See what God sees

Love For Myanmar Ministries Update

Christ Centered, Servant Hearted, Myanmar Focused

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

For an orphan, it all starts with the unbelievably brutal question, “Does anybody care about me?” For some, frightened and insecure, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles from their home villages, their often perilous passages brings them to one of our five children’s homes in the Yangon area. And so, their adjustment begins within a faith-centered environment overseen by our Christian-educated directors whose goodness of spirit is without boundary lines.

There are some who sincerely believe that orphanages are cruel cages where children are confined as cheap labor hopping from chore to chore for the sole pleasure of their master. Our children’s homes are homes where imperfect care givers, under our God’s direction, try to keep as much of the world’s evil away from their doors as possible. Our homes are more like incubators where love, discipline, and respect come together as a protective covering over these young lives not only shielding them from spiritual harm, but supplying them with the nutrients for their spiritual growth. It is our hope that through their various experiences while under our care, each child gains a clearer understanding of Jesus Christ than an ordinary life would afford. It is our home directors’ calling: to develop, nurture, and send out ambassadors for Christ who are genuinely connected to God and one another, and whose lives attract others to meaningful fellowship resulting in an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Who, other than God, would have designed a plan to spread the Gospel through discarded children who are lovingly molded into ambassadors for Christ?

The Christianity shared by our home directors says to each child “you are loved”, you are a member of a family who appreciates the beauty of your life, and with Divine support will make every effort to keep us united as a family of believers standing together for the glory of our God. Our Christian home directors do not see an abandoned child. They see a gift to unwrap from God. As Christians, they don’t see a lost child. They see a soul to guide. As Christians, they don’t see a broken child. They see a heart to repair with love. As Christians, they don’t see a worthless child. They see talent to be encouraged. As Christians, they don’t see a poor child. They see a child of God, rich with promise. Christians don’t see what others see. Christians see what God sees!

Through our children’s homes ministry, we aren’t just trying to save children from hunger, but save their souls from starving. We aren’t just trying to provide a safe place for the children to live, but provide a refuge for their eternity. We aren’t just trying to educate children about literature, math, and science, but enlighten them about the values of grace, faith, and love. We aren’t just trying to keep children physically healthy, but inoculate them against the diseases of greed, indifference, and prejudice. We aren’t just trying to clothe children, but cover them in gentleness, kindness, and understanding.

With your financial support and prayers, we will continue to provide these children with a protected place, a home where they will feel accepted, loved, and nurtured into young adults who will courageously and faithfully act in God’s Truth.

Gary Watkins, LFM Co-founder

LFM Children’s Homes Highlights:

• Because of random kidnapping by the military junta, 27 of our youth have fled our homes to avoid serving in the junta army fighting against their own people
• Began 2025 with a total of 115 children in our five homes
• 72% of our children are Christian
• 27% of our children come from the Kachin State
• 50 children are ten years old or younger
• There are 61 girls (53%), 54 boys (47%)

GOOD NEWS

Led by U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R, NY-24) and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D, TX-20), a group of U.S. House representatives have introduced H.Res.106 calling on the United Nations Security Council to immediately impose a coordinated global arms embargo against the military of Burma (Myanmar). The resolution calls on the United Nations Security Council to immediately impose an arms embargo against the military of Burma to hold the junta accountable for: (A) ongoing violations of human rights and the security forces’ history of grave abuses against peaceful protestors of military rule and against the Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups; (B) obstructing humanitarian access to civilian populations in dire need of assistance; (C) using increasingly lethal force against peaceful, pro democracy demonstrators; and (D) threatening and arbitrarily detaining government officials, activists, journalists, students, and civil servants, and imposing rolling internet shutdowns that put lives at risk.

• Prayer Request: (Myanmar coup day 1,489)
  Please pray that despite being surrounded by relentless suffering, the message of the Gospel will continue to change the hearts of the children in our care, and that many of them will experience His peace and salvation.

1. After the Myanmar military enacted conscription laws in early 2024, tens of thousands of people flooded into Thailand in a matter of months, both in search of better economic opportunities and to escape being arrested and forced to fight in a war against those trying to end military rule. A new Thailand process requires Thai employers or agents hiring Burmese workers to “prepare documents for submission to Myanmar officials” and would require their embassy in Bangkok to “examine and endorse” the documents. This new policy will expose millions of Myanmar workers to conscription risks from their country’s military regime.
2. The Ministry of Defense recently issued the People’s Military Service bylaw which includes a provision that a person who has received an order from the township organization for civil service is not allowed to travel abroad without the permission of the central organization. It is stipulated that if a person who is required to serve in the military service is a member of a political party, he or she shall be deemed to have resigned from the relevant party during the period of serving in the military service. Recently, government employees have been asked to surrender their passports which effectively bans any international travel.
3. In a record year for internet shutdowns, countries in the Asia-Pacific region imposed the most restrictions, according to a new report by the digital rights group Access Now. Myanmar is the worst-affected country worldwide, with 85 shutdowns last year.
4. The junta began registering women for military service in Taunggyi City in southern Shan State for the first time. The junta is increasingly targeting women for conscription as the pool of young men decreases. Young people are at risk of abduction by junta soldiers in civilian clothes who are roaming the city.
5. Conscripts inducted into Myanmar’s military over the last year have been quickly sent to front line units where they are ordered to torch civilian homes and loot public property, several soldiers who deserted told Radio Free Asia.The accounts come after the junta has conscripted men between 18 and 35 to make up for losses and surrenders.
6. For more than five months, a military checkpoint in Nyaung Shwe Township, Shan State, has been preventing the transportation of essential food and supplies, worsening the hardships faced by displaced families in the region. The military checkpoint at Hmawbi Village has blocked the passage of rice, cooking oil, medicine, and household fuel deepening the crisis for those already living in uncertainty and hardship.
7. In one of our primary ministry areas, ongoing clashes and airstrikes in Tanintharyi Region have displaced more than 77,200 people since January. Clashes have escalated due to the junta’s efforts to secure control of major trade routes, clear deep-sea port areas, and to allow for the advance of military operations. Additionally, arson attacks on civilian homes, along with arrests and killings, have contributed to the rising displacement numbers.