After hearing virtually every Anglican Burmese talk about the Archbishop’s vision for the Province of the Church of Myanmar (CPM), “Thy Will Be Done,”  we were excited to hear it from Archbishop Stephen Than Myint Oo himself.  He did not disappoint, and we were compelled by his vision.  He presented us with a 22-page vision document, thoroughly rooted in theological depth, historical reflection, contemporary application, and clear implementation with a goal of growth and self-sustainability.  It is clear-eyed in expressing the challenge to a church that has diminished.

In his plan, he writes of the need for the Anglicans of Burma to grow into their own:

“In reality, we are not that poor.  We have our own theology, we have our unique spirituality.  The problem is we think we have no theology and that we are poor.  The worst thing is we that we have never tried with our own strength and resources to find out if we are rich;  if we have a unique spirituality; if we have our own theology.”

It’s not just his goal of seeing the church grow to 100,000 members by 2020 that was encouraging, it was also his patient and systematic cultivation of godly leaders, his firm commitment to the orthodox Christian faith, and his challenge to the CPM to grow up, stand on its own feet, claim its own unique identity, and reach out.

Two clear indicators of the earnest commitment to reaching the spiritual and physical needs of Burmese are two recently-created positions overseeing coordinating efforts at evangelism and development.  A Director of Development was hired in 2010, and a Director of Evangelism was hired just this past year in 2013.

Among other highlights of our visit here were:

• Meeting twice with Peter, the Director of Development and his wife Joy, and the development staff.  Both Peter and Joy used to work for World Vision in Burma.  Current projects we heard about include agricultural development, animal husbandry, clean water and wells, craft making for trade, providing electricity, medical clinics, education, and providing scholarships.
• Meeting with Allen, the Director of Evangelism.  He’s helping establish ‘Schools of Evangelism’ around the province, as well as introducing the evangelism resource Alpha!
• Meeting with John, the President of the Men’s Association, a province-wide men’s ministry.  With him, we were able to visit a four-acre agricultural project on the outskirts of Yangon, which served to train people from around the country in simple agricultural development projects while also generating income for the church.
• Meeting with Bishop David, the CPM Diocese of Mandalay.
• Visiting a pre-school in downtown Yangon that ARDF helped to fund this past year.  It’s always so encouraging to see projects that we’ve funded come into reality with bricks and mortar and laughing kids and dedicated staff, committed to showing these children God’s love and teaching them!
• Crossing paths with missionary Glen Petta and a team from SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad).  It was great to connect with Glen and consider more partnership, and to do the same with Bishop Kevin Allen who leads ACNA’s Diocese of Cascadia.  This US diocese covering the Pacific NW is a sister to the Yangon diocese here.

It was very clear to us that God is moving in the CPM, and that this is a small but very meaningful part of the larger picture of what is going in Burma.  And it’s also clear that ARDF can be a meaningful partner, and that these Burmese Anglicans would welcome the partnership.

It was a point Archbishop Stephen made several times.  Once again, akin to South Sudan and Congo, Archbishop Stephen was clear that while some from the more liberal branches of Anglicanism were not welcome in Burma, we were, and not only welcome but wanted.  Stunning.  In his words, CPM needs relationships with holy churches for the good of Burma.  “I want you to know that we want to partner with you,” he said.

The feeling is very mutual, and the future possibilities feel quite endless, for ARDF and CPM, and for this beautiful country of Myanmar.