History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Appendix 374
the government, to share Jesus with the people. One of the soldiers accepted Jesus through the ministry
of the gospel team. His name is Sai Kong and he was then 22 years old. In his desire to know more
about Jesus, he walked for five miles to the next village in order to attend Church. Shortly after that, he
was lowered into a well to be baptized because there was no river in the vicinity.
In 1992 after completing the Shan Evangelist Training Program Sai Kong went back to SiLu
Village to resume his duties as a soldier. But this time, he was also a soldier for Christ. He became an
evangelist and pastor sharing Jesus with his fellow soldiers. Now he has a strong Church of 40
members (most of whom are soldiers and their families) and it is still growing. In April this year, they
dedicated a bamboo Church to the glory of God.
Sai Stephen and his team have been working for the past year in WanSai Village, which is eight
miles from KengTung. They often go and live with these mountain Shan in order to share Christ with
them. Other than preaching the Word, they do a lot of mercy ministry distributing old clothes, providing
medical help, visiting families and praying for those in need.
The Shan people are severely bound by the worship of demonic spirits. Whenever anyone falls
ill the family members offer sacrifices to the evil spirits in order to appease them. Many children die at
a very young age because of lack of health care as well as the bondage of spiritual darkness. The people
believe that when a child in a family dies it is an indication that the family is being attacked by evil
spirits. From that time on they live in fear. Everyone wears an evil spirit wristband for protection,
believing that the demons will not attack them if they have the wristband on.
When Sai Stephen and the team first started working in the village they would visit and pray for
families that had lost a child. Often after prayer the Shan people would feel a sense of peace. They
sensed the power of God and the love of Christ and would often give their lives to Jesus. Other villagers
who heard their testimony have also accepted Jesus.
Since the team has been living in the village only three children have died. That in itself is a
testimony to the protective power of God. After a year of caring for these people 29 families (47 adults)
came to know Jesus and were baptized. After a person accepts the Lord the evangelist prays for them
and cuts off the wristband that holds them in bondage; they then experience the freedom of deliverance.
Evangelists trained under the Shan Evangelist Training Program are now living in SiLu village,
teaching the people the Word of God as well as hygiene and health care. The living standards of these
people are pitifully low. They live in primitive dwellings with no electricity living physically as well as
spiritually in darkness before they came to know Jesus Christ. But now they at least have clean drinking
water as a practical testimony of God’s love for
the villagers. Asian Outreach footsoldiers dug a
well for the village. But it is the life-giving
stream of the Holy Spirit that these simple
people desire most.
Gift from heaven
Sai Stephen claims that the Shan hymnal is the
best gift the Shan have received, next to the
Bible a sentiment shared by many Shun
believers who have received a hymnal. The
hymnals were transported from Thailand where
they were printed in Chiangmai, a town on the
Thai/Burmese border. From there, professional
couriers were hired to carry them across to the
other side of the border to a town called
TaChiLeik. Transportation of each book cost 15