Students and gifts, and more than a wee little bit of jet-lag...

Myanmar coffee, Myanmar mug, Myanmar t-shirt
gifts of the heart help me to overcome my jet-lag!

I have TOO MUCH work and I'm still jet-lagging, which means I've been waking up at 3:30 a.m. and can't get back to sleep. But today been I made it until 4:30 a.m. so that's progress. It always takes me two weeks. I've tried all the remedies, thank you very much for your concern, it still takes me two full weeks!
But the students, new and old, are intriguing, beautiful, incredibly devoted. Just yesterday I spent time with these graduate students from Myanmar and Indonesia:

• --Two new  students who need to go to the hospital for medical attention - one with a huge boil on his face  who joked it's the devil attacking him trying to dissuade him from seminary studies -- neither of us is convinced that's only a joke!  Thankfully, two local Hong Kong students will help them to negotiate the intimidating queues and triage systems at the public hospital.

• -- A woman who told me about the last month of her mother's life this summer, and how hard it was for her, the student, to return to Hong Kong and give full concentration to her studies. How does one do that? 

• -- Another student whose 30 year old brother was in a terrible motorcycle accident this summer, which left him half paralyzed and unable to walk, talk, or feed himself. There's almost no therapy available for him in that part of Myanmar. So the hospital just sent him home for the family, mostly his ageing mom, to take care of him. 

• -- Another new student came to my office deeply worried about his scholarship fund, which is suddenly way reduced because it comes from Great Britain and the British pound has undergone a big devaluation since Brexit.

And all of that was in addition to the small mountain of financial documents I'm trying to cough up in time for my October meetings for the Mekong Mission Forum in Myanmar. sigh.
But as an unexpected grace to my work,  I've received a dizzying array of "welcome back!" gifts from students including: one bead necklace, one woven purse, two packets of coffee, an angel candle, two "longi" or pieces of cloth to use as a skirt, one bag of peanuts, and a bunch of amazingly delicious red bananas. 

So life is pretty okay back at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong - 

Except for the getting up at 4:30 a.m. part. One more week to go.

New seminary graduate students from Myanmar exploring Hong Kong with one of our LTS faculty colleagues

Abundant Life Christian Church has recently become
one of our local sponsors and prayer partners with S/E Asian students

Theology, tourist attractions, friends and alumni in Myanmar

Alumni follow-up is one of the sweetest rewards of teaching at the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong. Along with serving Hong Kong and Mainland China, LTS is also instrumental in theological education for the Mekong region.

Wayne and I thoroughly enjoyed a "Moving Theology" event for Hong Kong-educated theological alumni in Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma) in May. Many of the LTS and Chinese University alumni now serve as leaders in their home churches and seminaries, including Baptist, Presbyterian and Anglican. 

Dr. Saw Christopher with his siblings. 

Since we were in a relatively remote part of Myanmar - Wayne and I became something of tourist attraction ourselves. These Buddhist monks were delighted to snap photos of themselves with Wayne... a different kind of inter-faith dialogue!

Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong) -  Myanmar alumni

Theological Sisters!

LTS alumni, family and friends!

Wayne became the tourist attraction for a group of monks.

Christian theology in a Buddhist context - what can we learn from one another?

Prayer Mountain, Karen State.

Beauty I

Beauty II

8Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

9All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

10For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God.

  -- Psalm 86

Juxtapositions: Ash Wednesday and Chinese New Year of the Goat

This year Ash Wednesday and Chinese New Year Eve came on the same day. Chinese New Year celebrations are so important, even the Roman Catholic cardinal in Hong Kong gave his flock an official "dispensation" from Ash Wednesday fasting.

At the Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong) we had the imposition of ashes in the morning followed by Chinese New Year feasting in the evening.

On the first Day of the Chinese New Year (it's the Year of the Goat) we combined traditions by going on a 14 mile wilderness hike (walking with Jesus), scaling the steep climbs of the Hong Kong hills (almost like mountain goats). LTS students from Myanmar are much better climbers than their international professors from the flatlands of the Midwest (USA) and the Netherlands!

Our hearty friends and colleagues from the Netherlands.

Happy we can still climb mountains together!

Definitely the last hike for this particular pair of shoes!!!

"These hills remind us of home" Seemed to me
they weren't even breathing hard.

We did it! Here's to a great start to the Chinese New Year of the Goat...
and the Holy Season of Lent...

