Myanmar

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Official name: Union of Myanmar
Area:
Government:
Official languages:
Monetary unit:
Cities:

DEMOGRAPHY
Population: 47,000,000
Population density:

ECONOMY
GDP (PPP):
per person:
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LIFE & LIBERTY
HDI

Contents

[edit] Geography

[edit] Location

[edit] Climate

  • Disasters: More than 130,000 people are dead or missing as a result of Cyclone Nargis that devastated five provinces on 2 May. Pray for all those affected by the cyclone, particularly those who have been bereaved and those who have been left homeless. Some entire Christian villages were swept away. Pray for the church and that it can provide a healing touch and Christian witness at this time. Read many more details at Cyclone Nargis 2008.

[edit] Natural Resources

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Peoples

  • The Karen: up to 40% of the people are Christians, the rest Buddhist and animist. Currently facing desperate conditions, living as displaced people within Myanmar due to atrocities committed by the army. Many refugees along the border in Thailand. The Karen want to live in peace and safety, may the Christians to be bold in witnessing, and have courage and endurance in the face of persecution.
  • Of the Bamar, Shan, Mon and Rakhine peoples less than 1% have become Christians.

[edit] Languages

  • Languages spoken in Myanmar, see GRN
  • Pray for the language groups whose dialects have not yet been recorded by GRN workers. Pray that many will soon hear of the Creator’s love for them.
Akha
Anu
Burman
Chaungtha
Chin
Danau
Hawa Naga
Hpon
Jingpho
Kado
Karen
Lama

[edit] Provinces

Yangon

[edit] Life

  • Myanmar fighting forces up to 30,000 to flee to China from Kokang in Shan State, see or details [1].

[edit] Economy

[edit] Government

  • The people of Myanmar have suffered internal warfare and military oppression for more than 30 years. After decades under a brutal military regime, a widespread movement towards democracy culminated in the massacre of thousands of demonstrators in the late 1980’s. The demonstrations of 2007 were put down brutally and the war against the ethnic peoples continues. More than 50% of the national budget are being spent on arms, while the Myanmar people slide deeper into poverty. Most of the world’s heroine comes from Myanmar. Once one of the riches countries in Asia, Myanmar is now one of the poorest in the world – and has one of the worst human rights records.
  • Pray for the end of attacks against ethnic peoples such as the Karen by the army. The attacks and atrocities have gone on for many years and are designed to terrorize and subdue the minority groups. Pray for political reforms that will bring about freedom, peace and justice for all the peoples of this oppressed land.
  • More than 4,000 ethnic Karen in eastern Myanmar have fled to Thailand after renewed fighting between the forces of the government of Myanmar and Karen rebels. Pray for a cessation to this conflict and for the Karen people to be able to live peaceably in their own country and be recognized by the authorities as useful citizens.
  • The regime has failed to respond to a growing humanitarian crisis in Chin State, western Myanmar, where plagues of rats have destroyed rice fields and food supplies, reportedly causing a famine affecting 100,000 people in over 200 villages. The regime is also reported to be obstructing all efforts to deliver assistance to these villages.
  • Myanmar's regime exerts tight controls over the Internet, banning access to news sites and even to web-based e-mail services such as Yahoo or Hotmail.

[edit] Religion

  • Buddhists make up 82.9% of Myanmar’s population, while Christians comprise only about 8.7%, Islam 3.8%, Other 4.6%. Myanmar’s citizens began peaceful protests for better living standards in mid-August 2007 in response to a sudden rise in gas prices in Myanmar. After several hundred Buddhist monks joined them, the government responded with arrests, a media crackdown and night raids. It is unclear how many people have been killed in the crackdown.

[edit] Islam

[edit] Buddhism

  • Buddhists total 82,9% of the population (47 million). Buddhist animism carries great influence in daily life. The dictatorial regime has isolated the country and is carrying out a campaign of genocide against ethnic minorities, many of whom had moved toward Christianity. The strongly Buddhist Bamar majority has been difficult to reach and the church has remained very divided. The military regime actively promotes Buddhism and there is much discrimination against Christians.

[edit] Christianity

  • An estimated 7% of the Myanmar people are Christian, largely among ethnic minorities. Religious differences are being used to stir up internal divisions and hatred. Persecution is widespread and includes ethnic minorities as well as majority Bamar people.

[edit] Challenges for Christians:

  • Highly repressive, authoritarian military regimes have ruled the country since 1962. Constitutional protection of religious freedom has not existed since 1988, after the armed forces brutally suppressed massive pro-democracy demonstrations and abolished the constitution. Two ethnic groups — the Karen and the Chin — have historical ties to Christianity. The U. S. State Department estimates that 3% of the country’s 47 million people are Baptist. Myanmar’s Christians have been specifically targeted by the regime. The military regime actively promotes Buddhism and there is much discrimination against Christians. The military regime has tried to wipe out the Church, but it still continues to grow. Pray that Christians would be able to stay faithful to God as they are persecuted and have courage to share their love of God with others. March 2007, Christian Solidarity Worldwide obtained a leaked government document entitled “Program to Destroy the Christian Religion in Burma.”
  • The military regime has tried to wipe out the Church, but it still continues to grow. Pray that Christians would be able to stay faithful to God as they are persecuted and have courage to share their love of God with others.
  • A serious crackdown on churches in Yangon, the capital, is taking place with local authorities in the city ordering at least 100 churches to stop holding worship services. This order could affect as many as 80 per cent of churches in the city. 50 pastors have been forced to sign at least five documents promising to cease church services. The pastors were reportedly warned they could be jailed if they disobeyed the order. Pray that the leaders of churches being asked to close down would be given wisdom and courage in their conversations with the authorities and in leading their congregations.

[edit] History

[edit] Churches

[edit] Church and State Relations

  • According to the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission, the junta has escalated its efforts — as its official policy states — to “destroy the Christian religion in Burma.” The junta also represses and persecutes the mostly Christian ethnic minorities and is waging a genocidal war against the ethnic Karen in the east.

[edit] Burma 'orders Christians to be wiped out'

  • The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", the incendiary memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state. The text, which opens with the line "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised", calls for anyone caught evangelising to be imprisoned. It advises: "The Christian religion is very gentle – identify and utilise its weakness." Its discovery follows widespread reports of religious persecution, with churches burnt to the ground, Christians forced to convert to the state religion, Buddhism, and their children barred from school. Human rights groups claim that the treatment meted out to Christians, who make up six per cent of the population, is part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism. In the past year (2006), an estimated 27,000 members of the predominantly Christian Karen tribe were driven from their homes in eastern Burma. By Peter Pattisson in Kayin State, southern Burma, Last Updated: 11:45PM GMT 20 Jan 2007 Telegraph.co.uk

[edit] Mission

[edit] Broadcasting

[edit] Councils and Networks

[edit] Future Trends

[edit] For More Reading

[edit] More information

  • Christians Concerned for Burma publication, e-mail: ccb@pobox.com

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