A SONG OF THE
NATIONS
Every nation dons her own colours , flies her own flag , fights her wars , and blood is shed . Like a mother , she kneels for the liberation of her children from being slaves in chains . She mourns their loss , and demands for justice when they are brutalised by unconscionable violence . She weeps when they have nothing to eat , their bodies ravaged by disease , when the colour of their skin and ethnicity of their race send them to their graves . How do we love her , support her , and protect her vulnerable children ? How do we fight for her and empower her to fight for herself ? How much of ourselves will we need to surrender to do so ?
God has shown us what we must do . He has sent us His Son to do what we cannot . And His power gives us strength to do what we must . In faith and obedience , we have crossed many borders , some of which were once closed , but in trust have remained opened to us . These enduring friendships , forged with other nations and YWAM bases cannot be taken for granted . As children borne of a different motherland , we are sons and daughters by love and law , brothers and sisters in the bloodline of Christ . And giants will fall when we stand in arms — not by might , nor by power , but by the Spirit of God . ( Zechariah 4:6 )
YANGON , MYANMAR
YWAMSG responded to God ’ s call to be a place of rest , resource , replenishment and release . YWAM Myanmar was one of the fruits that emerged as a result of their obedience .
Back in the 1980s , God led Judy Hayden to Myanmar , and she partnered with YWAMSG in their vision for Yangon in the early 1990s , when they made it one of their target cities . Thereafter , several individuals felt the Lord leading them to serve Him on a long-term basis in that nation . Beat Kipfer , who had been making short-term trips to Myanmar since 1996 , was one of them . During one of his trips , he sensed God speaking to him about pioneering a YWAM base in Myanmar , and he said , “ Yes .” After he obeyed , a team gathered , and with the encouragement and support of YWAMSG , they established the base in Yangon in 1999 .
Over the years , YWAMSG has been like a ‘ big brother ’ to YWAM Myanmar , and has supported the latter through various seasons . In 2008 , Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar and killed around 150,000 people . In this huge crisis , YWAMSG was instrumental in supporting YWAM Myanmar ’ s endeavours to serve the broken Nation . Beat recalls how they raised funds for YWAM Myanmar , so that the latter would have the means to provide crisis relief and support other forms of outreach . Out of that situation , God opened incredible doors for the team to reach out to the slums of Yangon and pioneer new ministries there .
Today , YWAM Myanmar is very much independent in terms of their day-to-day operations . But they still see themselves as an extension of YWAMSG , and are grateful for the latter ’ s facilitation of their finances , and invitations to participate in their conferences and training schools . Over the years , both bases have learnt that as they walk in integrity and obedience in the small things , God will honour that and will open doors for them to move forward into what He has called them to do .
Looking ahead , there is a need for more long-term workers in Myanmar . The Nation is in the midst of experiencing a kairos moment where God has been opening doors for outreach in unprecedented ways . YWAM Myanmar believes that God desires for the global body of Christ to be a part of what He has begun and is still doing in their Nation . They also hope to continuously build strong partnerships with the Singapore churches through YWAMSG , as missionaries from the developing nations seek the support of their trained and equipped counterparts who can help them thrive on the field . But beyond this , it is Myanmar ’ s cry for long-term missionaries that is an unceasing and reverberating one .
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