18The high mountains belong to the wild goats...

24How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; 

the earth is full of your creatures...

30When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.

- from Psalm 104

Walking/dancing/playing/teaching with Jesus in Myanmar

One of the best things in my life is the chance to see and hear some of the ways in which LTS Mekong alumni are walking/dancing/playing/kicking out demons /healing /praying/ eating/sharing/ teaching with Jesus back in their home cultures, once they've graduated from our seminary programs.

Two of our LTS Myanmar alumni 2014

So in early February I had the chance to go and visit Falam Baptist Pastor, Cer Thlia, one of the graduates of our "Diakonia" program. Diakonia = a biblical Greek word meaning service, is a program which tries to build bridges between the needs, cries, and God-given gifts of all creation -- especially the incredibly beautiful, diverse, god-like creatures known as human beings... and the ministries of Christ's Church. Diakonia is the "gospel in action".

Two cuties - the design on their faces is "thanaka",
 a traditional natural cosmetic made from tree bark.

Tatooed Uncle - I just had to ask if I could photograph him,
so glad he said yes.

Mother and Child - the area was full of garbage
and standing water...  I could only marvel at this mother and baby,
clean and pristine, faces beautifully decorated.

Four Cuties - created in God's image

 It was a fantastic opportunity to see Pastor Cer Thlia and other Myanmar friends in action with Jesus, four different denominational backgrounds (Baptist, Presbyterian, Assembly of God, Lutheran) in six different children's centers, where children and their families receive tutoring and skill-building and just plain old FUN, in some cases working in areas where there is (otherwise) no schooling at all.

They let me do some of my favorite children's songs as part
of the English enrichment. Where
are your teeth???

I hope I'll see these children again. 

Cer Thlia's friend and co-worker is the "Pied Piper" in this remote and underprivileged
part of Yangon... barely accessible by motorbike in the dry season, I'm not sure how anyone gets around in the rainy season.

Lutheran Church in Myanmar "Hope Center" -- these Lutherans
are a relatively new "denomination"  in Myanmar, but eager
to find ways to put the Gospel into action.

See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God's children—and that is what we are!     -- I John 3:1 (International Standard Version)

Lutheran Women's Biblical Life Conference in Myanmar

Catching Up on 2014... 

2014 LUTHERAN WOMEN’S BIBLICAL LIFE CONFERENCE IN MYANMAR

Oh Sing to the Lord, Oh sing God a new song!

For God is the Lord, and God has done wonders!

And sing we did! And wonders we have seen! Gathered by the Word, thirty-five women from all four of the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Myanmar took part in the Lutheran Women’s Biblical Life Conference  mid -November 2014. Hosted on the grounds of the historic Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Yangon, the event was co-sponsored by the Mekong Mission Forum (MMF).

Dr. Margaret Hunt from the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) challenged us to consider how God speaks to us today through women in the Bible. These were not easy stories:

Tamar, Lot’s daughters, the widowed Ruth, the five Zelophehad sisters. For each Biblical passage we asked: Who? What? Where? When? And then the big questions: Why is this story in the Bible? What does God want us to learn from this story?

Engaging with multi-media slides, works of art, song, small group discussion, and even a “Bible Bingo” game, participants  explored these fascinating, but in some cases little known stories of Holy Scripture. In addition, participants were invited to note how various women of the Bible offer clear examples of the Lutheran understanding of the priesthood of all believers, call and vocation, servant leadership, as well as the way in which God’s people are saints and sinners.

The women each crafted hand-sewn decorations for their “servant stoles” as a symbol of this priesthood we all share as sisters in Christ.

 I have to laugh at the way I look in this last photo (front & center!)  - like an exhausted old missionary lady!!! And I was exhausted, dealing with Yangon heat, traffic, logistics, language translation, financial reimbursements. I've since found out I was already suffering from a hyper-thyroid which affected my energy levels.  But it was a highlight of 2014, to be able to sit at the feet of my Myanmar and Australian (co-presenter) sisters and listen to their insights and encouragement to speak the TRUTH about what's happening in their communities, and plan for ACTIONS of GRACE, in Jesus' name. Wow!

 ^"The daughters of Zelophehad are right in what they are saying; 

you shall indeed let them possess an inheritance among their father’s brothers and pass the inheritance of their father on to them."   

