Dear Brethren at HeartCry,
Greetings in the name of our Lord from east Myanmar! It is always a delight to give you report on the wonderful things God has done in the ministry over here in the past month. I believe that it is through your faithful prayers and support God is working among us.
Rufus (a HC missionary) has just got married (pictured on left). The newlyweds are so thankful for your contribution towards the expenses. Please continue to pray for the couple as they continue to preach the Gospel to the stubborn animists. I also preached the Gospel at a new convert's home where about 30 animists were present. God is touching their hearts. We expect to receive more people into God's family there in near future. We've sent out an evangelist to that village too. It was the result of the open-air preaching trips. The two brothers have recently made the trip to three villages and preached the Gospel to hundreds of Lahu animists, as I mentioned in my last report. We hope and pray that all the animists in the region would all receive Christ in a few years time as most of them have heard the Gospel.
The bible school at MK is doing very well where the other HC brothers are also teaching with us. The course will end on 25th this month with five students completing this year. I have visited Yi Cho's church on a Sunday and preached. I was encouraged by his faithfulness and hardworking among the animists. One thing I noticed was that the animist temple at the entrance of village, which is vital sign of any animist village, disappeared because most of villagers had become Christians. The rest of animist families, acknowledging that animistic god is inferior to our God, have moved to new/different location to separate themselves from Christians. But Yi Cho is still reaching to them with the Good news.
Tomorrow, I am travelling to three most-isolated churches in MPG region, in Shan State, with three other pastors. We will travel by car, by motorbike and on foot to reach there. The distance is not very far but the road is rough narrow and steep on high hills. We will be teaching the Bible for three days at two churches. On the way back, we will visit another church teach a few days there. Those churches are located amidst animist and Buddhist villages. So they face more challenges than the rest of our churches. Please pray that we would best serve and build up the churches through our teaching. Pray for a safe journey as I'm driving.
My church is seeing God's grace more and more. So is my family. Please pray for both. When back from MPG trip, I have medical check-up in Thailand. In the first two weeks of April, I will lead another Gospel preaching trip to over ten Lahu villages. Then I am teaching at Youth conference for three days. Please pray for the planned preaching and teaching trips. Thank you very much for your prayers. God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Elijah (March 2018)