October 25, 2008

• Myanmar… in videos and pictures…

  I just finished my trip to Myanmar, Cambodia, and then Thailand.  Its good to be back home in Korea.  I’ve already written about Myanmar and Cambodia in previous posts, but now its time for the pictures and short video clips…

  This is the Life Garden Children’s Home (orphanage) kids singing “There Is None Like You” in English (their second language… most Burmese can’t speak any English, but the few pastors I met could because they attended seminary in India, Philippines, or Singapore and had to learn in English there).  The home is in Myanmar, about an hour drive outside of Yangon (the long drive partly due to the poor road conditions).  This home is run by a pastor (who is playing the guitar) and his wife and one of their relatives.  They have 25 kids in the home, including three of their own.  They have no outside sponsors and no income, so they live off of the pastor’s income from his few Bible classes and off of small, random donations from churches and even Buddhists.  They are very poor and have gone up to a week without food because of their poverty.  God still provides their needs, but its tough.  The kids all get up at 5am to pray and they study the Bible in the morning and in the evening.  These kids are special; different from most orphans I’ve met.  There was a humility, peace, and spirit of obedience about them.  I gave them candy from Korea and they didn’t fight over it or try and take more, like most kids do.  Its a precious home, I just pray that God release greater provision to them so that they can grow and receive more kids… 

  The kids I don’t think had seen a foreigner like me before and weren’t as focused during the first song.  The pastor encouraged the kids to just worship and here is a short clip of the kids singing “All in All.”  Most Burmese (Myanmar people) cannot speak English, but the pastor has done a good job of tutoring these kids.  Looking back, I wish I had asked them to sing a song in Burmese.  I imagine it would have been even more powerful.  Enjoy…

  Last of the video clips… this is some footage of downtown Yangon (capital city of Myanmar).  I was taking a taxi to the airport.  The taxi driver had a little Buddha and some other little idol stuff in the beat up cab.  The door panel and part of the flooring had worn off, but I wasn’t able to film that.  You can see some of the architecture, neglect of buildings, and old cars in this clip…

  Here is the view from outside my hotel window…

  

  This is the front entrance to a huge Buddhist pagoda that I visited with one of the Myanmar pastors… literally thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of people were there because the day happened to be a special holiday

  

  Farther inside the place here is the famous gold pagoda (the huge thing in the background) and in front are people praying to it.  In the middle of the picture you can see a group of people pouring holy water on a Buddha statue and praying to it.  Some of the people were crying as they were fervently praying to the statue.

  

  Another picture inside the temple… this temple was ridiculously huge; my pictures only give you small glimpse

  

  Here is Life Garden Children’s Home with their pastor in the back

  

  Two of the boys… Burmese people like to put paint on their faces as both makeup and fashion…

  

  The boys room, next to the living room… 15 boys sleep here… these bunks were just recently built

  

  The girls and pastor family’s room which is the 2nd floor to the house

  

  About 13 people sleep here

  

  I also visited a children’s ministry in another small village, here are two of the little ones

  

  Two girls reciting Scripture in Burmese

  

  Kids singing

  

  Most of the kids in the ministry… they are almost all from Buddhist families, but they get permission to attend this ministry because they are able to learn some English and its a safe after school program for them.  All the kids profess to be Christian despite their parents’ Buddhism, but I know their Christian faith is very young and needs to mature.  Cute kids.

  

  Some of the food I ate… this is a noodle dish… a lot of the food in Myanmar has Chinese influence to it… they like soy sauce and saltier food

  

  This is an “original” Burmese dish… small servings of pork, beef, and fish with rice, a small cup of soup, and some random vegetables (sprouts, cucumber, etc.)

  

  The pastors treated me to a feast my last night… to the left is a whole barbequed chicken cut up and to the right is a Chinese stir fry dish (kung pao?).  I ate well. 

  

  The two pastors from Myanmar who I stayed with.  This picture was taken in Thailand at a big missionary conference we attended.  Pastor Khaung Ze is on the left and Pastor Gabrial is on the right. 

  

  God bless!

  • 2:54 am
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