Christians

in
BURMA
(MYANMAR)

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo

 Christians in BURMA (MYANMAR)

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH:

Where Race, Religion and Military Might are
Destroying a Nation and a Church

The soldiers set fire to the church, school and houses, looted the
clinic and destroyed it, and burned the crops. It was a typical attack
by the Burma army on a Christian village, this particular one being
on the Moei River in eastern Burma. The people fled and rebuilt
their village a few miles away.

The notorious military junta in Burma represses and kills its people
mercilessly. Their persecution is focused especially on ethnic
minorities, among whom are many Christians. But, unlike most
other military regimes, the junta no longer appears to have any
particular political or ideological basis apart from support for the
Burman ethnic group. Sometimes it makes use of Buddhism, the
majority faith, as a weapon to suppress Christians, but can equally
turn on Buddhists if they oppose the junta. Its real guiding principle
appears to be simply to maintain itself in power.

1
Ethnicity and religion – and their interlinkage – are key factors in
understanding the situation in Burma. The population of around
50 million is divided into at least 15 major ethnic groups, with a
wide variety of geographical origins, with cultural and linguistic
differences. Since independence all census data has been unreliable
and has tended to exaggerate the number of Burmans. But,
according to the Karen Human Rights Group, Burmans probably
constitute no more than 50% of the population, with Karen
(including Karenni and Pa’O) the next largest group (6-7 million)
and then the Shan and Mon (4 million each).
Some of the main ethnic groups of Burma
Ethnic Group Geographical Main Religion Estimated Main location
origin or Population within Burma
ethnic link

Burman Indo-Tibetan Buddhist 25 million center

region

Karen, Karenni, Mongolia 60% animist, 6-7 million south and

and Pa’O 40% Christian south east

Shan China Buddhist 4 million east

(Sino-Thai
race)

Mon Related to Buddhist 4 million south eastern

the Khmer of coast
Cambodia
Rohingya Related to Muslim 1.5 million western coast
Bengali and
other Indians

Chin (also Tibet and 90% Christian, 1.3 million western hills
called Zo) north-east 10% animist
India
Kachin Tibet 60% 1 million north
Christian?

No one knows which group arrived first in the area which is now
Burma. But for hundreds of years various small kingdoms were
at war with each other, seeking to increase their territory. The less
successful or less inclined to fight were gradually pushed to the hills
around the peripheries of the area.

The main towns and cities are in the lowland plains of the center
and south. The west, north and east are more rural, hilly and
inaccessible. The old Burman kingdoms were in the central plains,
and the non-Burman people lived in the surrounding hills.

2
Christianity comes
When Adoniram Judson, the first Western missionary to what is
now Burma, arrived among the Karen in 1813, he was astonished
by the warmth of the welcome he received. The Karen already
believed in one creator God named Y’we. They had a legend that
they had carelessly lost a “Golden Book” which contained the truth
about life but one day a young white brother would bring them the
book again. (See
“Extract from a Extract from a traditional Karen song
traditional Karen
Beliefs like these led many Karen to welcome white
song.”) Their Christian missionaries in the nineteenth century and to
folklore also spoke embrace Christianity.
about a man and
The Karen was the elder brother,
a woman living And obtained all the words of God (Y’we).
in a garden, and God formerly loved the Karen nation above all others,
a snake who gave But because of their transgressions, He cursed them,
And now they have no books.
the woman some Yet he will again have mercy on them,
forbidden fruit. And love them above all others.

It is thought that God departed with our younger brother,

the Karen may The white foreigner.
have encountered He conducted God away to the West.
God gave them power to cross waters and reach lands,
Christian And to have rulers from among themselves.
missionaries from Then God went up to heaven,
But he made the white foreigners
the Church in More skilful than any other nation.
the East, perhaps
in China while When God had departed,
The Karens became slaves of the Burmans,
the Karen were Became sons of the forest and children of poverty,
migrating south Were scattered everywhere.
from Mongolia in The Burmans made them labor bitterly,
Till many dropped down dead in the jungle…
the early centuries
AD. These
missionaries would have been fair-skinned Middle Easterners. Other
people believe that the Karen may be one of the “lost tribes of Israel”
and had retained some knowledge of the Old Testament. Whatever
their origin, these beliefs meant that many Karen readily became
Christians when the white missionaries brought them the Gospel.
The Karen are now about 40% Christian.

3
In the late nineteenth century, the first Chin became a Christian.
As more and more Chins decided to follow Christ, their culture
changed in many ways to make it conform more to Biblical teaching.
Chin State is now thought to be 90% Christian. Christianity
has acted as a unifying force, bringing together different Chin
communities which were previously divided and hostile to each
other.

