Since we've been out of contact for almost a week, I've got a lot of catching our to do on my blog posts. We are now back in Yangon and will be leaving for the US this evening at 11:55 pm.
Thanks for your prayers. Hope you enjoy reading about our experiences here in Myanmar.
Blessings!
Fred
Tuesday, January 21, 2014, continued...
This afternoon we flew from Yangon to Myitkyina. What an experience! Lazarus was a little late in picking us up but we still had plenty of time to get checked in before our flight. We did check with the airline and found out that indeed our return flight on January 27th had been cancelled. We also learned that they had not automatically rebooked our flight for the 28th. So, we asked them to do that and they rebooked us and gave us new confirmation/receipts.
Flying in a country where almost no one speaks english is a real experience. Thank The Lord for Lazarus! We realized very quickly after arriving at the airport that there is a separate terminal for domestic flights and we found that it is nothing like the international terminal. It is old, outdated, and pretty dirty. The ticket counters are not automated with computers. They check you in by checking your name off the passenger list they have on a clip board.
The guy that checked our luggage just took it and went off with it without giving us a receipt or baggage claim number or anything. I looked at Dale and told him that "I hope that guy knows what flight we are on so that our bags end up in the right city". When we went through the security check we didn't have to take off our shoes, belt, or take out our computers, or things out of our pockets like we do in the US. The only one that received additional checking was Lazarus and it is because he had a small knife in his carryon bag, which they let him keep after they scolded him for having it.
Our flight was with Air KBZ. The plane was a twin-engine prop plane that seats about 80 people. They had two (2) young female flight attendants. The flight was relatively short, lasting only 2 hours. Soon after they took off the flight attendants served us drinks, which they pre-poured, giving us a choice of water, cola, or juice. Not long after they did this they served us a snack. The snack box came with a chicken salad croissant and a small piece of strawberry swirl cake. After this, they came back and refilled our drinks and offered us coffee or tea. Dale and I couldn't believe that they gave us a snack on what in the US would be a commuter or regional flight! The plane was new and in very good condition. The flight was very smooth even though we did fly over some really major storms and cloud formations.
When we started our descent into Myitkyina in order to land, I noticed that it looked like we were about to set this thing down in the middle of a river. I would guess that the last 2 miles or so of the flight was over the water. The runway had to have been only a couple hundred yards from the river in that just about the time we cleared the water and saw land again, we touched down. The runway is probably about three lanes of traffic wide and very short. The terminal building looks like it came out of an old 1940's movie.
Once we got off the plane, we entered the terminal and had to go through an Immigration checkpoint. There they wrote down our VISA and passport numbers and asked us where we were staying at in Myitkyina. After that, we walked across the parking lot to pick up our bags. We waited for about 15 minutes during which time Lazarus introduced us to six or seven men from the churches who had come to the airport to welcome and greet us. The baggage carts that they loaded our bags on as they took them off the plane are just like the ones they use at US airports, except for one thing...they are generally pulled by a small tractor/truck. Not here. The baggage carts were pulled by one man, who guided them along the road from the tarmac in back of the terminal to a small building out front, and were pushed by three or four other men. But, once they got to us, we had no problem finding our luggage and loading them up for the trip to the hotel.
After a 6 mile drive that took about 20 minutes, we arrived at the Xing Xian Hotel. It is a four-story building and is fairly well kept. Dale and I are sharing a room with two double beds. When we got arrived there was no power in the building, but after an hour or so it came back on. We do have A/C, a small flat screen TV, and a small refrigerator. But, we do not have any internet in the building.
After we unpacked our clothes, we walked across the street and ate dinner. Dale had sweet and sour chicken and I had sweet and sour pork. It was very good and there was plenty of it. We were stuffed and it only cost about $11 US for both of us.
Later, Lazarus came to our room and we made plans for tomorrow morning. I will start off at 8 am and teach until 10 am. There will be a 30 minute break for lunch. Then I will teach for 1 1/2 hours until noon. They will take a one hour break until 1 pm and then Dale will teach from 1 to 4 pm. We will do this from Wednesday through Saturday.
We'll that is my report for Tuesday's adventure. More to follow from Myitkyina. Hopefully, I will be able to get to an Internet cafe tomorrow evening and send this report to you.
Blessings! Thanks for your prayers.
Fred
Wednesday, January 22, 2014.
This morning we got up at around 5:30 am, cleaned up, and went to breakfast. Same breakfast as in Yangon. Two fried eggs, toast, butter and jelly, fruit, and coffee. We finished breakfast and then were off for the conference.
Traffic in Myitkyina is really bad. There are way too many motorcycles and they are constantly cutting in and out of traffic. Here there is an absence of traffic lights. I probably only counted about a half dozen or so. On top of that there are no stop signs. None. What this means is that "its everyman for himself". Very dangerous driving conditions. We were almost hit 3 or 4 times on the way to the church.
