Monsoon Season Challenges

Christ Centered, Servant Hearted, Myanmar Focused

Love For Myanmar Ministries Update

“I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will.” Pastor Edward Everett Hale

For our staff and volunteers in Myanmar, the Monsoon season presents unique challenges to provide food and other survival supplies to villages, especially those located off the main roads. The current Monsoon season has been described by the Myanmar media as the worst in nearly 30 years! We have provided some photos and videos in this update to show you how our ministry areas are being impacted. What is making this Monsoon season particularly damaging is it is countrywide, no areas are being spared. We are already receiving reports of some of our colleague’s homes flooded, transportation routes closed except for boats, and major bridges weakening under the relentless power of the water now running over their banks.

We are not only concerned about our Myanmar colleagues and their families, but the countless families within our ministry areas who are now isolated. We would appreciate your consideration to help us meet the needs of these suffering people by making a special donation beyond what you may already be giving. If you would be kind enough to designate your financial gift to our General Fund, that would allow us the flexibility to address needs beyond just food such as repairing huts, replacing lost bedding and clothes or cooking items, providing temporary tarps, and much more. No matter the conditions, the Lord reigns, and should He nudge you to donate, please click “Reign“. Please know you have our heartfelt gratitude for your expression of generosity.

• Prayer Request: Please pray that, despite the flooding adding to their suffering, the Christians in Myanmar will continue to trust that God will answer their prayers in His own way and time. May His mercy, grace, and love give them the comfort they need to endure their hardships.

Ministry thought

“We are sinful by nature and sinners by action. And we can’t avoid our day in court before the great Judge to whom we are accountable.” Pastor John MacArthur

Behind the doors of our memories are those thoughts, judgements, plots locked away in a side closet; pieces of our lives we do not care to recall. Yet, they exert a pressure on our minds at an uncomfortable angle, periodically reminding us they were not dreams.

What do we do with those thoughts in that secret chamber? Every one of them belongs to us, but do they represent tragedies or opportunities? Eventually we will each discover that there is no escape from our responsibility for their existence. There is some justification for locking them away in order to survive, and move on with our lives. But, there are consequences to that choice, for nothing can save us from accountability to our God.

How can we become, and keep becoming, who God created us to be if we continually have an eye on that secret chamber door thinking it may fling open any moment? For some of us, those pieces of time behind that door has held us captive for a long time. Those shameful experiences we have allowed to accumulate have not only hampered our spiritual development, but our relationship with God.

One of the keys to our spiritual growth, to realizing our potential as a human being is honoring God with the truth about our sins. Our relationship with God depends upon our regular, genuine, and direct acknowledgement of our sins. No sin is ever dead until it is first yielded to God’s mercy. Otherwise, our sins become ingrained along the pathway where our memories must pass.

Do not underappreciate the importance of seeking God’s forgiveness. It is not only the best means for understanding how to love in this world, but it magnifies the Glory of God’s love for all of us more clearly.

Gary Watkins, LFM Co-founder

Myanmar coup day 1,272: click on article titles for complete stories

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9

• State of Emergency: Myanmar’s junta extended the state of emergency by six months, again delaying an election it has promised to hold as it battles opposition to its coup. Under the military-drafted 2008 constitution, authorities are required to hold fresh elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted.
• Education rights: Villagers in Southeast Burma (Myanmar) have been fighting for the right to teach and learn in accordance with their own culture for many decades, as Karen culture has been subjected to control and suppression by the Burma Army and government. Since the 2021 coup, this situation has escalated, and Southeast Burma is facing a dire education crisis, where the rights of children are violated, schools are unsafe, and gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law are impacting every aspect of villagers’ lives.
• China’s interest: The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, pledged to protect Chinese nationals and investments as the battle for a major Shan state town, Lashio, intensified. The MNDAA has since claimed it captured most of the town, including a regional military headquarters.

TIDBITS

1. On July 22, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,leader of the coup, appointed himself President of Myanmar!
2. Data for Myanmar (an independent nonprofit) recently reported that junta forces have burned down 95,000 civilian homes since the coup on February 1, 2021. In 2024 alone, nearly 15,000 homes were lost to arson or airstrikes.
3. On the morning of July 22, Chin resistance forces, led by the Chin National Army and Chinland Defense Force, reported capturing three regime (junta) stations located 20 miles from Hakha, the capital of the Chin State.
4. On July 23, clashes broke out between the junta’s army and Karen resistance forces in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State (site of famous Golden Rock tourist attraction). The junta’s artillery impacted nearby villages, particularly around Kyauktan Lay Village. The incident resulted in seven villagers losing their lives, and seven more being severely wounded.
5. The junta’s Foreign Minister has visited Iran several times, most recently in June. Reports have surfaced indicating the junta has purchased drones, guided missiles, and other arms from Iran.
6. On July 30, Khin Yi, the chairperson of the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), called on Russia to help Burma fight against armed resistance groups he accused of committing acts of “terrorism”. He requested that President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia cooperate with his USDP more closely. United Russia and the USDP signed a cooperation agreement in June. Moscow has sold military equipment, including combat drones and fighter jets, to the junta since the 2021 military coup.
7. The international community has imposed a total of 61 sanctions against Myanmar since the 2021 military coup. The U.S. has imposed 21 sanctions on 93 individuals and 49 organizations. The junta has sought to blunt the impact of sanctions against the regime by increasing its economic ties with China, India, and other countries that have not sanctioned Myanmar. It also has taken action to limit the country’s dependence on the U.S. dollar by reaching deals with India and Thailand to conduct trade in Indian rupees and Thai baht.