resources that He entrusts to us.
English Methodish Church
Here's a some pics that talks about life in Myanmar:
Believe it or not this is the common 'bus', always crowded with people. Most of the time people are hanging at the rear end of the bus
Streets of Yangon - full of people & vehicals
Buildings in Yangon (you feel like you are about 30 years behind time)
The food in Myanmar is really good. This time we were more daring in trying the local food. (Not to mentioned that we prayed for God's protection as well). Last year i suffered the worst food poisioning i ever experienced. Some pictures about food now.... :)
Do you know that the Pastor of this church cooked this meal for us?
We were deeply touched by their hospitality!
This meal was hosted by the Bishop, his family & the Annual Conference. It was indeed a great feast!
Chicken Beryani in Myanmar
I also had an opportunity to meet up with some of the Bible Institute students. This are the future leaders of the church. I was very impressed by their deep faith and commitment to the Lord. As i shared the Word of God with them, i realised that we have actually much to learn from them. We are so blessed in Malaysia. Yet when it comes to actually doing what the says...we are very much lacking.
Bible Institute students
On the last night we were involved in a Youth Revival Service. Lawrence shared a testimony about doing God's Will and i preached at the service. The Youth Worship band was really awesome. As they led us in worship we felt God's Presence! Wow....it was simply great. I think God is going to bring revival to Myanmar, especially in the lives of this young people. 
YOuth Band. Do you know that they go around the country sharing the gospel through Gospel Rallies? A number of them are considering full time ministry.
I think that going on Mission trip is exciting. It is because often times we are totally depended on God to work, especially in a place which seems strange and alien. There were many times when we saw God working in an unique way in our trip. The best thing that can ever to us in a Mission trip is to meet God & to have an intimate relationship with Him.
