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G L O B A L M I S S I O N • w w w . g l o b a l - m i s s i o n . o r g • 8 0 0 - 6 4 8 - 5 8 2 4 1

FRONTLINEedition 1Q

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Many Adventists first glimpse into mission

work in Myanmar, also know as Burma, came from the pen of Australian missionary Eric B. Hare with his jungle stories.

Stretching from the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in the South, all the way to the snow capped Himalayan Mountains of the far North, Myanmar is a nation of great diversity both naturally and culturally. Myanmar is home to some 50 million people from 135 different people groups. The largest groups of Myan-mar: Burmese, Shan, and Rakh-ine are predominately Buddhist.

Over the past two years Myanmar has faced severe challenges—in 2007 there were anti-government demonstrations that led to a bloody crackdown that drew international pressure and economic sanctions. On May 3, 2008 one of the most destructive cyclones of recorded history hit the Central and Southern parts of Myanmar, killing thousands

of people, destroying homes and vast areas of agricultural land. The Adventist Church in Myanmar and the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) were both actively involved in recovery efforts.

The church in Myanmar—fueled by early missionary efforts established strong outreach among the predomi-nately Hindu Karen and Chin people groups. Among these groups the church remains strong and growing. But among the groups that are largely Buddhist and Muslim, the church has seen little growth, even though efforts have been made. Today in Myanmar there are more than 30 Global Mission pioneers daily sharing God’s love.

In 2006 Global Mission established a new congrga-tion made up entirely of people from the Liso tribe, a tribe that had never had an Adventist congrega-tion before. Global Mission pioneer Tumbo faithfully sacrificed his time to take

the gospel to a Liso village in Northern Myanmar, and started a congregation. However soon after the small group got started Tumbo was killed in a car accident, leav-ing behind his pregnant wife and young daughter. Then an Adventist pastor came and invited the Liso village to an evangelistic meeting. They remembered Tumbo and came. Half of the tribe attended each night. At the conclusion of the meetings each one made a decision to join God’s family. Tumbo planted the seeds, but he didn’t live long enough to see the impact they’d have on the community.

You too can have an impact! Your donations to Global Mission support the work of pioneers in Myanmar. Thank you so much for your faithful support!

Rick McEdward is the Adventist

Mission director for the Southern Asia-

Pacific Division, which includes Myanmar

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E D I T O R I A L Reaching Myanmar

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FRONT LINE EDITION is published quarterly by Global Mission, part of the Office of Adventist Mission, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters. Tax- deductible gifts for Global Mission projects can be sent to Global Mission 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904800-648-5824 www.global-mission.org

GLObaL CENTER FOR aDvENTIsT-MusLIM RELaTIONs Jerald Whitehouse AMRNET PO Box 1223 Loma Linda CA 92354 USAPhone: (909) 558-4563Fax: (909) 558-4845E-mail: [email protected]

HINDu sTuDy CENTER G. R. Mohan RoySouthern Asia Division Post Box 2, HCF Hosur 635110 Tamil Nadu India Phone: 91 (4344) 26-2170 Fax: 91 (4344) [email protected]

WORLD JEWIsH FRIENDsHIp CENTER Richard Elofer P.O Box 592 94186 Jerusalem Israel Phone; 972 (2) 6251 547 Fax: 972 (2) 6251 391 www.jewishadventist.org [email protected]

buDDHIsT sTuDy CENTER Scott Griswold P.O. Box 15, Nakhon Luang,

Ayutthaya Thailand 10110 [email protected]

CENTRE FOR sECuLaR aND pOsT-MODERN sTuDIEs Miroslav Pujic119 St. Peter’s Street; St. Albans, Herts AL1 3EY; ENGLANDPhone: 44 (1727) 854-229Fax: 44 (1727) [email protected]

©Copyright 2008 Seventh-day Adventist® Church. ADVENTIST® and SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST® are the registered trademarks of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists®.