We arrived at about 7:45 am and they were ready for us. Things were set up and people were singing songs. I was up first, so I gathered my stuff and got ready. Our schedule for the day looked like this:
8-10 am - Lead Like Jesus
10-10:30 am - Lunch break
10:30- 12:00 - Lead Like Jesus
12:00-1 pm - Break
1-4 pm - Roles/Responsibilities of Pastors and Elders
This would be our daily schedule through Saturday.
My session went very well. I was able to finish everything that I had planned for on the first day even though everything that I said had to be interpreted (word for word) by Lazarus. In my second session, I finished with about 10 minutes left so I opened the floor for questions. After my second session, we took an hour break and then Dale taught on the Relationships and Responsibilities of Pastors and Elders.
We had a very good number of people that attended. I would roughly estimate having around 125 people in the room and around 30 or so (mostly women) who sat outside on picnic type tables and listened through the open windows. We had two (2) men who traveled from western Myanmar to attend the seminar. They lived in a village near the India border. They told us that it took them four (4) days to get to Myitkyina. Can you believe that someone would be so hungry to learn to become a better leader that they would travel that far? In our country that would never happen. We also learned that we had two men from China. Amazing!
At the first break, Timothy, a 90 year old pastor, presented me with a handmade burmese shirt. Pastor Timothy was well acquainted with the Morse family who were longtime missionaries with the Lisu people here in Myanmar. I also met a man whose son now lives in Florida. The son is a political refuge who asked for asylum to come and live in the United States. The father has not spoken to his son for over five years but has received occasional letters from him. He asked me if he gave me his son's phone number would I be willing to call him. I told him that I would to that for him.
They had a great lunch for us. The women prepared and served it to all of the men. We had chicken, pork, cooked vegetables, rice, small tangelos, sliced apples, grapes, and something that looked like cole slaw (I passed on that). They served us bottled water and hot water (yes, hot water without coffee or tea?). The food was really great! I thanked the ladies and told them that if I kept eating like this that I would become very big. They laughed.
During our second break, a couple of the younger pastors came to sit at our table. They thanked us for coming to Myitkyina and told me that the message of servant leadership is desperately needed in the church here. The pastors and church leaders struggle with how to equip and prepare their people to do the work of the ministry, witness, and teach others. In other words, they (just like most US churches) are not making disciples. Definitely, the message of Lead Like Jesus is needed here.
I learned that most of the churches are not adequately equipping believers. Most of them do not have Sunday school for adults (only for children and teenagers) nor do they have small groups, so the only "teaching" their church members get is from the Pastor's sermons on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and during Wednesday evenings.
We also learned of some conflict that exists here within the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. These churches, in order to provide some oversight and help for one another, formed an association to fulfill that function and they select a 16 man committee to accomplish it. The biggest thing that causes problems is that they have a "policy" that pastors can only serve for three (3) years in a church. After that, they must move to a new congregation. There are no exceptions and no waivers. The committee also selects and appoints the pastors for every church. The elders of the churches have no input. It is hard for me to understand their reasoning for doing this, but I'm sure they have some good reasons.
These policies do cause some problems. Elders will often get into conflict with the pastors over seemingly minor issues. Pastors often feel like they are a "hired hand" or just an "employee" because many of the elder boards make all the decisions, often without any input from the pastor. The relationships between many of the pastors and their elders are not good. As a result, most of the churches are not growing, they are not planting new churches, and the people are not being discipled.
The weather was really cool when we started out. It was probably in the upper 40 degrees or maybe in the lower 50's. Both Dale and I wore our jackets and most of the people wore winter coats. Later in the day, it got up to about 70 degrees or so. It was very comfortable for teaching. I hardly broke a sweat. Much different than it was in Jamaica last week.
We ended the day by going to a Thai restaurant in downtown Myitkyina. The food was really good. I had ginger chicken, Dale had sweet and sour chicken, and Lazarus had some sort of dish with fried intestines in it? While we were waiting for our dinner, a female cat came up to us. It rubbed on my legs as many cats will do. Dale petted it on the head a few times and then the cat went over to Lazarus, who just ignored it being there. All of a sudden, the cat just jumped from the ground beside Lazarus and landed in the middle of his lap and then laid down. All of us laughed. The cat just sat in Lazarus' lap for 15 minutes or so until our dinner arrived and then Lazarus shoo'd him out.
After we returned to the hotel, I changed my clothes and laid on the bed to watch a little TV and to read. I read a couple of chapters in my book and realized that I was done for the day and decided to go to sleep. It was only 8 pm but I was very, very tired. Dale was still up but he too went to bed very early.
Thursday, January 23, 2014.
We got up, cleaned up, and went to breakfast at 7 am. We had the same two fried eggs, toast, etc., that we have had everyday. It is much cooler than yesterday and we decided to wear our heavier jackets. We arrived at the church at about 7:45 am and I was set up and ready to begin at 8 am.
We started right on time. This is one thing that I've noticed, they start and stop on time. This is unlike much of the other developing countries that I've been in. Each day when we start they generally begin with a song. Then someone gives a few announcements and another person will pray for us. All this takes about 15 minutes. So, I started my second session at around 8:15.
