History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Analysis 241
work yet no noble truth can be viewed alone and stands in its true light.” 127 And in August 1865, “We
spent the evening in special prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit“ 128 Dr. Henderson reported in
1894, “We are praying for God’s blessings and for the guidance of His Holy Spirit in all our work.” 129
They believed in Holy Spirit. They prayed for the Holy Spirit. However not a sign and wonder
or miracle was recorded and reported in the letters from missionaries. The real difficulty in our effort to
win Shan to Christ is spiritual power in spiritual warfare. The spiritual influence and the possession of
many spirits in the life of Shan are real. Even though Shan claim to be Buddhists they also believe in
spirits and worship them by offering alms and sacrifices to them. Jesus had driven out demons and evil
spirits and performed miracles many times. Disciples had driven out demons and evil spirits and done
miracles in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit in their missions. The lack of the power
of the Holy Spirit in the life of pastors, evangelists, missionaries and believers in Shan Churches is the
main source of weakness and unsuccessfulness in our effort to evangelize the Shan.
Present
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come and we would receive the power when He comes.
(John 16:7, Acts 1:8) The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and the disciples received the
power. (Acts 2:1-4). Many Shan Churches unaware of the “Power of the Holy Spirit.” They may not
have thorough knowledge about “Spiritual Warfare.” They may not know that they have to receive the
“Holy Spirit and Power” before going out to work in missions. They may not have yet experienced it.
They may not have been baptized by the Holy Spirit. The Bible has clearly stated that we have to wait
until we received the “Holy Spirit and Power” before we go. Some may even have doubt in the
“Baptism of the Holy Spirit” and the “Power of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus will baptize us with the Holy
Spirit. (Mark 1:8) Some do believe in the power of the Holy Spirit but they have never received it or
used it in the ministry. The miracle is performed not by human knowledge or experience or intelligent
but by the power of the Holy Spirit only. Some Shan Baptist Churches do not want to talk about Holy
Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit. They use
to accuse the people who talk about the Holy Spirit as non-Baptist.
A pastor gave a testimony at KengTung GCI in 1997, “After graduating from Seminary in 1984,
I was appointed youth leader in the Church. Gradually I was promoted to be General Secretary of the
Wa Churches Association. But I never felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit. On December 13, 1996, one
of the Wa non-believers asked me to pray for his sick daughter who was being tormented by evil spirit.
The non-believer said he knew that if I prayed the evil spirit would leave his daughter. I knew I
couldn’t do it but only God could do it. I told the parents that only God is powerful and I am just His
tool. I knelt down and prayed and asked for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I prayed and drove out the
evil spirit. That young lady came to me the next day and said she wanted to become a Christian and be
baptized. After that experience I have cast out lots of evil spirits and have come to understand that
education and graduating from the Bible School is not enough. You need the anointing of the Holy
Spirit. Unless you surrender yourself into the hand of the Lord you will never have this power.”
We have seen an ordinary Christian has driven out evil spirit. We also see pastor who cannot
drive out the evil spirit. Here is a true story from Northern Shan State. “One day, a woman came to a
pastor and invited him to go to her home and cast out evil spirit from her son who had been possessed
by evil spirit. Pastor went with a member of his Church. He prayed and tried to cast out evil spirit many
times. But to no avail. Nothing happened. He gave up. Then a member of the Church who accompanied
the pastor said, ‘May I try and pray for him?’ pastor said, ‘Go ahead and try.’ Then he prayed for that
evil spirit possessed man. Immediately the evil spirit left and the man got healed. The pastor came back
home and told his wife about the incident. His wife then said to the pastor, ‘Shame on you. Don’t go
127 Letter From Mr. Bixby, Jan. 16, 1863, Toungoo.
128 The Missionary Magazine August 1865, p309
129 80th Annual Report, 1894, American Baptist Missionary Union, report from Dr. Henderson