• Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • About
  • Home

Pathway

Missouri Baptist Convention's Official News Journal

  • Missouri
    • MBC
    • Churches
    • Institutions & Agencies
    • Policy
    • Disaster Relief
  • National
    • SBC Annual Meeting
    • NAMB
    • SBC
    • Churches
    • Policy
    • Society & Culture
  • Global
    • Missions
    • Multicultural
  • Columnists
    • Wes Fowler
    • Ben Hawkins
    • Pat Lamb
    • Rhonda Rhea
    • Rob Phillips
  • Ethics
    • Life
    • Liberty
    • Family
  • Faith
    • Apologetics
    • Religions
    • Evangelism
    • Missions
    • Bible Study & Devotion
  • E-Edition

More results...

Myanmar (also called Burma) is located in Southeast Asia. (Wikipedia image)

After military coup in Myanmar, Southern Baptists called to prayer

April 27, 2021 By Benjamin Hawkins

EDITOR’S NOTE: * denotes name changed.

MYANMAR – Fear, unemployment and poverty covered the southeast Asian nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma) last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders and business closures.

“People were starving here,” Paul McGeorge*, a Southern Baptist fieldworker in the region, told The Pathway in early March. In some of the nation’s poorest communities, according to Reuters, people ate rats and snakes to survive. “They’ve had almost all their hopes and dreams dashed,” McGeorge added.

But last year people here could hold onto one gleam of hope. For nearly 50 years, according to WORLD magazine, a military regime held power over the nation. But during the past 10 years, the promise of greater political freedom, with less military dominance, has grown – leading to the nation’s second-ever election last November.

Then, in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 1, the military seized control, arresting newly elected civilian leaders on the same day they would have formed a new, more democratic government.

In the aftermath of this coup, McGeorge wasn’t alone in urging Southern Baptists to pray for the people of Myanmar. These pleas for prayer have come also from the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) International Mission Board (IMB), as well as immigrants from Myanmar now living in Missouri.

Protests and prayer

Following the military coup, factories, banks and hospitals closed, exacerbating the havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands have also taken to the streets to protest military dominance, leading to violent skirmishes. As of April 24, according to The Wall Street Journal, more than 740 protestors have been killed. The military has also arrested 3,300 people. At least 2,500 of these are imprisoned in locations unknown even to family members.

Mualcin

Even in the United States, immigrants from Myanmar have protested the military coup. Missouri Baptist Pastor Nguniap Mualcin of the Chin Community Church, Springfield, has helped to raise funds and organize local demonstrations to gain international support for freedom in his home country.

Mualcin and many members of his church are refugees from Myanmar, having left the largely Buddhist nation because of religious persecution and political instability. But they still love their homeland and are fearful for those living under the new military regime.

“Wherever we are, we have to protest the military coup in our country,” Mualcin said. Most importantly, he urges everyone to pray for Myanmar. “Prayer is the strongest weapon we have. Prayer can beat anything.”

In an April 15th article, the IMB also called Southern Baptists to pray for the people of Myanmar.

“Pray God will convict military leaders of the violence they are inflicting,” the article reads. “Pray they will turn away from their wickedness and have compassion for their people.”

The article also urges Southern Baptists to pray that the people of Myanmar won’t put their hope in human kingdoms, but in God’s Kingdom and in salvation through faith in Christ.

Kingdom hope despite political crisis, potential persecution

According to Open Doors, a ministry supporting the persecuted church, Christians in Myanmar especially need prayer in the aftermath of the recent military coup. The nation is ranked 18 on the Open Doors 2021 World Watch List, which lists the “top 50 countries where it’s most difficult to follow Jesus.” Also, Myanmar’s military fully supports Buddhism.

But, according to McGeorge, hope remains. Even amid recent crises, he’s seen dozens come to faith. One new church has been born. Also, three new small groups that may someday become churches have begun. As worldly hopes fade for many people in Myanmar, the nation’s Christians are pointing to certain hope in Christ.

“If you place your hope and peace in this world, in worldly governments, in your health, you will be disappointed,” he said. “But place your hope in God. He has overcome this world.”

Comments

Featured Videos

Lick Creek Fellowship - A Story of Cooperation

A declining rural church faced closure after years of dwindling attendance and aging members. But after the doors closed, a small group stepped in to build something fresh from its legacy. Watch this video to hear this story of cooperation and new life.

Find More Videos

Trending

  • MBC names Rob Pochek to lead prayer and evangelism ministries

  • HLGU asks U.S. Department of Education for protection from unconstitutional mandate 

  • HLGU President: ‘Why I’m asking the Department of Education to protect religious liberty at Christian universities’

  • Rescued: Friends, family of freed missionary ‘filled with praise to God’

  • Raytown church finds new chance for life

  • Pianist, age 99, makes music at MBC church for 85 years

Ethics

HLGU asks U.S. Department of Education for protection from unconstitutional mandate 

Hannibal-LaGrange University

Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU), affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) since 1857, has formally requested a religious accommodation from the U.S. Department of Education from a Biden-era regulation, 34 CFR §668.14. Without timely action by the Department, the university intends to file a lawsuit seeking relief to safeguard its religious freedoms.

Legislative actions aim to protect unborn lives

Timothy Faber

More Ethics Stories

Missouri

R.A. Congress brings faith, fun to grade-school boys

Bonnie Carter

Boys in grades 1-6, along with leaders and volunteers, came from Missouri Baptist churches across the state and gathered at the Missouri State Fairgrounds for a fun-filled R.A. Congress, which showcased activities boys love along with showing them how to live on mission with God.

Copyright © 2025 · The Pathway