Creating Burma
The boundaries of Burma were created by the British after they
forcibly annexed the territory in three separate portions over a period
of six decades in the nineteenth century. Before this time it had not
been considered a single geographical unit. At first the British made
Burma a province of British India, but in 1937, they separated it
from India and made it a crown colony. The British eradicated the
old Burman kingdoms but allowed some of the other groups in more
remote areas to maintain their princedoms etc., which were seen as
less of a threat to British rule.

During the Second World War, Japan invaded and occupied Burma
(1942). A Burman group called the Burma Independence Army
(BIA) who helped the invading Japanese, hoping that this way they
could get independence from Britain, later turned against them and
began to resist Japanese rule. In 1945, Britain liberated Burma from
Japanese occupation, with the help of the BIA, now called the Anti-
Fascist People’s Freedom League and led by Aung San. The British
were also helped by non-Burman groups such as the Karen, Karenni
and Kachin, who hoped that in return they would be granted
independence from the Burmans after the war.

After the war the British convened the Frontier Areas Commission
of Enquiry to investigate the situation of the non-Burmans,
especially the Karens. However as more and more villagers testified
about atrocities perpetrated against them by the BIA, the British
appeared to regret having set up the Commission. It was closed and
much of the testimony wiped from the record.

Independence was granted in 1948 for the former colony as a whole;

4
the non-Burmans were not given their own state(s). Immediately,
the non-Burmans began to call for some kind of autonomy or
independence, at first by peaceful demonstrations, but this had no
effect. In 1949 the non-Burmans began an armed rebellion.

Military rule
In 1962 a military coup led by General Ne Win ousted the elected
government and Burma has been under military rule of one sort or
another ever since. Ne Win formed a single-party socialist state,
crushed all opposition and began to guide Burma into a position of
isolation from the rest of the world.

In 1988 there were anti-government riots in Rangoon, Mandalay

and many smaller towns, triggered by currency devaluation the
previous year which wiped out many people’s savings. Between
1,000 and 3,000 protestors were killed by troops using machine
guns and bayonets. In 1989 the regime declared martial law and
arrested thousands of people including many who were calling for
democracy and human rights. One of those arrested was Aung San’s
daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize two years later. In the same year the government renamed
Burma “Myanmar Naing-Ngan” which means “Burman country”
in the Burmese language. They also renamed other places in the
Burmese language, so, for example, the capital Rangoon became
Yangon.

Brutality against minorities

The regime concentrates on controlling the civilian population, in
particular the ethnic minorities, who include most of the Christians
in Burma. It keeps most of the universities closed and denies all
freedom of expression and freedom of association. Unauthorized
access to the internet, fax machines or foreign radio is punishable by
lengthy prison sentences with hard labor. Non-Burman minorities
are targeted through the army. One of the main methods used is to
forcibly relocate whole villages from the hills into more accessible
army controlled areas. They are usually given no more than a week
to move, and are warned that after the deadline their old homes

5
and any remaining belongings will be destroyed while any people
spotted in the village will be shot on sight. After relocation it is not
normally possible for people to get to their fields and tend them,
so they must forage for food or try to find other work. Sometimes
the army also puts pressure on by controlling schooling, with the
result that many children are now growing up without education.
Furthermore, the army uses the relocated people as a convenient
source of unpaid labor, making it even more difficult for them to
support themselves. After a few months they face the choice of
starvation or fleeing.

The forced labor can include building fences and roads, digging
trenches, cutting firewood, cooking for and carrying water to
soldiers, clearing scrub, doing sentry duty, growing crops for the
army or providing the labor for various business enterprises run by
the officers for their own profit. One of the hardest tasks is being a
porter for the army. Carrying huge loads, and marching in front of
the soldiers, the porters are kicked or beaten if they are too slow. If
they become sick or cannot continue they are killed or left behind.
Many porters die anyway of illnesses linked to exhaustion and
malnutrition.

To avoid forced labor some village men have tried hiding in the
forest, leaving only the women, children and elderly in the village.
But the result is that the unprotected women are raped, or taken as
porters, or held hostage pending the return of their husbands.

Now that people are aware of the consequences of relocation, many

refuse to move but go into hiding in the forests surrounding their
fields. They try to survive by growing small patches of crops in a
number of different places, hoping that the army will not find the
tiny fields and destroy them. Tens of thousands of people are now
believed to be living like this, with inadequate food and no access to
education or medical care. If the army finds them they are captured
or shot.

There are also non-Burman military groups, who are fighting a

guerrilla war against the government. They too make their demands
on the villagers, forcing them to provide food and other support.

6
 17 ways to attack Christians
Translated from a pamphlet given to a Chin convert to Buddhism during a 10-day
period of Buddhist missionary training. He later returned to Christianity. The
pamphlet was entitled Missionaries, Honorable Monks, Cleansing Organization:
The Facts to Attack Christians.

