I recently returned home from Myanmar (Burma). It was a successful trip.
I worked with our friend Suan Za to put together relief teams to help distribute aid to people affected by the recent cyclone in the country. As of the time I left the country, we had helped feed approximately 8,500 people and had clothed and housed hundreds.
Leading up to the trip, it seemed like everything was going wrong to stop me from leaving. First, the tickets I ordered from a travel agent in the UK got lost in the mail. I spent ten hours on the phone to the United Kingdom trying to sort things out. The agent who was working on my behalf with the consulate for Myanmar said that it would be impossible for me to get a visa to go. I prayed, applied, and got the visa. As we were driving to the airport for my flight, the tire that I had put on our van the week before blew out and literally shredded into pieces. By the time we got to the airport, it was supposed to be too late for them to check me in for the flight, but they checked me in anyways. There was so much opposition. If I had been walking by sight, there were many opportunities for me to say, “The door must be closed.” We decided to press on in faith through the opposition and were rewarded with a wonderful time of ministry.
When I arrived in Myanmar (Burma) I had thousands of dollars stashed all over my body. I prayed for the ministering angels to go before me and the Lord took me through immigration and customs with no problem. They just waved me on through. I met my friend Suan Za and when we arrived at the hotel, I found out that the government was not allowing foreigners to distribute relief. I had Suan Za dye my hair black and I prepared to go under cover.
The next day we met with other relief teams who told us that teams that had gone in had been turned back and at a later date, the Burmese people who were on the team had been arrested and questioned for being seen with foreigners. No one was willing to be seen going in with a foreigner because of the risks involved. We were able to mobilize a team to go in with Suan Za since he is originally from Myanmar. They traveled to the coastal areas that were affected. I helped mobilize teams to work in the refugee camps and areas around the capitol. These places were still off-limits to foreigners but the check points were not as strictly guarded and they were all within a day’s travel.
As I traveled around, it was obvious I was under surveillance. One man wrote down the license plate numbers of all the taxis I took and where I went. They also kept track of everyone I was seen with. As we would travel through checkpoints, I would just look down and keep from making eye contact. They always let us through.
The Lord brought together two strong teams for me to work with through local churches in the capitol. I had an open door to do a one day youth conference. In it I spoke about the call God has on His end-time generation and I commissioned them to go out in boldness, power, and consecration. I could see hope being ignited in the young people’s hearts as they realized that God is bigger than any circumstance or situation. God had given their country to them as an inheritance and had given them the spiritual authority to see it come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Out of that ministry came an invitation to do a three day Holy Spirit and Faith conference. We talked about “The difference between weak and strong faith”, “How to be fruitful in faith”, “Developing intimacy with God”, “Releasing the anointing and spiritual gifts”, and “How to release the power of praying in the Spirit”. Many people said that their lives and spiritual walks were forever changed through what they learned in the conference.
From the conferences, the Lord raised up teams of youth to go out with me to do relief work. We bought over a ton of rice, hundreds of t-shirts and raincoats, and rolls of plastic sheeting for tents. We loaded them up in the back of trucks along with our teams and drove to where the relief was needed. In some places the trucks could not reach so we transported the items on bicycles. We then proceeded to take the items to families and tell them that Jesus loved them and to ask them if we could pray for them for anything. The people hugged us, thanked us, many saying that they never really knew what Christians were like. We did this again and again in village after village.
In some villages, we could not give the relief out openly because it was forbidden by the military rulers in those areas, so we distributed it from people’s homes and in two places we distributed it from Christian orphanages. I felt so fulfilled as I saw children and youth doing the work of the ministry with love, compassion, and boldness. They were encouraged and emboldened in their faith as they saw the impact they were having on people’s lives.
When we had finished distributing relief, we met nightly and I was able to teach on intercession and the believer’s authority. We came together in small groups and interceded in prayer, for Myanmar, for its leaders and their salvation, and for revival among its people. I know that the seeds for godly leaders, restoration, freedom, and the manifestation of God’s glory were planted in people’s hearts and in that land through our prayers of faith and unity.