MICHaEL L. RyaN –Chairperson, Adventist Mission

GaRy KRausE –Director

GaNOuNE DIOp –Study Centers Director

RICK KaJIuRa –Communication Director

NaNCy KyTE –Marketing Director

MaRTI sCHNEIDER –Programs Director

HOMER TRECaRTIN –Planning Director

RuTH DuNbEbIN –Donor Services Representative

LauRIE FaLvO –Communication Projects Manager

CHaRLOTTE IsHKaNIaN –Mission Editor

aNDREW KING –Video Producer/Editor

HaNs OLsON –Communication Projects Manager

sHyaMaLa RaM –Senior Office Assistant

NIMFa suMaGaysay–Donor Response Coordinator

sTELLa THOMas –Administrative Assistant

DaNIEL WEbER –Video Producer/Editor

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Floating ClinicThe sound of water lapping quietly against

the boat slowly gives way to the sound of voices. People are coming. Before long more than 70 people are lined up waiting for medi-cal treament from the Adventist mission launch that winds its way up and down the Kapuas river, Indonesia’s longest river. This is West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.

The West Kalimantan mission of the Adven-tist Church in Western Indonesia has only twelve organized churches to reach out to the more than four million people who live there. Several years ago a Global Mission supporter donated money to build a medical launch to help people along the Kapuas river; a river over 1,100 km long. But after the boat was built the mis-sion had trouble coming up with the funds to operate it. Another donor set up funds to get the boat on to the river where it could provide much needed medical services for the people along the riverbanks.

When the leaders of West Kalimantan visited the villages to get permission for the boat to land they found that the villages near Pontianak were reluctant to receive the boat. Most of these villages have majority Muslim populations and in the past they’ve had negative experiences with Christian medical missions. Finally after a 10-hour boat ride up the Kapuas River, the boat reached villages inhabited by the Dayak tribe.

The Dyak people were excited to have medical services for their people. The mission of the boat is to provide a floating medical clinic and a floating witness. The staff of two, a nurse and a Global Mission pioneer, make contacts with people who live along the river banks and minister to their needs.

The long-term goal is to place a Global Mis-sion pioneer in each of the 36 villages being served by the medical clinic.

The pioneers working in these villages will minister to the village spiritually and the boat will come to the village to help with the medi-cal needs. The staff dress wounds, treat flu, diarrhea and other contagious diseases. They also give injections and share counsel about family life and nutrition.

While the people are being treated, the Global Mission pioneer leads out in children’s games and Bible songs and also visits people in their homes to talk and pray with them. The children of the village all come running when the boat arrives so they can sing and play together.

Through the boat medical ministry, Seventh-day Adventists were introduced to people from the inland village of Samantall whose relatives live along the riverbanks. As a result a Global Mission pioneer visited Samantall and spent four months visiting people and study-ing the Bible with them. As a result, more than 70 people decided to be baptized. After only six months of ministry along the Kapuas river there are now 17 Global Mission pioneers working in villages, serving the people and establishing new congrega-tions to build up God’s king-dom. Thank you for your support for Global Mission.

By Rick McEdward, Adventist Mission Coordinator,

Southern Asia-Pacific Division


When Global Mission pioneer Tumbo died in

a car accident, it wasn’t the end of his ministry. Even after his tragic death, Tumbo’s light continued to shine among an unreached people group in Myanmar, also called Burma.

Modern Myanmar or Burma is a difficult place for foreigners to share the gospel. This makes Global Mission pioneers like Tumbo vital to Adventist church growth. Christians are often misun-derstood in Myanmar and are considered a western import. Because pioneers are local church members who under-stand the language, culture and local way of life, it’s easier

for them to break down preju-dice and share the gospel.

For years the Adventist Church had been unable to reach the Liso tribe in North-ern Myanmar. This large tribe of 1.2 million people live in an area that extends from Myanmar into China, Thai-land, Laos, and Eastern India. Four years ago, a Global Mis-sion pioneer named Tumbo began working in Liso com-munity just outside of Man-dalay. He started by making friends in the community and meeting people where they live and work.

Before long, Tumbo had started a small group of believers. Then tragedy

struck. Tumbo was killed in a devastating car accident, leaving behind his pregnant wife and daughter. The Liso people, however, never forgot Tumbo’s kindness to them. When an Adventist minis-ter arrived a year later, he invited the entire Liso village to an evangelistic meet-ing. Because they remem-bered Tumbo, many came. When the meetings ended, all those who attended decided to be baptized and joined the Adventist Church.

