Phyu, a missionary in Myanmar, helped plant a church in a small village near the center of the country. They then went west to a distant village. They needed a someone to help introduce them to the local villagers, someone they called a man of peace, in order to open the door of the village for the gospel. God lead them to a man called U Than who became the first follower of Christ in that village. U Than responded to Christ’s love and started opening doors for the people in his village to hear the Gospel.
In his attempts to share the Goaspel to the village folks, he experienced apathy, insults, and even persecution. He persevered sharing the Gospel, starting with his own family and relatives.
He joined Phyu in seeking to bring the Gospel by employing the strategy Pray, Care and Share. They were connecting with the people through prayer and meeting their needs. The villagers were seeing God answer prayers.
The sick were healed. Relationships were mended. They conducted Christmas events and other evangelistic efforts. Families started coming to know the lord. As this was happening, people from other villages were migrating into U Than’s village. The population of the village grew ten times.
With U Than’s perseverance and diligence, currently there are now twenty families who expressed faith in our lord Jesus. They meet regularly as a church. A daughter church (2nd generation church) was planted. New believers are awaiting baptism.
As for the increased population, the influx of new families from different tribes provide vast potential to reach out to other tribes. Church members from this village are being trained to evangelize and disciple and now are praying for a 3rd generation church.
U Than is a good example of Man of Peace who opens doors for the Gospel. Please pray for more People of Peace as we trust God to see 500,000 churches planted in Southeast Asia.