History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Analysis 266<br />
<strong>Shan</strong> <strong>Churches</strong>. We need to produce more audio and video <strong>in</strong> <strong>Shan</strong> language. Nowadays many <strong>Shan</strong> are<br />
s<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g Karaoke and watch<strong>in</strong>g VCD. We need to produce gospel audio and video <strong>in</strong> <strong>Shan</strong> to reach<br />
young people. There are some good s<strong>in</strong>gers and music band <strong>in</strong> <strong>Shan</strong> <strong>Churches</strong> but they fail to produce<br />
good gospel music.<br />
John 6:30 So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe<br />
you? What will you do?”<br />
Matthew 13:16-17 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I<br />
tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to<br />
hear what you hear but did not hear it.<br />
51. Spiritual Revival<br />
Past<br />
It was reported by Rev. W.M. Young, “A great revival happened at KengTung <strong>in</strong> 1906. A great<br />
<strong>in</strong>terest among the hill people; wonderfully clear traditions; many pr<strong>of</strong>ess<strong>in</strong>g faith; harvest ready;<br />
Baptized thirty and <strong>in</strong>terest spread<strong>in</strong>g over entire state.”<br />
Present<br />
Eastern <strong>Shan</strong> Baptist reported <strong>in</strong> 1991, “Many people are more <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> economy than<br />
spirituality because the place is so close to Thai, Lao and Ch<strong>in</strong>a. Thus it makes our members become<br />
weaken spiritually. Religious education is also decl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g.” 175 A healthy man does not need a doctor but<br />
the one who is sick. If we th<strong>in</strong>k we are not sick we do not need to take medic<strong>in</strong>e. But if we are sick and<br />
pretend<strong>in</strong>g that we are healthy then the sickness will take our life.<br />
What revival is all about? Revival is to reawaken the spiritual life <strong>of</strong> believers and br<strong>in</strong>g aga<strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>to activity and prom<strong>in</strong>ence. Because <strong>of</strong> various reason <strong>Churches</strong> may decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> spiritual power and<br />
the life <strong>of</strong> believers are sick and dy<strong>in</strong>g. In some <strong>Churches</strong>, members <strong>of</strong> the Church are not given enough<br />
good spiritual food by weak pastor. A man shared with me his ill feel<strong>in</strong>g aga<strong>in</strong>st the pastor. He said “I<br />
was born <strong>in</strong> Christian family. My father was one <strong>of</strong> the founders <strong>of</strong> this Church. But my wife and my<br />
children are not believers except the one you lead to Christ and baptized <strong>in</strong> 1975. I want my wife and<br />
others to know Christ and believe. One day dur<strong>in</strong>g Christmas time, I asked my family and my non-<br />
Christian neighbors to cook a good food for Christmas celebration. I <strong>in</strong>vited pastor and Church leaders<br />
to come to my home and have a Christmas worship service, preach gospel to my non-believers family<br />
members and my neighbors. Pastor never come to my house and visit me <strong>in</strong> normal circumstances. This<br />
time I hope he will come. Certa<strong>in</strong>ly he comes. When the time has come to start the service, the pastor<br />
said, ‘Let us start our program.’ Then I begged pastor to wait for a few m<strong>in</strong>utes because my nonbelievers<br />
family and neighbors are still <strong>in</strong> the kitchen. I want them to hear the message. Please wait.<br />
The pastor was very angry and said, ‘That is why I don’t want to come to this house. It makes me sick.’<br />
I was so upset and disappo<strong>in</strong>ted. How can a pastor behave like this?” Some members do not want him<br />
to cont<strong>in</strong>ue as pastor. They want him to retire. But he declares he will never retire. He will serve until<br />
he dies. Does he need revival or renewal? A grand son <strong>of</strong> late Rev. Kham Maung had a strange dream.<br />
He did not understand the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the dream. Three months later he came to attend our Great<br />
Commission Institute Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> TaungGyi and <strong>in</strong> Yangon <strong>in</strong> <strong>2001</strong>. After the tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g he <strong>in</strong>terpreted his<br />
dream by himself say<strong>in</strong>g, “We need to revive the Church.” He asked me if I could help him teach<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Biblical truth to the Church <strong>in</strong> his hometown. I agreed to do. I went with him to the Church <strong>in</strong> April<br />
<strong>2001</strong>. After travel<strong>in</strong>g for three days from Yangon we got there. To our surprise we were told by his<br />
sister and Chairman <strong>of</strong> the Church Council that the pastor refused to allow us to teach Bible without<br />
175 114th Annual Meet<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>Burma</strong> Baptist Convention, Rangoon, December 1991.