Myanmar and Ukraine - new photographs of the initiatives

 

Myanmar-- New furniture and science equipment

 Myanmar-- New furniture and science equipment for recently built school – enrolment 200 pupils – now sister school to the already successful primary school address  Elpis School Yangon, Myanmar.

Kherson Ukraine

 Basic necessities and essential medical supplies delivered to Kherson, Ukraine.

from Timothy in Myanmar

Myanmar - It is important that we never allow the priority on the news to take our thoughts and prayers away from those we love and care for. Please see below an account of tragedy from our dear friend Michael – you must trust us that the attached photographs we received were too harrowing for publication on any medium.

My dear friends, I am writing with a heavy heart to inform you about a tragic incident that occurred on January 7 in Kanaan village, my wife Lily's hometown. During a worship service at the church, we established in 1988, a jet fighter bombed the village unexpectedly. This resulted in the loss of 11 adults and 4 children, with 31 people sustaining injuries, some severely. The attack occurred without any apparent reason, and all the villagers affected were Christians. Approximately 10 houses were destroyed, and the community is mourning the tragic loss and injuries. The situation is dire, and people are seeking refuge in the jungles for safety. The ongoing intensity of the war is alarming, and there is an urgent need to assist those affected by providing food, temporary shelter, medicines, and other necessities. The war is going on across the country very badly. The war is causing widespread devastation across the country, and I earnestly request you to ask your friends to pray for Myanmar during these challenging times. 

  Timothy

Kherson, Ukraine – Update January, 2024

 

Kherson, Ukraine – Update January, 2024
The shelling killed one policeman and injured two other police officers, as well as two civilians.
The attack on the southern Kherson region and its capital hit residential areas and a mall as well as striking the power grid. 
Around 70% of households in Kherson city were left without electricity during the winter cold, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Myanmar Update January 2024

Myanmar Update January 2024
The Arakan Army (AA), an armed ethnic group in Myanmar, said it seized control of a strategic trade town in the west this week, dealing a blow to the generals who led a coup in 2021, and adding to a list of recent army defeats in the country’s continuing civil war.
Paletwa in Chin State lies along the Kaladar river close to the borders of both India and Bangladesh, and is part of a multimillion-dollar sea port project that could soon link India to Myanmar.
 “There is not a single military council camp left in the entire Paletwa area,” the AA said in a statement.
Myanmar’s military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi nearly three years ago, triggering mass protests that turned into armed resistance after the army responded with brutal force.
The Three Brotherhood Coalition or the 3BHA, a collection of armed groups including the AA, launched a major offensive at the end of October, and has since overrun dozens of military outposts and taken control of several towns in the north near the border with China.
Can the alliance overturn military rule in Myanmar?
Operation 1027 has given renewed momentum to the armed campaign to restore democracy to Myanmar.
In one incident in November, soldiers raised white flags, surrendering the township of Kawlin, a district capital in central Myanmar, and allowing PDF forces to take over. It marked the army’s first defeat in a capital district, and also, the first success of resistance groups, which had been largely limited to border areas, in central Myanmar.
The military has responded with force against anti-coup forces, launching air raids indiscriminately, deploying ground troops, and inflicting heavy losses on some of the newly formed resistance cells. Schools, hospitals and displacement camps have not been spared, as it continues a long-held policy known as “four cuts” that aims starve resistance groups of food, funds, intelligence and recruits by going after their civilian support base

Myanmar military government pardons more than 9,000 prisoners

 Annual amnesty marking Independence Day takes place during crisis in the north that poses threat to military rulers.

 

Members of the ethnic minority armed group Ta'ang National Liberation Army stand guard in a temple area of a hill camp seized from the military in northern Myanmar's Shan State on December 13, 2023. [AFP]Myanmar’s military government has pardoned more than 9,000 prisoners, including 114 foreign nationals, to mark the country’s Independence Day.