Inspired by Tumbo’s work, two members members of his initial, small group decided to follow in his footsteps and become Global Mission

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Reaching the Unreached in Northern Myanmar

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pioneers. Mejana and his wife, Mary, now lead the new congregation.

Mejana continues Tumbo’s ministry by riding his motor-cycle from house to house, knocking on doors and visit-ing people. “In my ministry I continue reaching the Liso

group close to home, but I also feel the need to reach into Liso communities farther away,” says Mejana.

Like many Global Mis-sion pioneers, Mejana works in partnership with his wife. Mary says, “I feel a responsi-bility to share the gospel with others. My husband and I

work as a team in mission. He focuses on people’s spiri-

tual lives, and I focus on their social lives.”

Last year Mejana and Mary were fortunate enough to be joined by another experi-enced Global Mission pioneer Marysan, who had become

a Seventh-day Adventist five years earlier. She was raised in a Buddhist home, but she had learned a little about Seventh-day Adventists. Her husband, a member of another Chris-tian denomination, encour-aged her to join his church.

“I told him that if I were to leave the faith of my ancestors I felt that I should become an Adventist,” says Marysan.

She decided to share her faith right way as a Global Mission pioneer. Unfortu-nately, around the time that she became an Adventist, her youngest child got sick and died. Her neighbors told her that she was cursed. But Marysan understands that bad things happen and knows that God is still with her. Through her witness, her husband and four children are all Adventists today.

“I am very grateful to be an Adventist who has hope

Reaching the Unreached in Northern Myanmar

Situated south of China and west of Thailand,

Myanmar is a beautiful coun-try with rolling hills and a rich cultural heritage. There are 12 main ethic groups in the country, but the government recognizes nearly 135 differ-ent tribes. Myanmar is known for its many picturesque Buddhist pagodas. Visitors from around the world flock to see these beautiful, taper-ing structures often painted white or gilded in gold, that are dedicated to Buddha. Some 90 percent of Myan-mar’s population is Theravada Buddhist, and it’s common to seem monks walking down the street in their brightly colored robes.

Myanmar’s history dates back to the mid-900s BC. Various kingdoms rose and fell until 1824 when Great Britain launched a 62-year war, which ended with Eng-land incorporating Burma into the Indian Empire in 1886. In 1948 Myanmar gained its independence and became a

self-govern-ing demo-cratic republic.

In 1902 Hebert B. Meyers and A.G. Watson traveled throughout Myanmar to sell Adventist literature. Meyers stayed for several years, eventually giving Bible stud-ies and holding an evange-listic series. Five years later the first Adventist church was organized in Myanmar’s capital, Yangon. Australian missionary Eric B. Hare and his wife helped establish the Karen mission station in Ohndaw in 1915.

The Adventist Church grew and by 1939 there were 25 schools, 43 teachers and nearly 1,000 students in Myanmar. Adventist mission-aries stayed in the country during World War II until early 1942 when they had to flee to India. Following the war, cross-cultural mission-aries returned until 1962 , when the military junta took over Myanmar. At that time

26 missionaries evacuated the country.

The diversity of the coun-try makes modern Myanmar is a challenging place to share the gospel. Because of this, Global Mission’s front-line mission work is vital to church growth.

Through their work people are being reached who have never before heard the gospel.

Capital: Yangon (Rangoon)

OFFiCial languageS:

Burmese

ReligiOnS: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4%, Muslim 4%,

animist 1%, other 2%

pOpulatiOn: 51 million*

aDVentiSt MeMbeRShip:

25,000*

aDVentiSt tO pOpulatiOn

RatiO: 1:2,040** General Conference Office of

Archives and Statistics, 144th Annual Statistical Report

C O U N T R Y P R O F I L E MYANMAR


in a risen Savior and I know that I will see my child again someday in heaven,” says Marysan.

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts and minds of the people of

Myanmar and thank you for supporting Global Mission pioneers like Mejana, Mary, and Marysan who are bring-ing hope to those who don’t know Jesus. Your mission offerings and your support of

Global Mission are touching hearts for Jesus.

