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Myanmar Mission Update - November 8, 2016

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Myanmar Mission Newsletter - November 8, 2016

For many years the Hope PRC Council, along with recent help from Hope’s Reformed Witness Committee (RWC), has been laboring with our brethren from the PRC of Yangon, Myanmar. Many of you are aware of this work to some degree, but others may not be as familiar with these labors.

We would like to first introduce to you the historical background of our work with the PRC of Yangon. Following this introductory article will be regular reports from Rev. Titus Sanceuluai (referred heretofore as Rev. Titus) and from Hope PRC’s RWC. As you will come to understand in this and subsequent installments, the PRC of Yangon is part of the true church of Christ and is growing daily in its understanding of Reformed doctrines and what church membership means.

The work in Myanmar began originally as an offshoot of the PRC’s work in Singapore with the Asian Reformed Theological School. This work began first with Rev. J. Kortering, and was continued by the extensive work of Rev. A. den Hartog who made a total of seven different visits to Myanmar. Most of these trips involved teaching men from various churches at seminars. Rev. den Hartog states that the most lasting legacy of his work in Myanmar is the continued existence of the PRC of Yangon, of which Rev. Titus is still the faithful pastor.

When the Contact Committee of the PRC decided that the work in Myanmar did not fit within the scope of its constitution, the 2007 synod adopted Hope PRC’s recommendation that they continue the work with the PRC in Myanmar. Hope provided both financial support and spiritual guidance along with technological tools for improved communications. This improved communication proved to be indispensable and helped the spiritual development of the Yangon congregation grow by leaps and bounds. Rev. Titus no longer had to wait for delegation visits to have real time correspondence with Hope PRC’s Council.

Myanmar mapDelegates from Hope PRC have made a total of five visits to Myanmar over the course of six years. The main objective of each visit went from initially learning the details of the work in Yangon to spiritual guidance and establishing that the PRC of Yangon is a properly instituted church with officebearers lawfully called and installed. The most recent delegation provided instruction in church government, which ranged from managing a church budget to establishing and maintaining proper church membership. This led to the Yangon congregation reaffirming its membership by formal public confessions of faith.

Hope PRC’s Council hopes to continue the work in Myanmar with at least one visit per year. As you will learn in subsequent reports from Rev. Titus, a large part of this continued labor will involve assisting in organizing new congregations with the eventual goal of forming a functioning Reformed denomination of churches in Myanmar. Due to the daunting amount of work, the many opportunities available, and the many other responsibilities that consistory work brings, The Hope RWC has offered to assist Hope’s Council in their work in Myanmar. This help will consist of updating the denomination on progress in addition to several other initiatives that involve working directly with Rev. Titus and the PRC of Yangon. There will be regular updates in the future that include the progress of the work in Myanmar and reports from Rev. Titus and delegate visits.

Also please look us up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HopeProtestantReformedChurch/ and on Hope PRC’s website at http://hopeprchurch.org/outreach/myanmar-mission/.

 

Last modified on 10 November 2016