Please pray 

Dear brothers and sisters,

For those of you who I have yet to have the opportunity to meet, my name is Steven Giugovaz and I am the new Church Engagement Minister with MCA. In this position, one of my goals is to look to find ways to help churches connect with one another so that we can better experience the unity that we are called to. In Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth, he reminds his readers that the church, though made up of many members, is one body, and as such, we are called to work together, suffer together and rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:12-27). It is in that Spirit that I write to you today, asking if we may find a way to come together to pray for the people of Myanmar and our brothers and sisters at Calgary Chin Christian Church who are, as their pastor, Rev. Leng Thang, put it “in the midst of dark times.”

For those of you who are not aware, Chin State in Myanmar has seen a heavily escalated level of violence in recent weeks. It has gotten so bad that cities are being deserted and homes abandoned as people seek safety. 

When I was made aware of what was happening in Myanmar, I reached out to Rev. Leng Thang at Calgary Chin Christian Church to ask how he and his congregation have been affected, and how we, as his brothers and sisters in Christ, might, as one body, pray for him, his country, his people and his congregation.

He shared with me that it has been a very difficult time for him, his family and his congregation, as news of violence in their home country continue to pour in at an overwhelming rate. He has been working extra hard to comfort the people under his care. Though they are far away physically from the violence in Myanmar, they are not immune to its effects, as they all have lots of family and friends there. Needless to say, they have shed many tears together over these past few weeks. 

When I asked Rev. Leng how we might pray for them, he listed these things:

1. Pray for the approx. 15,000 people who have fled Chin State, that they may find food and shelter.
2. Pray for their congregation, that they may find peace and comfort in this difficult time, as many of them have family and friends who are stuck in these dangerous areas and who are high risk to be targeted due to their positions as government workers.       
3. Pray that in this midst of the hardships, that they may find ways in which they can grow in their faith and learn to worship God better.

Lastly, I asked if him if I might share with you all the difficulties that he and his family have been facing over the last few weeks, so that we may pray for them, too.

In the last three weeks, his wife got word that her brother was one of the casualties of the violence of Myanmar, her mother passed away and her brother-in-law passed, too. Also, Rev. Leng’s father was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and he is, in Burma, where Rev. Leng tells me, there are no hospitals or doctors. So, in the midst of all this, he waits to hear the news of his fathers passing.

To make matters even more difficult, their son, who is in grade 12, was recently the victim of a shooting in Calgary. He was shot 3x, but thanks be to God, he is going to be ok. He asked that people don’t reach out at this time, as they are very busy trying to handle all this, but he would love to know that his brothers and sisters are praying for him and his family as they seek to continue to serve God through all this.

It is my hope, that at your next Sunday service, you and your congregations would offer up a word of prayer on behalf of our fellow brothers and sisters of the Chin Church and the people of Myanmar, so that we as one body, can remind them that they are not alone in this and “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Cor. 12:26).

Blessings,

Steven Giugovaz