This is another of my Burmese friends. Meet Issaiah Mayaanlam. I have
watched him over the last 5 weeks. He is the strong and quiet type and it is
very apparent that he is a leader, by example.
He isn’t flashy, but he is strong,
solid, and unwavering. He is a pastor of
a church in Northern Myanmar, near the Indian border.
There are 370 families in his village and
only 7 families are Christian. He has 2
children and his wife is due with their 3rd child on May 6th. There is no electricity in his village. Nor are there any doctors or a hospital in
his village. The nearest hospital is in
Dani, 12 miles away, where his wife will have their baby.
Their community is in a valley and most people are rice
farmers. There is also a mine near-by. He had been praying for the last 11 years to
have the opportunity to attend the Barefoot Doctor school. He was finally given the opportunity last
year. He is completing the second year
of study with us.
There is much fighting in his region. There are a lot of land mines and unfortunately,
civilians are injured by the land mines all too often. 2 months ago, airplanes dropped bombs quite
near his village. The armies have taken
many of the young men from his community and forced them to work in the mines
without pay, carry ammunition for the army, and even fight on the front
lines. Many of the young men do not
return.
I asked Issaiah how he would want us to pray for him. He replied, “Pray for a stop to the fighting
and pray for our church building project.”
The church has put the building project on hold, waiting for Issaiah to
return from the Barefoot Doctor program.
Issaiah is anxious to return and give health care to his village and to
continue his work as a pastor.
Please join me in praying for peace and for revival in his
village. Pray also for the delivery of a
strong and healthy baby.
This will be my last blog for this year. Thank you for praying for our students. The balance of eternity has been changed for
those villagers that our Barefoot Doctors will be treating as patients in the
years to come. We will not know, until
we get to heaven, just how large of an impact has been made through this
program, but I am confident that our students will make the most of this
opportunity to share their faith in a war torn, dark, and spiritually bankrupt
country.
Pray with me that the spirit of
God will permeate Myanmar and draw souls into the kingdom. Let's pray for revival in Myanmar.
Dr. Bruce Gross
