Being Still

Love For Myanmar Ministries Update

Christ Centered, Servant Hearted, Myanmar Focused

“Has God trusted you with His silence?” Oswald Chambers

If we let it, Christmas can be almost unbearably difficult. It can be that last test of the year for that perishable trait known as patience. Learning to be patient requires the price of “being still”; not physically but spiritually. In this bright interlude of our year, so much depends upon our patience because without it Christmas can be rendered a nuisance.

Take the time periodically during Christmas to “be still”, to examine its meaning, to connect with God. This time of year can provide several different winding paths of emotions that can lead to nowhere but anxiety. The quiet of “being still” has an eloquent, graceful power that can tenderly touch your heart and allow God’s love to make a difference in more of your moments.

When you find yourself anxious, frustrated or worried during this Christmas, before you unravel, quietly change the shape of your day by reaching out to God. He can keep you from leaving the best parts of yourself behind just when they are most needed.

I believe somewhere in that time of “being still”, God will magnify your delight in the magical event called Christmas, tethering you to everything that is beautiful and enduring about its story.

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

Gary Watkins, LFM Co-founder

• Prayer Request: (Myanmar coup day 1,419)
  Please pray that each of us becomes still, and prepares our hearts to make room for celebrating the greatest gift ever offered, Jesus Christ.

1. Myanmar is one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, ranking second, only behind China. At least seven journalists have also been killed since the coup, according to data by the Committee to Protect Journalists. A new draft law being considered by Thailand’s Ministry of Interior after a public consultation could damage the fragile existence journalists in exile from Myanmar have. If passed, it would require nonprofits to register with the Minister of Interior and to have a minimum of 30 Thai staff members. Noncompliance comes with fines of up to $3,000.
2. The junta’s State Administration Council has officially declared that general elections will be conducted throughout the nation in 2025, with a particular emphasis on regions with stable conditions. The scheduled elections are opposed by opposition groups including the Karen National Union, Kachin Independence Army, Karenni National Progressive Party, and Chin National Front, National Union Government (NUG), and People’s Representatives Committee for Federal Government. The root of Myanmar’s long-standing problems is the Constitution which was not written by or for the people.
3. A video of disheveled Myanmar troops at a besieged border post is drawing anger toward junta chief Min Aung Hlaing who has lost control of the nation’s entire 270-kilometer (170-mile) border with Bangladesh for the first time. The loss marks one of the biggest setbacks for the junta since the military assumed power in a February 2021 coup, and the video of its troops holed up in a building pleading for reinforcements has enraged many of its supporters.
4. During a recent “Message to the People and the International Community” broadcast, the National Unity Government (NUG) announced that 475 junta soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, had joined the People’s Embrace network over the past year. Since the establishment of the committee by the NUG three years ago, over 3,700 soldiers from the junta and 11,000 police officers, amounting to nearly 15,000 junta personnel, along with their family members, have joined the People’s Embrace network.