Growing a peace church in Myanmar

During a time of violence and unrest in Myanmar, two groups of Anabaptist Christians have asked for Mennonite Church Canada to support them in leadership development and peace theology training.  Mennonite World Conference (MWC) reports about 2,000 Mennonites in 50 congregations in Myanmar.

Bible Missionary Church, an MWC member conference is located in the central area of Myanmar. President Amos Chin describes the ravages of Covid and the civil war that carries on.  "Our great challenge now is to teach our youth about peace.  They become embittered by the killing and want to react." Their church continues to grow and the need for trained leadership to face these challenges is urgent.

Anabaptist Myanmar is a newly formed group of congregations located in the Chin State and connected to the Chin Mennonite Churches in Canada. They too talk about growth happening in their churches while many need to flee the violence in their area and live in the jungle.  Gathering these believers for teaching and mutual support is vital to their communities.  Ching Jehu Lian, a pastor in Canada, said, "“We cannot stand alone. We need your support.” See an interview with Pastor Jehu here.

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada began a relationship with the group more than 10 years ago through the leadership of Chin Christian Church, in Kitchener, Ont. Mennonite Church Canada supports regular leadership formation and training events, as well as supporting the development needs of this emerging Anabaptist network of congregations.