1. Attack Christian families and the progress of Christians.

2. Criticize sermons broadcast from Manila, Philippines.
3. Criticize God as narrow-minded and egotistical because he claimed that
“There is no god except the eternal god.”
4. Be against corrupted youth and inappropriate fashion.
5. Criticize the preaching of Christians wherever it has penetrated.
6. Criticize Christianity by pointing out its delicacy and weakness.
7. Stop the spread of the Christian movement in rural areas.
8. Criticize by pointing out “It is not salvation, but purchased by blood.”
9. Counterattack by pointing out Christianity’s weakness and overcome this
with Buddhism.
10. Counter the Bible, after thorough study.
11. Criticize the statement that “God loves only Israel but not all the races.”
12. Point out the ambiguity between the two testaments.
13. Criticize Christianity for being partisan.
14. Criticize Christianity’s concept of the Creator and compare it with the
scientific concept.
15. Study and access the amount given in offerings.
16. Criticize the Holy Spirit, after thorough study.
17. Attack Christians by means both non-violent and violent.

The villagers are then punished by the government army for having
helped the rebels.

Both the government army and the rebels have taken to laying
landmines, especially in Karen State. The army uses villagers as
“human mine-sweepers,” forcing them to walk ahead of the troops.
Often they make a point of choosing women or children for this
task.

There are believed to be between 2 million and 4 million people

internally displaced in Burma, many of whom are hiding in the
forests or surviving by begging in the towns. Many more have fled
to Thailand.

7
Anti-Christian Persecution
There are nearly four million Christians in Burma, chiefly among
the Karen, Karenni, Chin and Kachin ethnic groups. Therefore
the army uses Buddhism in its persecution of these groups. Indeed
some years ago the junta, when it was known as the Burma Socialist
Program Party, adopted the slogan “To be a Burmese is to be a
Buddhist.” Church buildings are often the first buildings attacked
by the army when they target a village, while Buddhist temples are
left untouched. But in cities, too, church buildings are targeted.
For example, 80 churches in the capital Rangoon were closed down
in 2001 and an order was issued forbidding Christian meetings in
buildings less than a hundred years old. The army sometimes makes
a point of demanding forced labor from Christians on Sundays or
during Christian festival times such as Christmas. Christians in the
army are denied promotion beyond the rank of major.

Chin State
Chin State, which is 90% Christian, suffers many forms of
specifically anti-Christian persecution by the government. The Chin
Christians had erected crosses on the mountaintops, as symbols of
their faith, but the army has now forced them to tear the crosses
down and, sometimes, to build a Buddhist pagoda in their place.
Christians must obtain a permit for any gathering of more than
five people, apart from Sunday services, and such permission is not
necessarily granted. In the ten years prior to 2004, all applications
for permission to construct new church buildings were refused.
Church ministers are particularly targeted for persecution because
of the respect and influence they have within the Chin community.
Printing Bibles is forbidden in Chin State and those which are
smuggled in may be seized and burned if they are discovered.

The junta send in Buddhist monks to various towns and villages in

Chin State, with soldiers to protect them. The monks effectively
rule the communities in which they are living, and report anyone
who disobeys them to the army so that they can be punished.
Anyone who converts to Buddhism is exempt from forced labor or
portering and all other kinds of persecution. Attempts are made to

8
force Christians to build Buddhist monasteries or temples.

Some converts to Buddhism receive special training in how to

attack Christianity (see box on page 7). They are given rice and
other materials and promised education for their children. They
are also promised monthly financial support if they can convert
other Christians to Buddhism. The amount of money depends on
how many families and how many individuals they can manage to
convert.

Chin Christian children as young as 11 are sometimes lured away

from their families by the offer of a good education. Instead they
can find themselves in a Buddhist monastery, their heads shaved,
forced to train as novice monks. Some never see their parents again.

Muslims also targeted

The government also targets the Rohingya ethnic group, who are
Muslims. They are effectively denied Burmese citizenship, their
freedom of movement is restricted and they suffer the same forced
eviction, destruction of property and forced labor as the other
non-Burman minorities. Muslims elsewhere in Burma are also
persecuted. For example, 40 mosques in Rangoon and Mandalay
were ransacked in 1997.

Destroying a country and its people

Burma has fertile soils and offshore oil and gas deposits. It is the
world’s largest exporter of teak, and is also an important source
of jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires. Nevertheless it is one of
the poorest countries in Asia and has some of the worst health
conditions in the world.

Neither the regime, nor the brutal and corrupt army, which cause
such suffering to so many of Burma’s people, has popular support.
The army sustains itself largely by forced conscription or by making
hollow promises of protection for the families of new recruits. It is
also a way to earn one’s living in a country where hunger abounds,
and is one of the few viable career options in Burma. Soldiers are

9
not allowed to leave the army until they have recruited several more.
There are an estimated 70,000 child soldiers, making up 20% of the
army.

