History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Analysis 206
The Feast of Purim was kept on the 14 th and 15 th days of Adar (Feb./Mar.)
Actually we have many occasions to celebrate according to the events in New Testament time.
Christians never celebrate Easter, Pentecost, Baptism, Communion as festival in festive atmosphere, as
it should have been as a big celebration. If Shan people can come and celebrate joyfully in the Church
as they use to celebrate in their Buddhist festivals, I have no doubt many Shan will come to the Church.
Luke 2:41-42 Every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When He was
twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
8. Academic education of Leaders
Past
All the missionaries to the Shan, one hundred forty years ago, were very highly educated people
with high qualifications. Twenty-five medical doctors served among the Shan as missionaries. They did
not only medical work but also evangelistic work, preaching, teaching, translating, training and planting
Churches. Forty-one non-medical missionaries including Rev. Bixby, Rev. Cushing were college
graduates with Master degrees. The government of India often committed to Rev. Cushing “missions of
great importance and delicacy.” His attainments as a scholar were exceptional. He mastered not only
the Shan language in which he was an acknowledged authority, but also Burmese and Kachin, an
unusual accomplishment and was an expert student and successful teacher of Pali, which was the
literary language of Buddhism. Cushing translated Holy Bible to Shan language, published the first and
only English-Shan dictionary and Shan-English dictionary.
However most of the past Shan pastors and leaders who succeeded missionary work after missionaries
had left the country were either schoolteacher or retired schoolteachers who did not have a chance of
going to Bible School or Seminary or getting adequate training.
Present
There are only five Shan university graduates who have gone to Seminary and serving in Shan
Churches and missions in 140 years. We seldom see educated young people go to Seminary and Bible
School. Up to year 2001, none of the serving ministers has Doctorate or PhD. There is a tremendous
need of educated and well-trained Shan Christian leaders with high quality.
Why didn’t the educated young people go to Seminary and serve the Lord?
How can we motivate and help young Shan educated men and women to join the ministry and serve the
Lord? Shan Churches seldom try to recruit highly educated students to go to Seminary. Parents do not
encourage their educated children to go to Seminary. One of our short-course GCI training graduates
who only has primary education said, “I was asked to preach at army camp. I first thought it’s no
problem to preach to the ordinary soldiers. But when I got to the camp, I saw many army officers in the
rank of major sitting at the front row to hear my message. I was trembling and sweating. I was afraid to
preach to such highly educated officers. But I prayed a lot. Finally I could mange to finish my sermon.”
Lowly educated pastors feel shy or afraid or inferior to approach highly educated non-Christians and
tell them the gospel. That is why we do not see highly educated Shan Buddhist becoming Christians.
Most of the new converts are grass root people with low education, poor, outcast and ex-evil spirit
possessed. A longest and oldest serving pastor said, “I have no chance of going to school. I only know
how to read and write.” But he has served for fifty years and still serving at the age of eighty. He has
planted many Churches. Regretfully some of our Seminary-educated pastors do not want to go out and
find the lost sheep in rural area. Most of our serving pastors in the small towns and villages are grassroot
with primary or secondary education and some are without theological training. Some educated
people only thinking of serving God after their retirement from secular business.
Exodus 34:26 “Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.”