Friends and families of prisoners gathered outside the high-security Insein Prison in the commercial capital Yangon as the releases were set to start on Thursday and expected to take place over several days. The identities of those slated for release were not yet known, and there was no indication that any political prisoners would be freed. Thursday’s announced amnesty, part of an annual release, comes as the government faces a crisis in the country’s north, where ethnic armed groups have captured military and border posts, threatening to block trade with China. Against this roiling backdrop, the Independence Day celebrations were devoid of the usual pomp and circumstance, and military chief Min Aung Hlaing was notably absent from the proceedings. In a statement, his administration said 9,652 prisoners would be freed.

“Myanmar’s military generals are up to their same old tricks, releasing large numbers of common criminals and a bunch of foreign prisoners during a major national holiday and trying to dress that up as ‘progress’ on human rights,” said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). The military came to power in a coup in February 2001 after ousting civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, brutally suppressing protests and cracking down on all forms of dissent.

Suu Kyi, 78, is currently in prison, sentenced to 33 years on an array of politically motivated charges from corruption to flouting COVID-19 restrictions. Her party was dissolved last year after failing to comply with tough new party registration laws. Since the power grab, military leaders have been accused of murdering dozens of prisoners and covering up their deaths as escape attempts. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, more than 25,730 people were arrested for opposing the coup, and almost 20,000 are still in detention. The AAPP reports that at least 4,277 civilians, including pro-democracy activists, have been killed by security forces. In 2022, the generals drew international condemnation after executing four pro-democracy leaders and activists in the country’s first use of the death penalty in decades.

 

Our Myanmar Project

 Our ongoing project in Myanmar is almost complete. Some paint and cosmetic work and this school building will be open for students in June.

Ukraine and Myramar

 Never should the evil in  Ukraine and Myanmar  cloak the beauty of the people and their country.

Myanmar weather

 

By Thomas Mackintosh

A powerful cyclone is hitting the coastlines of Bangladesh and Myanmar after intensifying into the equivalent of a category-five storm. Cyclone Mocha is bringing heavy rain and winds of up to 195kph (120mph), which could see dangerous flooding on land around the Bay of Bengal.Storm surges of up to four metres could swamp villages in low lying areas

There are fears it may hit the world's largest refugee camp, Cox's Bazar, where nearly one million people live.Forecasters warned Cyclone Mocha could be the most powerful storm seen in Bangladesh in nearly two decades.

Around 500,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas.Many shelters set up in schools and monasteries in Cox's Bazar are now reportedly full and overcrowded. Police in the area spent much of Saturday warning people to take cover and avoid the beach area. The government also issued an official landslide warning linked to a the predicted very rainfall forecast for Sunday,

The Bangladeshi meteorological department office said the maximum sustained wind speed within around 75km (45 miles) of the centre of the cyclone was around 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour with gusts and squalls of 215 kilometres per hour.A telecom tower in the city of Sittwe, in Myanmar, was knocked down by the high winds as the cyclone approached. Videos shared on social media also showed roofs being blown off houses and billboards flying off buildings in Yangon amid teeming rain. In Bangladesh too, gale force winds started to blow, accompanied by heavy rains. Dr MM Malik, a meteorologist at the government storm warning centre in Dhaka, told the BBC that the cyclone has not yet hit the coastline and is expected to do so at 15:00 (09:00 GMT). He said its diameter is 520km, which means it will take some time to cross. Particular concerns have been expressed for the many Rohingya refugees living in makeshift homes in the the camps of Cox's Bazaar and people on the western coast of Myanmar.

"For a cyclone to hit an area where there is already such deep humanitarian need is a nightmare scenario, impacting hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people whose coping capacity has been severely eroded by successive crises," UN Humanitarian Coordinator A.I. Ramanathan Balakrishnan said.

Latest from Kherson, Ukraine

 

Russian occupation administrations leaving settlements of Kherson region - General Staff

The Russian occupation authorities, together with their families, documentation and office equipment, are leaving the settlements of the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson region: Skadovsk, Mykhaylivka, Petrivka, Shevchenko, Shyroke, Ulyanivka and Chervone, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.

