For over a decade, GoTEN has been involved in ministry in Myanmar, a journey that began when Burmese refugees in Arizona introduced us to their friends and family back home. Since then, we’ve trained hundreds of church planters and supported the work of four indigenous believers who now serve as GoTEN missionaries. Despite the challenges of COVID-19 and an ongoing civil war, which have limited our ability to travel, this dedicated team has faithfully continued their mission, training church planters across the country. In 2024, their efforts have borne incredible fruit, with new house churches forming and 20 individuals from a predominantly Buddhist background professing faith in Christ and being baptized.

“At a time when people are hopeless because of our political situation, missionaries can bring hope through gospel storytelling.” -A.P. (GoTEN Missionary in Myanmar)

As political turmoil and minority persecution continues to grip Myanmar, much of its population remains in a state of unrest, fear, and general hopelessness. We continue to pray and ask God to deliver the nation and its people, but despite the chaos, our local team in the country continues to work. Recently, they traveled to a remote village in southern Myanmar to lead a training, mobilizing local believers to employ strategic storytelling to reach their Buddhist neighbors. 20 locals participated in the training, where many participants felt they heard God speak. 

Some takeaways include:

• Storytelling appeared to be an effective way to communicate the gospel to Burmese Buddhists. 
• The training participants identified the “person of peace” method to be highly effective, meaning that missionaries may be most able to reach local communities of unreached people by establishing connections with a local that is connected, open-minded, and hospitable. 
• The participants recognized the importance of being able to share stories without having a physical Bible available, and worked to memorize key stories. 

How you can pray:

• Pray for safety and courage for our missionaries in Myanmar along with local believers, who face personal danger in their effort to reach their communities. 
• Ask God to bring forward persons of peace that may be able to connect local missionaries to rural communities.
• Pray for peace in Myanmar that may allow additional missionaries and resources to be sent by GoTEN.

Want to support this work directly? Donate to the team in Myanmar online, so that additional trainings and outreach events just like this one can continue to take place.