* * * * * * *
As I was ministering alongside the young people of Yangon, Suan Za was traveling with a team of young people to the coastal areas affected by the cyclone. When the cyclone hit these areas it was accompanied by a storm surge of waves over twenty feet high that washed over twenty miles inland. Entire villages of people had been erased. Suan Za and the teams traveled past places where there were no survivors or buildings left.
They traveled by truck, through six military checkpoints to the coast where they rented boats, filled them with relief items, and traveled up-river to places where no relief had reached even after one month. Some of the villages were only accessible six hours a day during high tide. The rest of the time they were surrounded by mud flats. One man they talked with said he had been caught by the waves and kept treading water until he reached a coconut tree which he wrapped himself around. All night long cobras swam up to him and tried to crawl on him but he would just grab them and toss them away. When the water subsided, he was in the top of the tree and had been washed seven miles inland. There was story after story of villages where out of hundreds of people, only one or two had survived. People were hurting and looking for hope. Praise God we were able to provide that hope at a time when their hearts were open. Even the Buddhist monks were welcoming and open.
As I traveled around Myanmar, I saw an anti-Christian and anti-west theme that was being pushed through the government propaganda, on the state-run television station, and in the state-run newspaper. All other sources of information and all other views were censored. Praise God that people were able to see the real Jesus of compassion and mercy. Most people we spoke with had no idea of who He is or that He even exists.
Thank you for your support and prayers that made this outreach possible. It had eternal implications. You had a hand in changing the destiny and direction of a nation. The work that was done was awesome and it is not finished. The teams that were mobilized are still continuing to bring help to the hurting and hope to those surrounded by death and destruction. As you read this, a ministry center and home for children orphaned by this disaster is being established by members of this team. The work has just begun but will continue with your continued prayer and support.
We are still covering expenses incurred for this outreach. If you would like to send a donation:
Please make out your check to
“FHGTTN”
and mail it to:
2608 W. Kenosha St. #252
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
May God richly reward you and bless you for your gift.
In His service,
Adam & Julie
I worked with our friend Suan Za to put together relief teams to help distribute aid to people affected by the recent cyclone in the country. As of the time I left the country, we had helped feed approximately 8,500 people and had clothed and housed hundreds.
Leading up to the trip, it seemed like everything was going wrong to stop me from leaving. First, the tickets I ordered from a travel agent in the UK got lost in the mail. I spent ten hours on the phone to the United Kingdom trying to sort things out. The agent who was working on my behalf with the consulate for Myanmar said that it would be impossible for me to get a visa to go. I prayed, applied, and got the visa. As we were driving to the airport for my flight, the tire that I had put on our van the week before blew out and literally shredded into pieces. By the time we got to the airport, it was supposed to be too late for them to check me in for the flight, but they checked me in anyways. There was so much opposition. If I had been walking by sight, there were many opportunities for me to say, “The door must be closed.” We decided to press on in faith through the opposition and were rewarded with a wonderful time of ministry.
When I arrived in Myanmar (Burma) I had thousands of dollars stashed all over my body. I prayed for the ministering angels to go before me and the Lord took me through immigration and customs with no problem. They just waved me on through. I met my friend Suan Za and when we arrived at the hotel, I found out that the government was not allowing foreigners to distribute relief. I had Suan Za dye my hair black and I prepared to go under cover.
The next day we met with other relief teams who told us that teams that had gone in had been turned back and at a later date, the Burmese people who were on the team had been arrested and questioned for being seen with foreigners. No one was willing to be seen going in with a foreigner because of the risks involved. We were able to mobilize a team to go in with Suan Za since he is originally from Myanmar. They traveled to the coastal areas that were affected. I helped mobilize teams to work in the refugee camps and areas around the capitol. These places were still off-limits to foreigners but the check points were not as strictly guarded and they were all within a day’s travel.
As I traveled around, it was obvious I was under surveillance. One man wrote down the license plate numbers of all the taxis I took and where I went. They also kept track of everyone I was seen with. As we would travel through checkpoints, I would just look down and keep from making eye contact. They always let us through.
