Narration: Welcome to the Harvest Bridge Podcast. This platform allows you to hear directly from the local ministry leaders we support across South Asia and Myanmar, while also protecting their identities and shielding them from further persecution.
In this episode, you’ll hear from our two co-country leaders in Myanmar, Pastor Thang* and Pastor Pan*. This month, we marked the 5th anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar on February 1st, 2021. Since that day, the country has continued to face a violent civil war, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. In the midst of this horrific situation, the church offers hope.
The reflections from the pastors are drawn from multiple interviews and conversations we’ve had over the past three years. They’ll share the ongoing challenges they face, the impacts on children and young adults, and what ministry looks like today. We’ll also hear the hope they have in Christ, and how you are making a tangible difference through your prayers and support.
First let’s hear from Kate, the Executive Director of Harvest Bridge, who shared what that first day was like as the coup unfolded.
Kate: February 1st, 2021 changed my life. Reading the initial reports, the day the coup was unfolding, and then immediately having my worst fears confirmed that day and week and month as I reached out to our pastors and heard their lived experiences. Every morning, the first thing I do is check my messages to see if there has been a bombing in one of our pastors’ villages.
Narration: Five years later, the impact of the coup is a daily reality. The violence has continued, with devastating consequences across the country. Entire villages have been destroyed. Millions have been displaced. Schools and churches have been shut down. Fear, hunger, and loss are a part of everyday life.
Thang: They have bombed villages, houses, killed people. So still it is happening till today. Since the coup happens, no school, everything has been shut down. So we have been suffering badly, so we don’t go out. So people will just cry out for help, but still, there’s no, so there’s no safety.
Pan: So it is very dangerous for the villages and the people. Villages are emptied now, no church service, no people. What we know is they are still in the jungle. They are afraid to enter to their village. They cannot get back to their village. And the jet fighters as well as the helicopters are flying over them – also over us – again and again, many, many times. And then I heard that one pastor and two missionaries have been captured. Because the junta doesn’t care about the people. They’ll simply say, these are the PDF and the rebel they don’t care for the lives of the people.
So more and more people are suffering and struggling. The UN food program estimated that more than 20 millions of the people are going under the poverty line in Myanmar. If it continues just for the next six months, more than 25 millions people will go under the poverty line. That means just nearly half of the population of Myanmar will suffer famine in the near future. We need all of the prayer support for the Christians in order to stand firmly, even in the difficulties, even in the persecution time, and even in the hardship time.
Narration: That last clip was from February 2025. The situation has only grown worse since then. When the United States began cutting foreign assistance, and other Western countries followed by reducing their aid, it had real consequences on the ground in Myanmar. Those decisions effectively handed the military junta another victory by tightening the constraints on humanitarian groups already struggling to reach vulnerable communities.
The impact of those cuts became painfully clear on March 28th 2025, when a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar. More than 5,000 people lost their lives, and roughly 200,000 were displaced. Organizations like Harvest Bridge responded as fully and as quickly as possible. In 2025 alone, with your support we were able to provide over 12,000 people with a month’s supplies of food, as they recovered from the earthquake or bombings or forced relocations due to the war.
Even with this support, the broader reduction in international aid left enormous gaps. And in those gaps, other global powers stepped in. Countries like China and Russia increased their presence, but the assistance they provided was often more easily absorbed and redirected by the junta, serving political interests rather than the needs of suffering families.
Thang: Myanmar has been forgotten in the past many years, our daily living are much more difficult. Especially for the young children and then the parent who have lost house and, and who have lost everything. They need food and shelter and for the children they need education, a good education. We cannot do it by ourself. We need hands to support and hands to help us.
Narration: We are so thankful that in 2025, 127 children received educational support because of you.
Apart from lack of education, young people face an even greater danger. As the violence and instability continue, the vulnerable suffer the most. For teenagers and young adults, the threat is even more dire. Myanmar’s conscription laws have expanded, in some cases targeting children as young as 14. Forced military recruitment has become a terrifying reality. Let’s hear from Pastor Pan and his wife as they share how these challenges are affecting the children in their care.
Pan: The conscription law is stronger and stronger. It is so dangerous for the people. At the beginning they said that it is just between 18 years and 35 years old. Now they have extended up to 14 years old. That means all the teenagers have been included in this conscription law and they are just arrested even in their home. It is very difficult for the people of Myanmar. So many people have been fleeing to our neighboring countries. Those who have money can flee from outside of the country. But those who do not have the money, who are not able to flee are suffering more and more. Now they arrested the people, the young people, and sent them for training. Those who are not in good health have to ask money, in order to, to release the men, the women. That conscription law affected even our orphanage. If it continues like that, this conscription law will affect our orphanage home even in the future because our children will grow.
Narration: Sadly, in 2025 many young people, including in our pastors’ churches, were kidnapped off the streets by the military and forced into the war. But with your help, we are so thankful that in this past year, we helped 25 teenagers and young adults relocate to avoid this forced conscription.
These next reflections are from Nilar*, Pastor Pan’s wife. He is translating for her.