-- GOD, quoted in Numbers 27:7

God's amazing world in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar

A little bit about our Mekong Mission Forum teaching trip to Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar:

Of all the Mekong countries, Myanmar (or Burma) has the highest number of Christians. Much of this is due to the perseverance of a husband and wife American Baptist mission couple, Ann and Adoniram Judson, who established a Christian Mission in Myanmar 200 years ago! The Myanmar Baptist Convention is expecting over 20,000 visitors for the celebrations in Yangon next month. Of course, those old-time  American missionaries just got the ball rolling. Since then there have been generations of faithful indigenous ministers, pastors, Christian parents and grandparents, and yes, Myanma/Burmese/ Kachin missionaries who have attempted to live lives of service, witness and love in extremely difficult conditions, in response to the Gospel.

Wayne and I had the great adventure of visiting the Kachin Theological College, in Kachin State, Myanmar. 

Myitkyina airport

We had the opportunity to teach alongside a fantastically diverse group including Kachin Baptists, Independents, Anglicans, one Presbyterian (Dr. Lal Tin Hre from the ATEM - Association of Theological Education in Myanmar who was the chief organizer of everything), two Lutherans (us!) and even one Roman Catholic priest! We Americans talk about ecumenism, but these folks are living it. When times are hard, when you are a minority ethnic group AND belong to a minority religion, when you realize the Gospel calls us to be counter-cultural, then you unite for continuing education events. Beautiful!

Along with a trip to the site of the Myitsone Dam Project (halted last year due to the outcry among environmentalists and the Kachin people who fear for their lives if the dam should break) and taking a boat ride in the cold and fast moving river

we also had the opportunity to visit the beautiful "Prayer Mountain, overlooking the exotic Kachin State landscape. Many people come up to pray for this land and its people who have been embroiled in war for years with the Burmese military (whose fighter jets we saw flying overhead, in what seemed a menacing show of power over the Kachin people).

Prayer Mountain

We were able to briefly visit an IDP camp (Internally Displaced Persons) filled with children. The children at the camp just shouted with joy as (together with the Kachin Baptist Church members) we shared the Gospel with them through a simple children's song. I imagine the sound of the angels are no sweeter to God! 

We also heard about a nearby camp where there are three toilets for 500 people, (a young Swedish guy working for UNICEF told us this... and thankfully it appears that together with the local people UNICEF is working to help this nearly unbelievable situation). Don't take your toilets for granted, people!

We then heard from one of the  Kachin ladies about her mission trip of encouragement and medical help in yet another camp, nearer to the Chinese border,  where people have to learn how to function without arms and legs, which have been amputated because of landmine casualties and lack of medical facilities. 

As we begin to head into the Advent/Christmas season, (decorations are up all over Hong Kong when we arrived back last night) I am newly aware, again, of the real Gospel of Advent/Christmas -- that into this hurting and dangerous world, God sent his son, fully human, a vulnerable baby, born to a poor family, in a land occupied by the Romans, where babies could be slaughtered upon the whims of a ruler.

What love is this that God gives to us, and which we are called to share in practical ways? 

Theologian, lecturer, at KTC (Kachin Theological College) wife, mother, daughter of God: Saw Nam.

Doing theology under the young mango tree

leaving Bangkok

I always feel how amazing life is when I take this flight -- Hong Kong to Bangkok to Yangon.

The lights leaving Bangkok are much brighter than the lights upon arrival in Yangon, but the Yangon airport is looking much, much spiffier than when I first started flying there just two years ago.


Most of today was spent greeting Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) Hong Kong alumni now teaching at Karen Baptist Theological Seminary:

Theology under the young mango tree

Theology in the clothing  shop

Karen culture textiles

Karen culture handwoven clothes

Heading out for lunch

The daughter of Dr. Christopher... who waited three long years for her Daddy
to return from his Hong Kong studies.

It's an incredible gift to be here again and to see the thriving LTS alumni. Tomorrow we fly to Kachin State... a place we've never been to before.  We are flying on either Asian Wings Airways (the name on the envelope with our tickets)... or Air KBZ (the crossed out name on the ticket)  or Air Bagan... the name handwritten on the confirmation printout.

Wayne will be teaching a seminar on healthy families and I'll be his healthy assistant :) Actually, I'm going to be doing a unit on church-based sex education, based on the Master's degree thesis from another Myanmar LTS alumnus. Please please say a prayer for us! May we listen, and learn, and perhaps be of some use in our teaching.

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, 

as good stewards of God's varied grace:" 

[1 Peter 4:10]