PMU Missionary Church Planter Rev. Khawl Ro Kima has just returned from a mercy mission to the Irrawady District of Myanmar, in the Laputta region. This area is at the point of the delta, and took the force of Cyclone Nargis point blank. Please read his report. For additional information regarding the cyclone's impact on the country, you may read and see more at http://myatthura.blogspot.com/, which is a local man's perspective on the situation in Yangon and the Irrawady. Pray for our brethren there, and for the people in general. Rev. Kima's regular support is currently at about 54% of where it needs to be, and we would ask for your prayers that more regular supporters would step forward to keep this important mission going in good order!

Many of our praying and supporting friends have asked to see more pictures and updates on the Kimas than we are able to do in the monthly Missions Banner. So we have prepared this photo journal to chronicle some of the highlights of 2007 and give some ideas on the year to come. Thanks for your prayers and interest in the Kimas' ministry!

For the past 8 months Rev. David Quisbert and the La Paz Bible Presbyterian Church (La Paz, Bolivia) has been building a new sanctuary to replace the old one crushed by heavy snows several years ago. With assistance from PMU and churches of the Great Lakes Presbytery, the congregation has sacrificed and labored to ready the new sanctuary for its official dedication on December 2. Dr. Pine, Dr. Kevin Backus (Grand Island, NY), Rev. Tim Miessler (Cincinnati, OH), and Elder Philip Resnick (Cincinnati, OH) traveled to La Paz to participate in the celebration. The attached photo journal of the construction progress will bless your heart as you view it! Please pray for the congregation as they continue on in their building project all the way to completion, as the Lord wills.

If you have been watching the news in recent weeks, the name "Myanmar" has become familiar to you. The Southeast Asian country is in great turmoil due to the totalitarian military junta in power there. To date, the military has killed or imprisoned many, and made great efforts to silence voices within from sending information to the wider world. What information has leaked out is not good. Human rights abuses have been prevalent ever since the junta refused to acknowledge democratic elections of ten years ago that would have removed them from power. Now, curfews, meeting restrictions, price increases, the use of force to quell demonstrations are the substance of the news on the subject. They massacred thousands of Buddhist monks in the uprising ten years ago: the situation is ominously similar today.

In the midst of this turmoil sits a small minority of Christians. Among them is our own minister, Rev. Kima, his wife and family, and the church which the Lord has allowed him to gather. The chaos is the most severe in Yangon, apparently, but is also widespread throughout the country. Restrictions have now been placed upon believers trying to meet in Inle Lake by the local authorities, and the fledgling church can no longer meet out on the lake in Kay Lar village. [Personal visits by our evangelist in the area in homes are still able to take place, and the church has been meeting on boats out in the floating farms.] Communications have been cut off nearly entirely thus far as the government tries to shut down the Internet and all outgoing media. Many have asked about the status of the Kimas and the churches they are trying to establish, and we can confidently say that they are in God's hands. They are all fine, though burdened with the doubling of the prices of all commodoties that are affected by the price of fuel, which the junta doubled arbitrarily to raise funds for their military action against the freedom movement. We have just received word that the Kimas are the proud parents of a new baby girl, born on September 28! So we rejoice with them. For the time being, we will refrain from providing pictures of our friends, since the military is now regularly photographing anyone suspected of being in the opposition party. Myanmar reportedly has the most severe and thorough censorship on the Internet of any nation on earth at present. We do not wish to provide faces for the enemies of God's people. ("Kima", by the way, is a shortened version of our brother's name which he has used for our benefit -- we wouldn't be able to pronounce his legal name! -- and so in God's providence it is safe enough to use the name with which we have become familiar.)

Please pray for the Kimas and all believers in Myanmar. Pray for their safety, and for their courage as they seek to find ways to meet in spite of the restriction of no more than five persons meeting at any one time in any one place. [This restriction has now been lifted, and Sunday services are able to take place -- praise the Lord!] We will keep our constituency informed of developments as we learn of them. Pray, too, for the Kimas' support. They need regular monthly supporters badly. We are still able to get funds to them so far: pray that no obstacles would arise to that situation. Thank you.

Team Timothy Bolivia is looking for Bible Presbyterian young people age 17 and up to serve the Lord in the country of Bolivia, from July 9-25, 2008! If  you'd like to spend that time making a difference in the life of an indigenous church through children's ministry, music, teaching, worship, and fellowship, we'd like to talk to you! The team size is limited to 10 people total. Dr. Pine will lead the team, which will concentrate its work in the city of La Paz. Please download the pdf attachments with the application packet and carefully read the introductory letter. Then, be sure to get the application, pastoral reference, and other required materials in as soon as possible. The application deadline is October 31, 2007. You will be contacted the first week of November regarding your status on the team.

    It is hard to look at
any images from Cambodia
without seeing a temple, shrine, pagoda or idol as 95% of the nation's 13
million people are Theravada Buddhist. Unlike other forms of Buddhism this form
allows it's practitioners to maintain their worldly life and their religion
without conflict. As a teen Mark was
extensively exposed to America's
“New Age” movement and now sees great similarity in practice between New Age
adherents and Buddhists. He was not a Buddhist or a “New Ager” but rather a
belligerent atheist who has now experienced the omnipotent hand of the Living
God in his salvation.

    Now, having worked
for 15 years in the computer field; having been saved by God; having completed
his Masters of Divinity degree at Western Reformed Seminary; and having been
called, it is time to serve the God who saved him by going to the mission
field.  Mark has already
successfully served for ten months in Cambodia
on a temporary assignment; he will be in the US
from December 2005 through the spring or summer of 2006, raising funds,
standing for ordination, and taking care of health needs before he heads back
to the field for his permanent assignment in Cambodia. That assignment includes
teaching English, personal evangelism and discipleship, and church planting as
the Lord enables. Mark's home church
is Grace BPC in Cincinnati, Ohio.