June 6th 2024. A Christian worker setting out into uncharted territories in response to God’s calling is likely to find him/herself in unexpected situations. Following my calling, with Ingria, to pursue a Healing Ministry, then answering a “Macedonian Call” to serve two congregations meeting at John Bunyan Baptist Church in Cowley, Oxford, I was recently asked by Pastors Man and Gin to train their Burmese missionaries in Healing Ministry. Training missionaries in anything was not something I would have envisioned to be offered, having spent just one term at Bible College in “Missionary Studies” back in the mid-1960s.
But, here I am, having conducted three sessions with a group of 35 – 40 Burmese missionaries within Myanmar via Zoom. And, not knowing the language, I have to be translated by either of Pastors Man and Gin. I remember watching films of evangelist Billy Graham preaching in foreign countries while a local translator interpersed each sentence with his own interpretation. My translator can take up to three times as long my sentence takes – no doubt because an interpretation has to fill in with nuances where an English sentence makes little sense. What started as a 90 minutes session (including a worship time) has stretched to 2.5 hours when missionaries want to ask questions – again including a translation each way.
With Pastors Man and Gin now starting a month in USA, they have decided to postpone the remainder of my lectures (about three or four sessions) for a month. While it is unfamiliar – and a little tiring – I find it an immense privilege to be serving these dedicated and brave women and men, representing a minority religion in a land with a history of political unrest and currently experiencing a civil war. I try to answer their translated questions, but feel unqualified to deal with issues that are related to their country and its culture.
One thing is for certain – my retirement offers me no chance to stagnate!
Healing in Jesus' Name 