14 January 2010

Adventist message reaches Kayin State in Myanmar

Thirty miles from Mawlamyine where the Seventh-day Adventist field office is located lies the Lay-Htaw-Hta village in the Kya In Seik Gyi township of Kayin state. This village is inhabited by 70 percent Buddhists, and 30 percent Christians.

On December 5 last year, 13 of the 700 people living in this community accepted the Adventist faith through baptism. A matriarch, 82 year-old Phee Twan Dan, was among those baptized as a result of the painstaking effort of Pastor SA Maung, district pastor, who frequented this community with his message of hope. This matriarch has been an inspiration to the newly baptized believers.

“Because of this event, more and more are coming to know about the message and by God’s grace, we will reach each one of them,” said Pastor Maung.

“We are glad that the message of truth came to us and now we find salvation in Jesus Christ,” said the new members.

Pastor Memory Tun, executive secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Myanmar (MYUM), expressed his joy at the entrance of the message in this once un-entered area. “This is a very interesting new field because the people’s hearts are now opened to the truth,” he said during their first visit to the place on January 14-16.

“Our hearts are thrilled to find people in this village who are beginning to see the light of God’s message through the witness of these new brothers and sisters in Christ,” added Pastor Muller Kyaw, MYUM president and head of the visiting team.

Since there there is no church for the new believers to meet on Sabbath, the leadership of the Southeast Myanmar Mission (SEM), where the group belongs, has envisioned of putting up “a new church in the very near future,” concluded Pastor Sernay Nyunt, SEM communication director [MYUM Communication Department]