Hans Olson

is a communication projects manager for

Adventist Mission.


In traditional Burmese homes in Myanmar, families eat their meals at a low table while sitting on a bamboo mat. A typical meal would include steaming hot rice as a staple. Out of respect, the eldest diners are always served first. Even when the elders are absent, the first morsels of rice are scooped up and set aside as an act of respect to one’s parents. Fruit is commonly served as a dessert.

–Nancy Kyte is the marketing director

for Adventist Mission. She enjoys

experimenting with new recipes and

confirms that global cuisine is one

way to travel vicariously.

WHAT’S COOKING IN MYANMAR

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ON The MeNu:• Burmese Stacked Soup• Steamed Rice (optional)• Fresh Fruit

BuRMeSe STAcked SOup— Serves 4-6Thanks to all the ingredients heaped together in layers, this soup makes a filling meal. BASE:• 2 cups red lentils• 6 cups water• ¼ cup cilantro (chopped)• Salt to taste

GARnIShES:• 2 green chili peppers, cut into rings and

soaked in water and lemon juice for at least an hour

• 2 cups chopped sweet onions, sautéed slowly until dark and caramelized

• 2 potatoes, peeled and grated, fried until crisp and golden, drained on paper towels

• 2 cups bread cubes (fried or toasted)• 1 cup cilantro (chopped)

PREPARAtIOn:Bring lentils and water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until the lentils lose their shape and make a thick porridge. Stir in the chopped cilantro, season with salt. While the lentils are cooking, prepare the garnishes.

After the soup has been ladled into individ-ual bowls, each guest can stack their soup with garnishes according to their taste.

FReSh FRuITS IN MyANMAR• Guava• Mango• Banana• Jackfruit• Plum• Papaya• Watermelon• Pomegranate• Strawberries• Mangosteen• Rambutan


We sadly share the news of a Global Mission

pioneer who was killed in Orissa, India last year. On August 25, 2008 a mob of fundamentalist extremists surrounded Samuel Nayaka, a veteran Global Mission pio-neer working in Orissa. They demanded that he renounce Christianity, or else be killed.

In response, Samuel said that he would continue preach-ing about his God—the Lord Jesus. “Since you are going to kill me, let me pray a final prayer to my God,” he said. He then fell to his knees and started praying. As he prayed, one of his attackers drew a sword and slit his throat. Another slashed his legs with an ax.

Samuel’s 75-year-old mother who was hiding

under her bed, panicked, and started running. The furious mob poured gasoline on her and burned her alive.

Since 2000 the Adventist membership in India has almost tripled from 350,000 to more than a million. Yet India still remains a great challenge for the Adventist

Church. Christians account for approximately 2 percent of the population in India. Because Christianity is con-sidered a western religion, converts to Christianity are often persecuted. This came to a head last year when widespread religious violence in Orissa killed at least four other Christians the same week as Samuel and his mother died. A number of Hindus also were killed.

Please pray for peace and reconciliation in Orissa. Please pray for Samuel’s family. Church leaders have still not located Samuel’s wife and children. And please continue to pray daily for Global Mission’s frontline workers around the world.

hungaryHungary is a difficult coun-

try to be reached by Global Mission. Years of Communist rule left much of the country with no religion at all, and

today the country has suc-cumbed to Western influ-ences, making it quite secular. It is challenging, therefore, to get people to respond to public evangelism.

For two years local Adventist church members worked to build relationships and prepare for a series of evangelistic initiatives last year in Sopron, a historic

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Global Mission pioneer killed in India

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city in the northwest corner of Hungary. One church member, a professional gardener, conducted lectures on gardening and showcased some of his flowers. A group of members sent 25,000 Bible correspondence cards to the community. And a group of Adventist youth organized a two-week “Segít7ek” camp for the city. At the end of the two weeks, two young people were baptized.

There are now 20 to 30 people attending the dif-ferent weekly programs led by local church members. Already 5 to 10 people are attending church each week. Since most church visitors are young, the church ser-vices have been adjusted accordingly. Hopefully, a new

congregation can be officially organized in another three years.

