History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Twenty-first century Shan mission project 127
Whilst most of the participants were very grassroots, this meant there were also a few educated men in
the group with B.Th who could speak English well. However Sai Htwe Maung assured us the training
in the Seminaries in Yangon is not the same and what was taught would be new to them.
Sombat was also of great help by loaning plastic crockery and cutlery items and an electric urn
for hot drinks. He visited several times and Sai Htwe Maung gave him an hour in which to share on
Evangelism. What a lively pair they made with Sai Htwe Maung interpreting for him! Franklin started
the program with teaching on Prayer and it became apparent that this was a key topic. It would seem
some do not know how to pray, or what to pray about. When a survey was held of the class many said
they pray for three or four minutes a day! The overall average was 13 minutes but this was bumped up
by Stephen praying for one hour and another leader for 28 minutes. Another key topic was Power
Theology, also taught by Franklin. He approached the aspect of needing the power of the Holy Spirit in
such a way that it did not become a doctrinal issue. He is really coming in to his own with grassroots
teaching and relates so well to the participants.
Sai Htwe Maung taught the middle session each day, firstly on Evangelism and then on Spiritual
Leadership. He is a great communicator so animated and alive, with a great sense of the mould the Shan
Baptists are in. They have had no outside input and no exposure to anything other than Baptist teaching
and tradition. The grassroots leaders were very open and receptive to this, as is Sai Stephen’s Ministry
Planning was quite a challenge to teach. We are discovering that really grassroots people cannot dream
big dreams. In one way it was easy as we could use the Shan 2001 vision as the best possible example.
But to get them to look beyond what they are presently involved in did not seem to happen! Stephen
felt the Lord speaking to him about four new mission areas that will bring forth fruit. He has a good
grasp of Ministry Planning and worked with his people on their plans. All handed in systematic plans
but not much Church Planting, or even evangelism, was included in them. Sai Htwe Maung shared that
their mentality as far as the Church is concerned is the building rather than a body of believers. So this
“hurdle” must first be overcome before Church Planting features heavily in ministry planning. Maybe,
in our teaching of this topic, we need to spend more time on the importance of having a vision.
Ong Siew Huat did a great job in teaching on Church Planting at a grassroots level and they
enjoyed his teaching. Many saw the need for Church Planting where they had not previously seen the
need. But, as yet, their mentality might hinder them from seeing that Church Planting also means small
house groups in villages and not large buildings in cities. It was good to have Ong Siew Huat and the
Dudgeons stay with us for four days. Martin shared a little about his Church Planting efforts in Bolivia
and I felt it was very practical and something our participants could relate to.
The response to Child Evangelism was good but I discovered their concept of children’s ministry is
Sunday school teaching and not reaching out to evangelize children. I need to rewrite my notes a little
to cover this aspect and challenge more in this regard. The program was set for six full days in the
week, with teaching from 9 am to 5 pm with a two-hour break for lunch and then 7 pm to 9 pm at night
at the other side of the border. But very rarely did we catch anyone napping!
On Sunday we all crossed the border to attend the Burmese Baptist Church in TaChiLeik. Sai
Stephen and Sai Tip, a senior man with a large Church who was one of the local trainers, led the
Service. They looked very much at home in their pastoral roles. If I understand correctly, Sai Htwe
Maung was introduced as the voice behind the Shan radio broadcasts and shared briefly. We had
“celebrity in our midst!” As foreigners we were not permitted to proceed more than 5 kms from the
border so can’t really say we saw Burma! We did enjoy a meal with the Church leaders in a nicely
located restaurant near our 5 kms post and shopped around the large market, which is primarily for
tourists.
For graduation our hotel arranged a nice buffet dinner for less than US$2 per person and we
held the Graduation Service in the Church sanctuary. Sai Htwe Maung and Stephen organized the
service the Shan way. We were impressed with one of Stephen’s evangelist, Sai Kong, an Ahku, who
gave a very good testimony summarizing the whole GCI program. On the last morning Sai Htwe