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| Wa Church |
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| Like the Lahu folks, Wa Christians Are Known For Their Dancing |
Had it not for the newly opened airport in May 2001, a trip to the Wa
ethnic groups will be just like the one to Nujiang, long and dusty. The old road from Kunming to Lincang will take about at
least 22 hours along the mountains. Flying from Kunming to Lincang takes an hour. Our destination is Cangyuan. The distance
from Lincang to Cangyuan by public transport takes about 7 hours. But half the time I am worried if the rocks of the side
of the hills are going to fall. Because if it falls it could cause grave injuries and it will cause a jam of at least 3 hours.
On the lighter side of things, the scenery was beautiful, the special Wa chicken porridge was super though the look of it
worries me. But the greatest joy of it was to be able to meet the Christians and see the churches built.
Last
year, some of you responded to the appeal to help with the church building of
RongKe Wa Church. It is about 10 Km from Shuang Jiang which is midway between Lincang and Cangyuan. Hence we are able to witness
the completion of the church building. This church was initially built with mud bricks and thatched roof in 1994. But because
of lack of fund, they were not able to complete the building. The building deteriorated over the years with rain and wind
and cannot be used. The believers were not able to use the church. Indeed we wish to thank you and Praise God that it is now
being built! The believers can now worship freely and with no fear. This year I went to see the completed building and to
further the opportunity of reaching more of the unreached Wa folks. Of the population of 352,000 Wa folks in Yunnan, 28,500
are known to be converted, worshipping in about 150 churches.
| Rebuilt Wa Church In Rongke, Shuang Jiang |
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In Burma some of the Wa people are known to be lured into or forced to grow, produce and traffic opium and currently
other abusive drugs across the borders, a social bane for the Burmese and China governments. It is a very tight circle. Many
want to get in for the lucrative money but it is known that once you are in, you have practically sign over your life, because
there is no getting out. Yet many still want to get in because it is better than staying out, and live in poverty or starved
to death. Many went into the work because of the money and some because of the power they need to get more money. This left
the Wa church weak and lacked the empowerment to be organized. How can
the disorganized church withstand the organized evil of the society? Though on the Chinese side of the border, the government
have greatly control the trafficking, we are very burden for the many unreached and would like to appeal to you to pray, empower
and help the existing Wa church so that they can "snatch their people and save them from the borders of hell" Jude 1:23.
| At The Border Town Between Burma And Yunnan |
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| 10 km To Burma |
Lincang
prefecture has 8 counties, amongst them Cangyuan and Lancang have greater numbers of Wa folks than the rest. But between Cangyuan
and Lancang counties, Lancang has more Wa people whereas Cangyuan has more Wa Christians! Cangyuan County has about 9,000
Christians. Of the 9,000, 6,700 are Wa Christians, 1,200 are Lahu Christians and the rest are Yi, Lisu and Hans. In Lincang
prefecture there are a total 60,000 Christians all ethnic groups inclusive. As my focus is to empower ethnic missionaries,
Lincang would be a more suitable place to work through. Lincang city has one church with an elderly lady
pastor leading the congregation. This year in October, one graduate from Sichuan Bible College was sent to help. He is from
Lu Quan Prefecture, northeastern Yunnan, and is from the Yi minority group. Presently he has to leave his wife and family
in Lu Quan to come here to shepherd the flock until the church is able to provide financial support for his family. His coming
has brought certain amount of hope to the Christians as all this while, churches in Lincang do not even have a pastor who
is Bible college trained. I affirm him of his willingness to come and help with the work here. His heart is peaceable and
his faith is growing.
The leaders has also approved a provisional plan to build a Bible Training Center in Cangyuan, specifically in a village
in Cangyuan where there are 8 nearby churches. Indeed this is an opening of the Lord and the most strategic plan of the Church.
So partner with what God
is doing for these unreached Wa folks. Support the plan to train ethnic missionaries to reach the unreached Wa at this border
region. For the year 2002, they need funds to organize blocks of training seminars to develop the pastors, evangelists
and leaders. So if you are able to sacrifice a bit more, please do it so that the Training Center can be built sooner!
With
the present Chinese government administration in place, it is not possible or even practical for any foreign western missionary
to come and try to do any underground ministry here.
To
get the work done, the Church leaders here need to teach and train local ethnic missionaries, like this brother from the Yi
tribe who had come from north-eastern Yunnan to minister to the Wa and Lahu folks here. We need you to believe in these ethnic
missionaries, that more be trained to do the work of preaching, teaching and giving of pastoral care. The local Chinese Christians
discourages western mission aid like smuggling foreign materials; foreign cassette-messages translated into Chinese and teaching
how to worship like the foreigners. They greatly appreciate our prayers and help.
| Lincang Prefecture Church |
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| Ethnic Wa Folks In Their Native Attire |
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