Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country of 55 million people located in southeast Asia. The country has a rich history dating back to ancient times. In the 19th century, it became a British colony. After World War II, its leaders negotiated an agreement leading to the country’s independence in 1948.
Unfortunately, independence did not bring peace. Over the last 60 years, the country has experienced one of the world’s longest-running ongoing civil wars. The fighting is fueled by ethnic divisions and complicated by forceful changes in power. A military coup in February 2021 spurred widespread protests and brutal regional conflicts that continue to this day.
The country has also suffered massive natural disasters. Cyclone Nargis, a tropical storm, made landfall in 2008, killing over 138,000 people and causing over $15 billion in damage. Typhoon Yagi crossed from Vietnam westward over central Myanmar in September 2024, leading to massive flooding in the same areas hit by the recent earthquake.
The United Nations reports that Myanmar is now in the midst of a massive humanitarian and economic crisis. Over 3.5 million people have been displaced. Over half the country lacks access to electricity. In the 2023-2024 academic year, over 20 per cent of children were not attending school. Some 49.7% of the people live on less than 76 US cents per day. Inflation during 2024 reached 25.4%. Many in the country have lost not just family members or property, but hope as well.
The most common religious faith in Myanmar is Buddhism. About 6% of the population is Christian.
The history of Christianity in Burma includes the significant work of Adoniram Judson, a US missionary, starting in 1813. After taking more than three years to learn to speak and write Burmese, Judson began preaching and teaching in the south of Myanmar.
By the grace of God, he and his family continued serving there despite extreme hardship. When war broke out between Britain and Burma, he was imprisoned twice. His first wife, second wife, third child, and two coworkers all died of illnesses. He suffered depression and died of lung disease in 1850 at the age of 61.
Despite all this, Wikepedia summarizes his legacy this way:
By the time of Judson’s death, he had translated the Bible into Burmese as well as a half-completed Burmese-English dictionary. Burma at the time had 100 churches, and over 8,000 believers…[Even today,] every dictionary and grammar written in Burma in the last two centuries has been based on ones originally created by Judson.