History of Shan Churches in Burma 1861-2001 - Khamkoo

Baptist mission among the Shan 65
NamKham till after the rains. Our working force has been small all the year and in March part of the
workers of the previous year returned to lower Burma, and one preacher went to MuongNai for his
family thus we were entirely without helpers for one month. In April and May we secured some helpers
but not sufficient to properly equip the work. I had hoped to open work among the hill people but lack
of helpers has prevented this. We have been able to preach to large numbers of the hill people at the
bazaar meetings but so far have not been able to visit their villages. At the bazaar meetings the
attendance and attention has been almost invariably good and a fair interest is developed in the houseto-house
work. We have had frequent services in two of the bazaars in the valley outside the city and a
goodly number of villages have been visited. The work, however, has centered in and about the city. In
June, I received by baptism the first fruit of the field. This first convert had to endure severe persecution
but he has proved a steadfast and earnest man. For several months opposition was very strong. The
priests who at first seemed very friendly became openly hostile as soon as active work was begun. The
opposition now seems to be dying out. There has been a decided turn for the better during the last two
months and at present the outlook is decidedly hopeful. We have a somewhat better working force, but
not sufficient to meet the urgent needs. There has been a little teaching but no regular schoolwork the
past year. I hope we can fully open this work very soon. We expected that Dr. Harper would reach us
by January 1903, but circumstances made it necessary for him to remain permanently at NamKham. We
are still in hopes that before the rains an associate may reach us for opening the medical work. At the
latest a family should not fail to be sent out in the early autumn. The hospital work will be of vital
importance to all departments of work. The field gives a magnificent opening for medical effort. While
the results, thus far, have been small, thousands have heard the word. We have bazaar meetings in the
city three days out of five, besides the meetings in outside bazaars and house-to-house work. The work
in the bazaars has been hampered somewhat as we have no preaching zayat and so far I have been
unable to secure a good site for building a zayat. The hill people are very friendly and I have no doubt
that a large ingathering of souls would soon follow the opening of active work in the villages in the
hills. I still hope to get some men in training for the work early in the year. A marked interest has been
shown in one of the villages of northern Shan. Several have professed to believe that Christ is the true
God but the opposition has kept them from taking a firm stand. Some of them were told they would die
in three days if they became Christians.” “The attendance and attention was good during the time of
strongest opposition and now as the opposition is giving way the interest seems to be deepening. Satan
is powerfully entrenched here and the early converts will have to face bitter opposition. The Khun are
very conceited, bigoted and superstitious. The northern Shan are slaves to custom, but purer in morals,
and more accessible to the gospel. It is a joy to preach the gospel in the midst of so dense spiritual
darkness.”
The survey report in 1906, “Shan found in all valleys wherever paddy land is found, in other
words, in all the valleys of the State, there will be found Shan. Tribal must trade in Shan bazaars.
70,000 tribal, 120,000 Shan, Kaw 29,652 most depraved.” “Tai Lu attaches an interest, out of
proportion, to their numbers from the fact that our Presbyterian brethren claim that they can all read.
They are found chiefly around the country of MuongLem in China. Some of them have been baptized
and one of the evangelists now employed by Rev. Young is a Tai Lu man.” “Regarding the best
language to use for work among hill peoples the expense that reducing the languages to writing is not
justified by the numbers at present known. In the meantime converts from all the tribes so far as
possible may well study the Shan language and literature in the school already opened and in others that
may be opened for them. We find that the children from the hill tribes now in school learn to read Shan
literature easily and well. It will undoubtedly be found best to make use of the Shan as the common
literary language for all the tribes. (comparing Karen Christians who learn Burmese) In the same way
by adopting the Shan as a literary language the converts from the hill tribes might become an equally
efficient agency in the evangelizing of the Shan.” “A bad fire raged in KengTung burning out the every
heart of the city. The bazaar, all the shops in the place and about four hundred houses were destroyed