Gloria and I are together here in Taungoo, Myanmar (Burma) with 33 Church of God brethren and children to keep Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. We have been able to come together from different parts of Myanmar. One graduate of Legacy Institute in Chiang Mai came all the way from the China border bringing two friends to see us. She had to cross into China via mountain trails and come around into Kachinland by a circuitous route to avoid the fighting between the Burma army and the Kachin Independence Army.
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| Group photo of those gathered at Taungoo, Burma |
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| Children gather with mothers and grandmothers soon after the “Blessing of the Children Ceremony.” |
She could not take the train from the China border because trains were being fired upon. It took her three days to reach us. So far, we have been able to keep the Feast in peace and safety, but not without trials. The evening of the 1st Holy Day (the evening we call the Night to Be Much Observed) a heavy storm blew up and saturated the facility where we are staying and the surrounding rice fields with heavy rain and fierce winds. The day after the Holy day, several members returned to their homes located about 10 miles away to find four of their roofs had blown off and one member’s house was tilted onto its side. Gloria gave Tu Mar, our Burma deacon’s wife, funds to buy roofing and building material, and today (Monday), several members left the festival site to begin making repairs. Please pray that the repairs will last as we are now entering the monsoon season in Myanmar.
Elections are being held now in Myanmar and it looks as if Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Gyi’s political party has gained a significant number of seats in the new parliament. The people of Myanmar are hopeful that this will bring about improvements in living conditions in the country. Inflation is rampant and the local currency is not worth much.
We will be returning to Yangon (Rangoon) right after the Last Holy Day and then fly back to Chiang Mai. I am hopeful we will miss most of the Water Festival in Burma where riotous celebration, drunkenness, and throwing dirty water all over everyone is rampant. Gloria and I look forward to getting back to Thailand and seeing our grandchildren once again.
Leon Sexton
View on Blogger: http://www.legacyinstituteorg.blogspot.com/2012/04/update-from-taungoo-myanmar.html