SudanAlthough

the Darfur region of Sudan faces horrific social unrest, the Adventist Church is still able to tell people about

the love of Christ. Last fall two weeks of intensive evan-gelistic series were held in five towns, resulting in 32 people making a decision for Christ and being baptized.

More than 200 people regularly attended the meetings, which were conducted in open-air markets in the morning and in the city centers in the evening. The Abu Matarik town’s chief was one of those who attended often with his family. At the end of the series four of his family mem-bers were baptized. He even loaned one of his private plots of land

and a shelter to the church to conduct its meetings.

Australia“It’s not every day I get to

baptize three rodeo champi-ons,” says Pastor Mike Brown-hill, “but that was my happy lot recently.”

For quite some time Global Mission pioneer Steven Groom and Pastor Mike, who leads a church plant in Woodford, South Queensland, Australia, had been studying with Dale and Patricia Jones. In fact, a number of pastors had studied with them. Then one day Dale called Steven up and said,

Sopron, Hungary


”Enough is enough. We’re ready to be baptized.”

Dale and Patricia are both rodeo champions in the Aus-tralian National Rodeo Associ-ation. “I was such a stubborn and proud man because the rodeo scene is a tough and proud world. Even if you’re injured, you don’t show it to the crowd,” says Dale.

It was hard for them to be willing to accept their need for Christ. But the ministry of the Woodford church mem-bers softened their hearts, and they realized that they needed a Savior.

Dale found a good water-ing hole along the Stanley River at the edge of his farm for the baptism. Members of the Woodford church and friends and family of the Jones came to witness their rebirth in Christ.

At the conclusion of the baptism, Pastor Mike asked if there were others who wanted to be baptized. Dale’s

brother Darryl, who’d been watching from the riverbank, felt the need to be baptized, and, wearing his boots and all, plunged into the river to join his brother and sister-in-law.

Dale and Patricia, along with their young daughter Courtney and son Billy, now worship each week with some 30 others in the three-year old Woodford church plant.

kenyaIt was a cold spring morn-

ing when Pili* approached Global Mission pioneer Chi-umbo* and challenged him to three public debates on religion. Pili is a preacher from another faith in Vanga, a vil-lage along the South Kenyan coast near the Tanzanian border, and he thought this would be a good opportunity to prove Chiumbo wrong. Chi-umbo was excited to have an opportunity to explain his faith.

It took a month for Pili to get everything organized

for the debate. Meanwhile, Chiumbo prayed that God would give him the words to say so he could witness to all those who came to the debate. Chiumbo knew that many would come to see if the Adventist could hold his own against Pili.

During the first debate Pili and Chiumbo discussed the godliness of Jesus; during the next one they discussed salva-tion; and the last one covered Jesus’ cross. Each time Chi-umbo carefully presented his arguments from scripture. He felt that he could bolster his arguments by doing this.

At the end of the debates, a family of five came up to Chiumbo and asked if they could study with him to learn more about Adventists. Chiumbo readily agreed. All five are now preparing to be baptized.

*Not their real names

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God’s Great Missionaries

Over time and through real life experience, missionaries have

learned that building bridges of understanding with people in other cultures is absolutely essential. There is much to consider before we start calculating potential baptisms.

To be effective, personal outreach must match the particular need. Consider these situations:

A starving person’s first • priority won’t be a lecture on the Book of Daniel.A Thai Buddhist won’t be • overly interested in why Saturday, rather than Sunday, is the Sabbath.An atheistic investment banker in New York City won’t suddenly • believe in God if we read her twenty “proof” texts.

Reaching out to people where they are and in a way they can understand is the passionate theme of God’s Great Missionaries. Gary Krause, director of Adventist Mission, shows how the lessons learned by missionaries in the Bible can help us make a difference where we live today.

Please visit www.AdventistMission.org/book-offer/ to order the book or call us at 1-800-648-5824. We’ll send your free copy right away while supplies last.

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Remember when mission work was the most important

thing we did as a church?It still is.

Be part of it!

Every day nearly 1,000 Adventist

missionaries serve in more than 200 countries around

the world. Your support of the Spring Mission Appeal offering on May 30 will help give them the resources they need to tell the world about Christ’s love.

For more information visit: www.AdventistMission.org.

Thank you for being part of it!

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