The traditional system of subsistence farming in villages is

increasingly unable to function because of the activities of the army.
Persecution by the junta has created such an appalling situation
among the Karen, Karenni and Mon of eastern Burma that a report
published in September 2006 said that they were more likely to
die than people in Congo, Sierra Leone or Afghanistan. The death
rate among children under five is 22%, a figure which is ten times
higher than in neighboring Thailand. Fifteen percent of children
have malnutrition, and many people are dying from diseases like
malaria, respiratory ailments and diarrhea. The report blames the
health crisis on the evictions, forced labor, destruction of crops and
constant fear of death which people in this area are enduring.

Faithful Christians
In the midst of this destruction, Burma’s Christians hold on to their
faith. Above the platform in the new church rebuilt after the village
on the Moei River was destroyed, a text from Revelation 2:10 was
hung. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
life.”

“We have to leave village after village, house after house,” said the
minister. “But it increases our faith. We are Christians; we know
God will help us. But please remember us in your prayers. Please
do not forget.”

There is a remarkable amount of Christian ministry in Burma,

including many Bible schools and other institutions for Christian
training. Church growth is continuing, especially among the non-
Burman peoples.

10
Aid for the Church in Burma
Barnabas Fund’s aid for Christians in Burma has included:

• 11 wells for Christian villages

• a mini sound-proof studio for a radio ministry
• support for the leader of a radio ministry
• building student hostels for a Bible school
• building and equipment for training Bible school students in tailoring
• advanced theological training for a church leader
• sewing project: training for income generation

Pray that Christians in Burma will indeed be faithful unto death, if

that is necessary, and that their faithfulness will bring glory to God.

A Meditation
by a Contemporary Karen Church Leader

They call us a displaced people,

But praise God: we are not misplaced.
They say they see no hope for our future,
But praise God; our future is as bright as the
promises of God.
They say they see the life of our people is a misery,
But praise God; our life is a mystery.
For what they say is what they see,
And what they see is temporal.
But ours is the eternal.
All because we put ourselves
In the hands of the God we trust.

“Pastor Simon”

Adapted from an article published in Barnabas Aid, January-

February 2007.

11
Sources
Aglionby, John “Report blames Burmese junta for high death rate in
eastern tribes” The Guardian, September 8, 2006

BBC News “Timeline Burma: A chronology of key events” http://

news.bbc.co.uk/1/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_
profiles/1300082.stm (viewed November 3, 2006)

CSW “Burma Army intensifies attacks on Karen civilians and fires

on displaced people in hiding”, 10/30/2006 http://www.csw.org/uk/
latestnews/print.php?id=568 (viewed November 3, 2006)

Johnstone, Patrick and Jason Mandryk Operation World, 6th edition

(Carlisle: Paternoster Lifestyle, 2001) pp. 462-465

Karen Human Rights Group Background on Burma http://www.

khrg.org/background_on-burma.html (viewed November 3, 2006)

Ling, Salai Za Uk and Salai Bawi Lian Mang Religious Persecution:

A campaign of ethnocide against Chin Christians in Burma Chin
Human Rights Organization, http://www.chro.org/CHRO_images/
ReligiousPersecution.pdf (viewed November 3, 2006)

Lintner, Bertil Burma in Revolt (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books,

1994) especially chapter 2

Rogers, Benedict “Burma’s almost forgotten Christians find

themselves battered by the world’s longest civil war and a brutally
repressive regime” Christianity Today, March 2004 http://www.
christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=16991 (viewed
November 3, 2006)

Rogers, Benedict “Burma: Religious Freedom Survey, August 2004)

Forum 18 News, August 17th, 2004 http://www.forum18.org/
Archive.php?article_id=396&printer=Y (viewed November 3, 2006)

United Bible Societies Myanmar’s Sgaw Karen people celebrate new

Bible and look back on 175 years of Christian history, adapted from a
report by the Bible Society of Myanmar, February 13th, 2004 http://
www.biblesociety.org/latestnews/latest271.html (viewed November
3, 2006)

(no author) “Out in the cold in Burma” Church of England

Newspaper, September 29, 2006

12
 www.barnabasfund.org

USA
6731 Curran Street, McLean, VA 22101
Telephone (703) 288-1681 or toll-free 1-866-936-2525
Fax (703) 288-1682
Email bfusa@barnabasfund.org

UK
9 and 10, Priory Row, Coventry CV1 5EX
Telephone 024 7623 1923 Fax 024 7683 4718
Email info@barnabasfund.org
Copyright © 2007 by Barnabas Fund. All rights reserved.