The following update was written by Pastor Zom*, in Myanmar, in late June:
Praise His name! It is my joy to write my report on the food distribution to the poor in five villages in my area who were badly affected by the war recently. It is because of your prayers that all these things are possible. Please continue to pray for the new believers and their spiritual lives to grow as they start walking with Jesus. I want to share with you one testimony of someone who got saved through relief ministry here. His name is Khin*. He says:
“I am a Burmese Buddhist and growing up in a Buddhist family. Of course, as I grew up, I had some Christian friends and I became familiar with them. But I never ever was interested about the living God or about going to the church, though I was invited. But when I faced many struggles in my life, I started thinking about my religion – ‘Am I following the right God… what will happen if I die today?’ By thinking all these things, I wanted to know what the meaning of life is because I know that I will surely die one day.
In this time, while thinking about all those things, I suddenly got into a great problem when we had to flee from our home because of the air strike conducted by the Junta. We immediately moved to the jungle with fear and I asked my Christian friend who was with us in the jungle to pray for me. He prayed for me and my family. The fighting got worsened and we fled to a nearby city for two weeks. When we returned to our home, nothing was left in my house and all our properties were gone and we suffered a lot.
During that time, Pastor Zom and his team visited our home and brought some help and they shared the love of God with me and my family. It was my first time hearing about the salvation message personally and I was so moved by it.
I came to learn that I am a sinner and I was on the wrong way to meet Jesus, and I felt very sorry for my past life. Pastor Zom read and shared with me through John 3 and 14. Then I understood about the living God and His salvation message in my life. At that moment, I felt something different in my mind and I said to Pastor Zom,
‘Please help me to believe in Jesus Christ.’
He prayed for me and I followed the prayers and, lastly, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. I got peace in my mind and I was so happy. The following week, they visited me again and my wife also met Jesus Christ. Now we both go to the church and we know that heaven is our home. So, I want to say thank you so much for the food package we received from them. It was a great help for my family.” ~ Khin
On behalf of the recipients, I want to say thank you so much for the HB ministry and the faithful donors who are sacrificially giving toward these needs, as the demand is great. We purchased food items from [a nearby city] and transported to the five villages. As all the food items arrived to [each] village, I and my team started to travel to distribute the foods and share the good news of Jesus Christ.
These are the villages affected so badly during the Junta air strike in April. All of them fled from their homes for safety and during their absence, most of their properties have been lost, including their animals. The people started returning to their homes since early in June. The people are poor and many of them have been struggling more than before because there is no work and no way to earn money.
Even when we distribute the food to the poor, we have to be very careful of the Junta as we are afraid that they may accuse us that we support the anti-military group. In some places, we did the food distribution as quickly as possible and we will do the follow up to share the love of God later.
The Lord has blessed us and the food distribution went very well. We made the food packages so that more than 30 families have received help for a month – rice, cooking oil, and beans. That means the Gospel has reached more than 30 families and more than 70 people heard the good news from us because of the food distribution. They were so happy with the food package and the Gospel that we shared to them. Many of them were so excited and interested to hear the good news of Jesus Christ because of the hardships that they faced their lives. Through their difficulties and problems, more and more people are open to the Gospel, for which we are so grateful.
As the Lord opened more doors for us to share His love to the people throughout relief ministry, we saw God working among us and we have seen 11 people receive salvation and there are more than 10 people who became seekers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so busy doing the follow up and pray that the Lord will give more souls for His glory.
Because of your prayers and your donation, all these things are possible. Again and again, we thank you so much for your help toward these poor people.
Thank you,
Pastor Zom
Names changed for safety*
We are thrilled to say that we met our Summer Giving Match goal, not once, but twice! Our original goal was $45,000, but with your generosity and that of an additional match donor, we were able to raise it to $50,000! Which means, in total, we received $100,000!
THANK YOU.
The report you just read is about the impact that $1063 made in the lives of 30 families. Think how far $100,000 can go.