Current
Ministry
Update
February 2014
Report 1
I am writing this ministry update while I am flying somewhere between Los Angeles and Tokyo. I am on my way to visit the Bryce Homes in Myanmar. After we land I will have a few hours to stretch and walk around before connecting with another flight to Bangkok and then onwards tomorrow to Yangon.
It is hard for me to believe that eight years have gone by since my first investigative trip to Myanmar. I am looking forward to meeting our leaders, Pastor Mang, Habakkuk and Elisha who give their time and dedicated leadership to the Bryce Homes Program.
On my first trip to Myanmar in January 2006, I had no idea how God would direct our ministry over these past eight years. Immediately we saw a tremendous need in the country for Understand The Times to assist locals to care for poor and orphaned children. This would be a program we could operate in memory of our son Bryce who died in a car accident in August of 2001. Initially beginning with one Bryce Home and 20 children the program soon expanded to two Homes, then three, then four and now to a total of six. All in all, there are now about 80 children who are cared for by the program.
Some of the first children are now graduating from school and have reached a point where they will either continue with secondary education or go back to their villages to be messengers of the gospel. The vision that God gave us continues to unfold. I am looking forward to see what the Lord has in mind for us this trip.
I will be visiting five of the six homes while in the Yangon area and teaching on the topic of Biblical Creation at the Discipleship School that is under the leadership of Elisha and Habakkuk. The first day that I am in Yangon I will rest up before my busy schedule starts the following day. I will do my best to post daily reports so you can keep track of our progress.
Our total budget to operate our Bryce Homes Program in Myanmar has been met each year for eight years through the generous support of individuals from around the world. While it is not possible for each one of our partners to experience the fruit of the ministry, that we experience on our annual visits to Myanmar, we hope that the reports we post on our web site will give you a glimpse of how your funds are being used to bless the lives of many hopeless children.
Check out our Myanmar reports that we will post over the next several days.
Sincerely,
Roger Oakland
Understand The Times
Report 2
I finally arrived at the Yangon airport after 19 hours of actual flying with two layovers totaling about 7 more hours. With a few hours of sleep I was surprised how well I seemed to be feeling. Unlike last year when I arrived along with a flu bug from America, I was ready to go as soon as my feet hit the ground. My connection from Bangkok to Yangon was with Thai Air. The plane was full of tourists from Europe. This was my first indication of obvious changes that the country of Myanmar is undergoing.
As soon as I got off the plane I headed down the escalator towards immigration. I could see Mang, Elisha and Habakkuk there to greet me. It did not take long to get through customs and pick up my suitcase. Unlike when I first traveled to Myanmar, eight years ago, there were no questions asked. The airport is now very modern and many different airlines are bringing passengers from all over the world.
As soon as I made my way outdoors my friends were there to grab my suitcase and carry on bag. A car was waiting for us and we headed towards my hotel which is located downtown. In the past it took only 20 minutes or so to make the trip. Not today. There are so many cars on the streets that travel was nearly impossible. Many are new and imported from Japan and America. About one hour later we arrived at my hotel. The time in the car allowed us to discuss the itinerary while I am here and get an update on the Bryce Homes Program in Myanmar.
My room was not ready, when we arrived, so we had more time to chat and pray about the schedule for the coming week. Suddenly jet lag caught up with me. While the conversation was going on I was lost in another world. It was time to go to bed.
Tomorrow will be the first day of my busy schedule. In the morning I will be teaching and then later in the afternoon visiting Bryce Home Three and Bryce Home Six.
Report 3
First let me set the record straight. I am in Yangon and not Manila. I have not been mugged and did not have my wallet and passport stolen. I am not in need of funds sent to me in order to be released from my hotel. If you wonder why I am writing this it is because my AOL personal e-mail account was accessed and everyone on my AOL personal mailing list received a fraudulent plea to send funds to help me out immediately. I hope no one fell for this scam. It is the same plea I have personally received from others who have had the misfortune of having their e-mail account hacked.
Everything is going well here. Yesterday we had two lengthy classes at our UTT School of Discipleship. The meetings were well attended by students, missionaries and our Bryce Homes children from Bryce Home Three who are soon to graduate from High School. The topics laid the foundation for the next two days dealing with the topic of Creation versus Evolution. In Myanmar, where the population is over 95% Buddhist and they are primarily evolutionist, this topic is of vital importance. My translator was excellent and we were able to move quickly and cover a lot of ground.
At noon we stopped for a break and all the attendees were given a meal consisting of rice with chicken hash soup and spice. After the meal was over Elisha showed me the new building that has been constructed on the Shwelinpan Church property that will be the center for computer education and a photocopying business.
A few years ago we had purchased a rice field a long distance away from Yangon that we thought would be a good source to supply work, income and food for our program. As it was not working out Tom Worthington and I decided to sell the property and provide some capital for our four Bryce Homes in Yangon. Elisha developed a computer education center and a photocopier servicing business which is very timely. One of the boys, that Elisha and his wife Christina have nurtured for the past six years, has the ability to set up and run this business. Elisha and friends constructed the building out of bricks and plaster and the business is now ready to go.
Elisha also showed me the pile of bricks that had been manufactured by the School of Discipleship students. When I saw how this was done and how useful these bricks are, for various construction projects, I was very excited and impressed. This is a way for them to become more self-sufficient. This is something we have been praying about for years. This may be a small industry that we can establish in Kenya for our Bryce Homes. We will pray and ask the Lord to show us how to proceed. While constructing latrines, recently in Kenya, we discovered we had a shortage of bricks. This is something that the older orphaned children will be able to do that would give them some work as well as a sense of worth knowing that they are doing something meaningful.
During the remainder of the noon break Elisha, Habakkuk and I discussed the future of the Bryce Homes Program in Myanmar. We are looking at the possibility of adding several more homes with parents who are graduates or teachers from the Discipleship School. With some additional support we can add these poor families, with their children, to the Bryce Homes Program and they will be able to add one or two orphaned children. All of the Homes, overseen by Elisha and Habakkuk, will continue to be built up in the faith with the gospel of Jesus Christ and His fellowship. They will continue to reach out to their surrounding communities which are mainly Buddhist .
It gives me great joy to be able to share this information with you. Tomorrow I will report on my visit to Bryce Home Three which has been entirely sponsored by Sowing Circle Ministry since its inception five years ago.
Report 4
Following my morning session at the Creation Seminar at the Discipleship School we spent most of the afternoon visiting Bryce Home three. The majority of the children, that we are providing care for, are from Buddhist families. Not all of them have parents. Several are orphans.
I have followed the growth and development of Bryce Home three for six years.
The fruit that has been born is truly amazing. At first the children had no
concept of Christianity and their behavior was a problem as they did not
understand discipline. Now all of them are attending school and doing extremely
well. Mauna, age 19, has completed the second year of medical college and last
semester received five distinctions in his classes. Daniel, also age 19, has
become a self-learned computer expert and has his own vision to set up a
business where he can train others. When we started the Bryce Homes Program very
few people in Myanmar had access to computer technology. Now that changes have
occurred Myanmar is rapidly moving ahead in the technology age.
