Priest From Burma Says Church "Active"
Episcopal News Service. January 25, 1979 [79017]
Kingston, Jamaica -- For the first time in 16 years the Government of Burma has permitted Christian leaders to travel abroad. Four churchpersons from Burma were "special guests" of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches which met here recently. One of them is an Anglican priest.
The Rev. Andrew Mya Han, General Secretary of the Church in the Province of Burma, said that the Anglican Church in Burma is "still alive and active" in spite of many difficulties.
He said that the province is composed of three dioceses and one missionary district with a total membership of about 40,000 people. In Rangoon, the capital City, there is a seminary with 12 students -- four of them women who "are not preparing themselves for the ordained ministry.'" He added that he feels that the Church in Burma is not ready to ordain women. The seminary has three full-time professors.
The missionary work in Burma has been done since the middle of last century by the British United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
In 1962 all foreign missionaries were requested to leave the country. In 1970 the Anglican Church in Burma became an autonomous church within the Anglican Communion. The 47-year-old priest said that there is no stigma in being a Christian today in Burma. The Anglican Church is the third largest Christian group after the Baptists and the Roman Catholics. Burma is a Buddhist country and 11% of the population is animist.
Father Mya Han added that from the beginning the Christians in Burma have relied on local resources for mission. In addition to congregational development, the churches have been involved in providing medical care, education, and social services by themselves rather than depending on external resources.
Father Mya Han is married to a nurse involved in ethnic education. The couple has a five-year-old son.
The Burman clergyman's father was an Anglican priest in the diocese of Mandanay for many years.
This is the first time that Father Mya Han traveled outside his country. He termed his visit to Jamaica as "wonderful." He and the other three clergy were made most welcome by the international community that met here at the beginning of January.