History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Baptist mission among the Shan 96
One Sunday at KanNaLone
Sunday morning, Church bell rang at 6 AM. Men gathered in the Church to have men’s
fellowship. It lasted about one hour. About fifty men attended.
At 8 AM, the bell rang again. Children from five to fifteen years old got together for Sunday-schools.
There were different classes for different ages. Once a month all classes grouped together for combine
program. Altogether about 300 children.
At 9 AM, the bell rang again for main Worship Service for all ages. About five hundred people
attended the service. It lasted about two hours.
At 2 PM, the bell rang again for women’s worship service. About 150 women attended the service.
At 4 PM, the bell rang again for Youth Worship Service. About 150 young people attended the service.
Children as young as 10 year-old were asked to lead the service. They recited scripture verses by heart,
prayed and sang. They were trained at young age.
At 5 PM, after youth Service, young people gathered at one of the pastors’ home for special Worship
Service to offer prayer and encouragement to the pastor. They believed that the servants of the Lord
also needed prayer and encouragement.
At 5 PM, I was taken to a village on motorbike and sometime on foot. It took about 45 minutes to get
there. Another Worship Service with village people. It lasted about one hour. I got back to pastor’s
home at 7 PM. It was really “The Lord’s day.” The whole day was for the Lord. I preached four times
on that Sunday. Do we feel tired in Worshiping God?
All the baptized members give “monthly-offering” in front of the main door with the names
recorded by assistant pastor of the Church every Sunday morning before the Church service begin.
During worship service another offerings called the “tithe” and normal “Sunday collection” are
collected. If there is a communion, communion is offered once a month on the first week of the month,
a “communion special offering” is also collected. “Special offerings for church building fund” or
“Church celebration or special programs” are also collected. There are many offerings collected by the
Church on Sunday. The names of the donors and the amount of the money given are also read out in the
Church by the Church assistant pastor as an announcement. Sometimes this announcement lasted for
thirty minutes. When asked why they read out all the names of the donors and the amount of the money
given, the reply was, “To let the people know that we are not putting their donation into our pocket. We
are telling all the people the amount we have received from them.” However there are some
embarrassments for those who can only give little amount of money but a pride for those who give
more money.
Statistic in 2001
Families: 270
Baptized members: 447 (M) 544 (F) Total 991
Non-baptized members: 1,000
Report from HIV/AIDS Project
There are five full-time workers; Mayse Hein, Han Nu, Nang Seng Arm, Mary, Able La.
Health education was given to 16 Churches and total 690 people attended.
30 AIDS sufferers were visited, 38 orphans whose parents died of AIDS are under support. 10 AIDS
sufferers are also under support.
KanNaLone Shan Baptist Church in KengTung is the first Shan Church in Eastern Shan State, the
largest and strongest Shan Church in all Shan States under leadership of senior pastor Rev. Seng Tip.