The Lord brought together two strong teams for me to work with through local churches in the capitol. I had an open door to do a one day youth conference. In it I spoke about the call God has on His end-time generation and I commissioned them to go out in boldness, power, and consecration. I could see hope being ignited in the young people’s hearts as they realized that God is bigger than any circumstance or situation. God had given their country to them as an inheritance and had given them the spiritual authority to see it come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Out of that ministry came an invitation to do a three day Holy Spirit and Faith conference. We talked about “The difference between weak and strong faith”, “How to be fruitful in faith”, “Developing intimacy with God”, “Releasing the anointing and spiritual gifts”, and “How to release the power of praying in the Spirit”. Many people said that their lives and spiritual walks were forever changed through what they learned in the conference.
From the conferences, the Lord raised up teams of youth to go out with me to do relief work. We bought over a ton of rice, hundreds of t-shirts and raincoats, and rolls of plastic sheeting for tents. We loaded them up in the back of trucks along with our teams and drove to where the relief was needed. In some places the trucks could not reach so we transported the items on bicycles. We then proceeded to take the items to families and tell them that Jesus loved them and to ask them if we could pray for them for anything. The people hugged us, thanked us, many saying that they never really knew what Christians were like. We did this again and again in village after village.
In some villages, we could not give the relief out openly because it was forbidden by the military rulers in those areas, so we distributed it from people’s homes and in two places we distributed it from Christian orphanages. I felt so fulfilled as I saw children and youth doing the work of the ministry with love, compassion, and boldness. They were encouraged and emboldened in their faith as they saw the impact they were having on people’s lives.
When we had finished distributing relief, we met nightly and I was able to teach on intercession and the believer’s authority. We came together in small groups and interceded in prayer, for Myanmar, for its leaders and their salvation, and for revival among its people. I know that the seeds for godly leaders, restoration, freedom, and the manifestation of God’s glory were planted in people’s hearts and in that land through our prayers of faith and unity.
* * * * * * *
As I was ministering alongside the young people of Yangon, Suan Za was traveling with a team of young people to the coastal areas affected by the cyclone. When the cyclone hit these areas it was accompanied by a storm surge of waves over twenty feet high that washed over twenty miles inland. Entire villages of people had been erased. Suan Za and the teams traveled past places where there were no survivors or buildings left.
They traveled by truck, through six military checkpoints to the coast where they rented boats, filled them with relief items, and traveled up-river to places where no relief had reached even after one month. Some of the villages were only accessible six hours a day during high tide. The rest of the time they were surrounded by mud flats. One man they talked with said he had been caught by the waves and kept treading water until he reached a coconut tree which he wrapped himself around. All night long cobras swam up to him and tried to crawl on him but he would just grab them and toss them away. When the water subsided, he was in the top of the tree and had been washed seven miles inland. There was story after story of villages where out of hundreds of people, only one or two had survived. People were hurting and looking for hope. Praise God we were able to provide that hope at a time when their hearts were open. Even the Buddhist monks were welcoming and open.
As I traveled around Myanmar, I saw an anti-Christian and anti-west theme that was being pushed through the government propaganda, on the state-run television station, and in the state-run newspaper. All other sources of information and all other views were censored. Praise God that people were able to see the real Jesus of compassion and mercy. Most people we spoke with had no idea of who He is or that He even exists.
Thank you for your support and prayers that made this outreach possible. It had eternal implications. You had a hand in changing the destiny and direction of a nation. The work that was done was awesome and it is not finished. The teams that were mobilized are still continuing to bring help to the hurting and hope to those surrounded by death and destruction. As you read this, a ministry center and home for children orphaned by this disaster is being established by members of this team. The work has just begun but will continue with your continued prayer and support.
We are still covering expenses incurred for this outreach. If you would like to send a donation:
Please make out your check to
“FHGTTN”
and mail it to:
2608 W. Kenosha St. #252
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
May God richly reward you and bless you for your gift.
In His service,
Adam & Julie
posted by For HIS Glory to the Nations
at
10:36 PM
