Power, Profit, and The People Caught in between

Love For Myanmar Ministries Update

Christ Centered, Servant Hearted, Myanmar Focused

“God doesn’t work on our timetable. He has a plan that He will execute perfectly for the highest, greatest good of all, and for His ultimate Glory.” Charles Swindoll

Myanmar coup day 1,594

1. Junta-run immigration offices in northern Shan State’s Lashio City are quickly issuing National Identity Cards (NIC) to Chinese citizens whilst locals face far longer waits to receive NICs from the same office.The Chinese usually receive their NICs much faster because the bribes are expensive, and most of those who can afford them are Chinese.
2. Journalist Than Htike Myint was recently sentenced to five years in jail under Myanmar’s Counter Terrorism Law for having contacts on his mobile phone linked to the People’s Defense Force, the armed wing of the country’s government-in-exile the National Unity Government.
3. Following the US travel ban on Myanmar, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar has announced that it will begin issuing long-term visas to Myanmar business people and their families. The new visa allows multiple entries over a five-year period, with each stay lasting up to 180 days.
4. At least nine civilians, including four children, were killed when Myanmar’s military junta launched a drone artillery strike on a jade mining area in Hpakant Township, Kachin State. Hpakant is home to some of the world’s richest jade deposits and has long been a site of contested control between the military and ethnic armed organizations because of the revenue generated for their respective forces.
5. The Myanmar military junta signed a new production sharing agreement with Gulf Petroleum Myanmar, a Thai-backed company, for oil and gas exploration potentially boosting its access to foreign currency despite international sanctions. The deal will likely channel significant revenue to the junta, helping it fund ongoing military operations against resistance forces and ethnic armed groups.
6. After withdrawing from Lashio in April, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army has agreed to hand over another northern Shan State town to the junta. The Kokang group has agreed to withdraw from Hseni town as part of a China-brokered ceasefire.
7. A Chinese-backed militia, identified as the United Wa State Army, has secured control of new rare earth mines in Shan state, eastern Myanmar. Chinese mining firms can produce heavy rare earth oxides in low-cost and loosely regulated Myanmar seven times cheaper than in other regions with similar deposits. China uses these minerals as bargaining chips in its trade discussions with the U.S.

Please pray that the various hostilities done by the junta serve as spiritual stepping stones for the Myanmar Christians leading them to a place of inner peace and hope.

Global religious change from 2010 to 2020

A new Pew Research Center analysis of more than 2,700 censuses and surveys from around the world finds that:

• Christians remained the world’s biggest religious group, accounting for 28.8% of the global population in 2020.
• The number of Christians rose by 122 million, reaching 2.3 billion.
• Yet, as a share of the world’s population, Christians fell 1.8 percentage points, to 28.8%.

Muslims were the fastest-growing religious group over the decade.

• The number of Muslims increased by 347 million – more than all other religions combined.
• The share of the world’s population that is Muslim rose by 1.8 points, to 25.6%.
• Muslims (25.6%) were the fastest-growing religious group from 2010 to 2020.

In Myanmar, Christians are 6% of the population while Buddhists are 89%.