With
the Chin refugee community in Springfield, Missouri, now counting up to
150 members, the University Height Church opened a bigger chapel to
host them, building an even stronger bridge between the two Christian
communities.
Below is an article published by Word and Way:
Members of University Heights Church
here have opened their doors to a refugee congregation from Burma
(Myanmar) — Chin Community Church.
Since April 27 [2014], the group
worships each Sunday afternoon in the University Heights chapel. On May 4
[2014], UHBC members welcomed the Chin during the congregation’s annual
Missions Recognition Service. Afterward, they honored the group with a
reception sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union.
American Baptist missionaries, following
in the footsteps of Adoniram and Ann Judson, went to the Chin homeland
in Northwest Burma more than 100 years ago. They saw God move, and now
some 80 percent of the Chin people are Christian.
Being Christian and an ethnic minority
have been very difficult in Buddhist Burma, especially since the
military took power in 1962. Policies of oppression and persecution led
to violence and war in this nation of 1.5 million, causing thousands to
flee for their lives. The situation became so bad that the American
government granted refugee status to allow the Chin to come to the U.S.
Ngun Iap, pastor of Chin Community
Church, came as a refugee, graduated from an American seminary, and then
came to Springfield for a business opportunity to sell sushi. Seeing
the need, he organized a church to minister to incoming Chin refugees.
The group grew to more than 150 and
needed a larger and better place to meet than the gym in another church.
“We who are your children are very grateful for University Heights
Church letting us use your beautiful chapel,” Ngun Iap said on May 4
[2014].
“You are not our children, but now our
brothers and sisters in Christ,” University Heights Pastor Danny
Chisholm responded. For the reception, WMU Director Lois McCullars
brought a large cake with the words “Warm Welcome to Chin Church” in the
Chin language written on it. She reminded everyone that UHBC has been a
missions-supporting church since its beginning in 1945 and has
especially focused on Burma.
The church supported the Hackett family
for many years and employed Bill Hackett on its staff after his
retirement as an ABC missionary.
Church trustees, chaired by Patti Penny,
are working to renovate the chapel basement so that the Chin may use it
for children’s ministry and social activities.
This new cooperation between a
missions-minded American church and a congregation of refugees promises
to be a blessing to both. It adds new meaning to the Bible’s words,
“Cast your bread upon the waters and you will find it after many days”
(Ecclesiastes 11:1).
- See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/17164#sthash.rRBCuJso.dpuf