When life is falling apart and you can’t do anything about it, what do you do?
Christ followers have an invitation to come to the altar and pray. And this is exactly what one church group did recently.
There’s a small population of Northwest neighbors, originally from Myanmar.
Myanmar, with its various tribes and languages, is facing a crisis of misery. People are battling the COVID-19 pandemic with one of the weakest health care systems in the world, many are being displaced due to floods and the country is struggling to stabilize after a chaotic military coup. For family members in the United States, this creates added stress and concern for the wellbeing of friends and loved ones.
In July, the Washington Myanmar Seventh-day Adventist Group invited their local ministry partners and friends to an evening of prayer, praise and celebration about how far the Lord has helped them.
“Amidst the pandemic and military coup in Myanmar 'Burma,' many of us have been stroked by waves of pain, disappointments and loss of our loved ones,” says KhaiKhai Cin, pastor. “We needed to come together to pray and praise God for His faithfulness.”
"The act of gathering to celebrate landmarks of life’s journey is Biblical," affirmed Craig Carr, Washington Conference vice president for administration.
Carr points to the events of 1 Samuel 7:10–12. When the Philistines were moving in on the Israelites for battle, the Lord "thundered" so loud it sent the Philistines into a panic. As an act of worship and prayer, Samuel and the Israelites set up a stone they named Ebenezer, which translates to "thus far the Lord has helped us." The looming trouble was subdued following the time of prayer.
“Each of us can be walking, talking Ebenezers recounting what God has done,” Carr says.
Church leaders, Khai No and Saw Htoo recounted and shared how God brought together the Washington Myanmar Group about three years ago with the support of the Kent Adventist Church and their pastor, Willie Iwankiw.
“There are just a few of us here in Seattle,” No explains. “We started gathering in homes on Sabbaths for a meal and prayer time. In 2018 we started worshiping together in the evenings at Kent Church and now we are helping Kent with the Neighbor 2 Neighbor ministry.”
“Our story is simple. It’s just getting started,” No continues. “God hasn’t forgotten us. We’re still surviving today, we’re still receiving the spiritual support we need and we are stronger now.”
Just like God is taking care of the Burmese families here in the United States, the Myanmar members find reassurance that God is taking care of their families back home.
The evening prayer gathering featured songs, testimonies, a Good Samaritan skit by the children and prayer time in English, Zomi, Burmese and Karen languages. Each part of the program illustrated God’s faithfulness, protection and promises of shelter. The entire church family and their guests closed the service by singing “The Longer I Serve Him” because this church family sees daily how God supplies every need, bestows grace, makes the way brighter and makes life sweeter.
Washington Myanmar Seventh-day Adventist Church group pour out their hearts to God in worship and prayer asking God to take care of the motherland that is experiencing a crisis of misery.
Evangelist Nemaia Faletogo and pastors in attendance pray a blessing for four new local church leaders.
Just like God is taking care of the Burmese families here in the United States, the Myanmar Church members and friends find reassurance that God is taking care of their families back home.
Songs of praise, thanks and petition provide a soundtrack of conversation between Myanmar Church members and God.
Saw Htoo prepares to share God's story about providing for Washington Myanmar Church group. Earlier in the evening, he prepared an anniversary dinner for his church family.
