DALLAS — The people of Myanmar (formerly Burma) have had it rough ever since a coup in 1962.

Since 2008, nine cyclones and other named storms have devastated Myanmar. In 2008 alone, 130,000 people died, Pastor James Amar of Elim International Church in Atlanta, Ga., told the 40 in attendance at the 2025 annual meeting of the Myanmar Baptist Churches USA. The group gathered June 9 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the day before the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) annual meeting in the same location.

“In 2020, COVID-19 killed many Myanmar people,” Amar said. “Since 2021 a new military coup has caused a lot of trouble, and early this year a massive earthquake devastated much of the country and killed thousands.”

Myanmar pastors and leaders at the annual meeting learned about the challenges people in and from Myanmar face as well as the growth of the national fellowship of churches.

Five members of Atlanta’s Elim International led praise and worship at the gathering to honor God and encourage listeners to spread the gospel.

“We need to take the gospel to the people inside the country (of Myanmar) because more than 92% are not Christian, and they’re all hurting because of the earthquake,” Amar said. “We also need to take the gospel to the Burmese immigrants (in the United States) because more than 200,000 people from Myanmar are here in the USA; many are Buddhists.”

Equipment and supplies are needed for recovery from the earthquake in Myanmar and from the nation’s military action, and more churches are needed for Myanmar immigrants in the U.S., Amar said.

Of the more than the 220,000 Burmese immigrants living in the United States today, 40,000 have arrived since 2019, according to Pew Research.

“We believe in legal immigration,” Myanmar Fellowship’s Executive Director Hre Mang told his listeners. 

Mang said he was lonely as pastor of Falam Christian Church of Indianapolis, Ind., until he met Peter Yanes in 2020. Yanes then was vice president of Asian mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee.

The Myanmar Baptist Churches USA fellowship has grown. Today there are 150 Myanmar churches, including 30 in Texas, Mang added.

“Peter (Yanes) helped start the fellowship, and now we have fellowship with Southern Baptists and huge resources,” Mang said. “If you need training, let me know. With the Southern Baptist Convention, we have six seminaries and (North American Mission Board) NAMB.”

The Myanmar national fellowship has four U.S. regions to help add to and strengthen local Myanmar churches.

Today, the International Mission Board (IMB) has one person from Myanmar serving in North Africa, another in Central Asia and a third training to serve in the Middle East. 

“Many servants of God are needed for the gospel to spread,” Amar said. “In Myanmar, there are 135 government-recognized languages, and 92% of the people are Buddhist.”

The Myanmar Baptist Fellowship can help Southern Baptist Myanmar churches and individuals access SBC resources for training seminars for local church pastors, members for disciple-making and raising missionaries, Mang said.  

Silas Thiang, pastor of Agape Myanmar Mission in San Diego, Calif., plans to send a mission team to Myanmar and nearby Thailand in July to help with earthquake recovery and to train pastors.

“The civil war in Myanmar is more and more intense,” Thiang said. “And a lot of the people were injured, homeless and in a helpless situation from the earthquake in March. The Myanmar people really need the gospel more than ever. Please remember us in your prayers and help us with whatever you can.

“We will have a Myanmar Pastors and Church Planters Training Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 22-25,” Thiang continued. “We will provide four-day, three-night accommodations, meals, books and Bibles for their mission fields, plus backpacks, training materials and return bus tickets.”

The per-person conference cost for each pastor and church planter is $200. Thiang anticipates more than 100 men will participate and is raising scholarship dollars for 50 of them.

“After the Myanmar Pastors and Church Planters Training in Bangkok, we are going into Myanmar from the Thailand border to share the gospel and to provide food supplies, medical supplies and clothing to the displaced people in Myanmar because of the earthquake and civil war,” Thiang said. “We are praying and raising funds for 700 displaced and refugee families. Budget per family is $30.”

No official business took place during this year’s annual meeting, Mang said. “This was a time to celebrate and enjoy each other as together we thank God for all He does for us and to help us do His work.

“I believe God sent us here to do mission work,” the executive director continued. “We want to honor God in all we do.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.)