The following report comes from Myanmar where four villages on the Thai border each with Christian community face starvation because the border is closed due to Covid. Other Christian communities are helping them by giving them rice, cooking oil, salt, etc.
We are asked to pray that Myanmar Christians may know how to be the light of the world (in Myanmar). Our reporter says: “We do not know how to deal with this difficult situation in Myanmar. How to be good citizens and Christians in Myanmar in this difficult time? To obey the military government or to stand with the people who are anti-government?”
Christians in Myanmar are not persecuted by the “military government”. Generally, Christians (all denominations) in Myanmar are facing the decision whether to obey or disobey the orders of military government.
Due to that, conflicts have occurred. Some of them disobeyed the orders of the military government because they say “this military government” is not real government. They say, “all top leaders in the military government are the greatest robbers and thieves in the world. So, we do not need to obey any orders they issue.”
But other Christians say: “All authorities come from God. So if God did not allow them they could not carry out the coup. We do not know how God will teach us or give us lessons to learn from this event.”
The people who were arrested and then detained or put under house arrest were the leaders of NLD (National League for Democracy) party who won a landslide victory on 8 November 2020, when there was a general election. Most of the leaders of this party were arrested.
Civilians who are government workers have formed the CDM (Civil Disobedience Movement) and do not go to work. They stand with the people who carry out boycotts. We can see boycotts in many parts of the country. The military and the police shot them with real bullets. Over two hundred people have died including a girl who is only seven years old. She did not go to the streets. This girl stayed at home and the police came into the house, shot her and she died.
Some church young people want to participate in the CDM. But we do not encourage them to take part in this movement. If the military government observe and see them participating in the movement we will really be in trouble. The military troops are going around the cities, towns and villages in the night and arresting the people who participate in the CDM in the day time.
As Christianity is a minority in Myanmar we have to be very careful in dealing with the government and the Buddhist zealots. The whole country is in turmoil or chaos.
From Church of England Newspaper April 2 2021