On the way to the church Lazarus reminded us that he had to leave at 10 am to perform a wedding ceremony and that he would have another person interpret for me. I told him that if would be no problem for me. He then dropped the "bomb"....and asked Dale if he would accompany him and preach the wedding sermon! Of course, Dale had no time to prepare for this. But, Lazarus insisted and Dale didn't want to say no. So, while I taught my first session, Dale sat in the corner of the room and made some notes. He and Lazarus left at 10 am and was supposed to be back to the conference by noon.
I completed my session and we took our second break at noon. We waited until 1 pm (when Dale's session was supposed to start) but Dale and Lazarus had not yet returned. One of the leaders came up to me and said that we needed to start on time and asked me to continue teaching. So, I got the binder with my lesson notes and took up where I had left off. It was about 1:45 pm when Lazarus and Dale showed up and after a couple of minutes I finished the topic that I was talking about and turned things over to Dale.
During the second break that day, I was approached by several men and asked to come back and teach them more about Lead Like Jesus. I then explained to them the four stage/phase process and how it works. They said that is exactly what they need. So, I told them that I would discuss it with Lazarus and see how we might be able to work out the details to implement this in their country.
I had a chance to talk more with Pastor Timothy (who is age 82) and several of his church leaders, to include his assistant Pastor David (who interpreted for me while Lazarus was at the wedding). I learned that this man of God had trained and mentored the four men that were sitting with me. All of them were either pastors, elders, or leading a ministry. What an amazing legacy that this man was leaving! It was Pastor Timothy that first asked me to come back and teach them more. He even offered to buy my plane ticket from Yangon to Myitkyina! Wow!
I am truly impressed by many of the leaders that I have met here. They love God and want to serve him faithfully. Many of them are not Bible college trained and they lack knowledge, but their heart is good and they (for the most part) really want to lead like Jesus.
On the way back to the hotel, Lazarus took us to an Internet cafe. We were hoping to send Michelle and Anna to let them know we were alright and to explain why we couldn't communicate regularly with them. Dale was unable to log on. I was, but the connection was very, very slow. I was able to send Michelle an email and to post a small comment on my blog. I then let Dale use my email to send Anna a note.
After the day's sessions were over, we came back to the hotel. We later ate dinner at the little restaurant across the street. I had intended to come back and read for a while, but I was tired and so was Dale, so by around 8:30 pm we were ready to go to bed.
Friday, January 24, 2014.
Last evening the power went off just after we went to bed and did not come back on until 5:30 am as we were just getting up.
I woke up at 4:30 am and laid in the bed for a while thinking about the future possibilities of coming back to work with the Lisu Christian leaders. I prayed and asked God for wisdom and guidance. I also prayed about the work that Luke Kuepfer and I are doing in Liberia, Ghana, Uganda, and maybe also in Jamaica. I believe that we have worked ourselves into a place that we are now over our heads (so to speak) and need help from God to guide us, provide resources, and other people to join with us. The work is far bigger than we are and we need to start equipping others to join us.
As far as coming back to Myanmar? I'm not sure if we can really help the leaders and churches here as long as they have the structural barriers they now have in place. It may be that our time and resources may be better spent elsewhere? I will discuss this with Lazarus before leaving Myanmar, explain our 4 stage/phase process, give him my concerns and then let him discuss them with the pastors and association leaders. If The Lord wants me to return, I am confident He will work things out.
My lesson this morning went very well. They were particularly interested in how to develop and equip their people. As part of the lesson, I covered the "Way of the Carpenter" and then discussed each stage of development in terms of discipleship. I believe that this was especially beneficial for them and opened up some of their eyes.
They were really interested in the "Lincoln Story" and the "Power of an Apology". As I told them the story, they intently listened to every word. I watched their faces and could tell they were taking it all in. Several men told me later that they were very touched by Lincoln's story and how an important man like him could admit that he was wrong and apologize.
Because I taught longer yesterday when Dale was at the wedding, I was able to not only finish the Hands section but also the Habits section. This means that tomorrow, I will have time to review the basic concepts from each section and finish by covering the Next Steps and doing the "Greatest Management Tool" exercise.
At lunch, Lazarus informed us that Dale and I would be preaching several times on Saturday evening and again on Sunday. Both of us will preach on Saturday evening at the same church. Then, on Sunday, Dale will preach at 8 am. We will travel to another church where I will speak at 11 am. Finally, both of us will speak at another church on Sunday evening.
We learned that the Lisu people love to go to church. They have worship services on Saturday evenings, Sunday morning at 8 am, then again at 11 am or noon, and finally, they have Sunday evening services. All of these services last at least 2 hours. They also have Wednesday services. But, most of them do not have any adult Sunday school or Bible classes.
After Dale finished his session, we went back to the hotel, changed clothes, and again ate dinner at the restaurant across the street. I had hot and sour chicken. It was a little spicy but very good. Our combined meal, with soft drinks, came to about $14 US. Very inexpensive!
After we got back to the hotel, we each worked on putting together our notes for the talk that we would have to give on Saturday evening's church service and then went to bed.
Sent from my iPad
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