Pan & Nilar: We have told to the children if anyone come from outside, unless you inform us, nobody should open the door and nobody would talk to the outsiders because we will know who is coming. Maybe some may come to destroy us, some may come to stop us, some may come to make a problem with us. We don’t know. So don’t talk with any – with the outsiders. We are still safe and we are not harmed by any of those kind of things. And so I want to say thank you. For not only supporting us, but because of your prayer. We are still safe till today. As a – as a mother of these children, it is so painful when they don’t have a good chance of learning education and also when they lost hope for the future. It is so painful, but we still hope in God that – and He will open a way for them to be a good men and women in the future. But we still hope in God that God will take care of the future. The orphan children did not know that the hardships and the difficulties because we have enough food, we have enough clothes, and we have everything because of the ministry, because of your help. And we are so blessed, and I have been experiencing all those things in my life.
Narration: In the face of so much heartbreak, it would be easy to lose hope. And many people in Myanmar have. But for our ministry partners, their strength doesn’t come from circumstances. It comes from Christ. Even in danger, they cling to faith. And it’s sustaining them as they care for others.
Thang: So many people say that there’s no more hope, no more future. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. So that means we suffer from all kinds of things, you know? But still, we’re alive. We believe we will not die easily because God has a reason and purpose. So this is one of the Bible verses that I take very strong and courage in my life.
Pan: Even in the midst of difficulties and hardship times, the Lord always spoke to my heart to be joyful in Him, not depending on the circumstances, because He’s the source of our joy. Sometimes when things look so hard, we allow the circumstances to dictate our joy. Even though we face many difficulties and heartache, they make me teach my people to have joy in Jesus Christ. Now, anytime I notice a heaviness trying to come upon me, I quickly say to my Heavenly Father that I choose to rejoice in Him instead of my circumstances. I know God calls the righteous to live by faith and to work with joy in Jesus Christ. God is so faithful.
Thang: Of course, when you suffer, it’s not easy. I remember, what my niece’s husband – he lost two brothers’ and one sisters’ house near my village – and then he sent me a message. “Uncle, why don’t you encourage me or send something, you know, to encourage because I have been so sad and lost all my, all the houses.” God is with us. He sees us. He sees us, our suffering, our crisis, the violence that we face, and He sees us. You know, we’re not alone.
Narration: Holding on to faith doesn’t mean the danger disappears. For our partners in Myanmar, following Jesus and continuing ministry often puts them at even greater risk. The war has dramatically changed what ministry looks like. Travel is dangerous. Checkpoints are everywhere. Resources are scarce. And yet, the work continues.
Thang: They met different kinds of people as they flee. Despite the coup, they have the ability to witness the gospel to different kinds of people and tribe.
Narration: In the face of war and poverty, the church remains. Pastors Thang and Pastor Pan share how they’ve seen God’s goodness in the hardest places, and how your support is making a difference.
Pan: The military coup has affected our ministry very badly in a way that when we go for outreach, there are travel restrictions, car fees and many checkpoints. If we are suspected by them, we’ll be definitely beaten or be put in a jail or maybe, who knows, we may be killed.
Also because of the severe war in our country, our ministry activities are not quick as we wish, but the more we face more difficulties, the more we saw God’s goodness in our lives and we came closer to the living God by facing such difficulties in our lives.
Humanly speaking, we lose our hope many times, but the Lord always restored our new hope in him through our lives as we take the new step moving forward in His name.
When we receive help from the Harvest Bridge, this reaches many people, many people. And also hear the gospel from us. And we are not only feeding them this fiscal need, but also preaching them the word of God.
I’m so happy because I can work for my people, those who are in need of help, and I thank God, that He has given me such a privilege to work with you, to help my people. Many people were benefited already and, I hope in the future also, God will use us to do more for His Kingdom.
We can build a stronger community. We can build a stronger church. We can build a bigger church in the future, I believe.
Narration: Our brothers and sisters in Myanmar are not giving up. Even as they flee, even as they suffer loss, they continue to be witnesses for Christ. And they don’t do it alone. Your prayers, your support, your encouragement, they matter more than you may ever know. Here’s Pastor Thang with a word of thanks, and a reminder of the strength your partnership brings.
Thang: I’m very thankful of our partners, their faithfulness, you know, so they are not giving up the witness as much as they can, even though they flee from one place to another. So you can imagine it’s not easy. And not just, not only for your own life, but you know, for others. So I always say to them, “Do not worry. Trust the Lord. Harvest Bridge is behind you. We all are praying. They have been always thinking about you. They have been praying for you.”
Narration: Even now, as we enter the sixth year since the military coup, God is opening doors for new ministry. Just recently, we were able to send support to help 24 families in a village that had been bombed, giving them the means to begin rebuilding. It’s one example of how your prayers and gifts are meeting real needs.
Thang: So far, they are doing good and keeping safe. They’re very happy, because many people felt that to be away is not, I think, they don’t feel good, you know? So even though they just go back and have a tents, they feel very much comfortable.
Narration: Thank you for listening to the Harvest Bridge podcast. You can learn more about our ministry in Myanmar, or give to support this ministry, on our website, HarvestBridge.org.