"In the town of Skadovsk, the curtailment of the activities of the district and town administrations has been noted. So, on the night of May 6-7, the occupiers loaded documentation, office equipment and other property of state institutions into motor transport, and on the morning of May 7, together with their families, a significant part of the Russian occupation administration left the town," the General Staff said in a Facebook message on Monday.

According to the General Staff, currently a similar situation is observed in such settlements of the region as Mykhaylivka, Petrivka, Shevchenko, Shyroke, Ulyanivka and Chervone.

"Taking into account the many kilometers of traffic jams that have recently formed at the entrance to Crimea and in the area of the Kerch Bridge, the invaders plan to carry out the export of documentation and looted property from state institutions of the temporarily seized Kherson region by sea, using a dry cargo ship, through the port of Berdyansk," the message says.

 

 

Myanmar Ministry Report

 MINISTRY UPDATE FOR JANUARY - MARCH 2023

Dear Friends and Partners for Our Ministry,

Present Situation of our Country:

Civil war has been going on for almost two years, and it is going on severely across the country. A number of civilians have been arrested and killed, some of them were burned alive unto dead. The military coup uses helicopters and jet fighters to bomb civilians and the people's defense force. Many innocent people, children, elderly people, women have been killed. More than 82000 civilians’ houses were burned down and robbed. This situation is like a daily event. Many people fled to jungles, some fled to India and Thailand. Many died on the way by bullets or disease or starvation or accident. 18 church buildings were burned, and 8 pastors have been killed by the military coup, and some are tortured and put to jail without any reason. Prices have gone up, many companies have been closed, many are jobless. Due to the civil war many people are not able to work in the field and farm. Many people crossed the border and went to India and Thailand, but they were arrested by Thai police and Indian police. There are many pitiful people in the jungles and other places without food. This kind of situation had never happened in Myanmar history.

Having Bible Conferences and Crusades under bullets and bomb explosions:In the midst of a raging war, we are attempting to find opportunity to do preaching and teaching the gospel.

 Salvation Campaign in the forest: Because of a severe war, 11 villages’ people left and fled to the jungle, they have been in there for two years. They eat whatever they can find, we sent food and other items seven time, but what we sent was just a little. Some people died of malaria, diarrhea and lack of nourishment. Seven missionaries are with those people and conduct salvation campaigns now and then. Recently, they had five days of salvation crusade, and 45 people professed that they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour and Lord.

Christian workers’ Conference: These groups could not have Christian workers training since 1918 due to COVID- 19 and War. They could not meet each other, and they were longing for a training or a conference. We chose a village for a three days conference. I also flew to one airport and from there, I was taken by motorbike through  a  jungle  road, avoiding a military coup.

The 64 Christian workers: pastors, evangelists, missionaries, Sunday school teachers, children evangelists also tried to arrive at that village through different angles. When we met there, we were overjoyed. I preached 8 hours a day for three days. I did a new church building opening ceremony too joyfully. After three days, each one of us tried to get to our destiny in our own ways. I emphasized the Spirit Filled life for personal life and ministry. I taught the book of Acts. During the conference, we did hear the sound of gun-shooting and bomb explosions which were just 16 miles away from us. 

Prayer Items and needs: Funds are needed for refugees who are in the forest and jungles. Their main need is food, medicines and temporary huts.

Bible Funds are needed for Falam Chin Bible printing. The printer said that $ 11.00 can print one Bible including shipping. We want to print 5000 copies as soon as possible. So far, we have no Bible funds yet. Church building funds are also needed. By the power of the Word of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord planted churches through us here in the country. However, when it comes to the church building, our resources are limited, and we do need financial help. We now have two churches which need building for meeting. We have people, but we do not have a meeting place.

Together we can accomplish much.

Ukraine - after a long journey delivery of necessitous supplies

 After a long and hazardous journey delivery of necessitous supplies to  Kherson, Ukraine