This quote from Rudyard Kipling is still true today, 100 years after he first wrote it. Today Burma is known as Myanmar and is indeed an extraordinary, charming and interesting country. It is the largest country on mainland Southeast Asia with an area of 676,000 square kilometers in a highly strategic location between India and China at the Bay of Bengal. Although the population is quite low there are 135 different people groups that create a wide variety of challenges. About 89% are considered to be Buddhist. Among the minorities groups there is a strong Christian presence.

Myanmar is unlike anywhere else

Arab Muslims first arrived as seamen and traders over 1000 years ago. They settled in coastal cities and lived peacefully with their Buddhist neighbours. In the time of the Myanmar monarchy they gained some influence economically and politically. During the British colonial time the influx of Muslims from neighboring India increased dramatically. This laid the foundation for considerable alienation and ethnic tensions between Buddhists and Muslims that is still happening today. Normally they avoid close contact with each other and view their cultural differences as a strong dividing factor. For example, when the Muslims celebrate the yearly Feast of Sacrifice they usually slaughter cows. Buddhists, from their Hindu roots holding cows in high esteem, see this as cruel and barbaric.

Cultural Differences in Myanmar

In all the major cities in Mayanmar you can see many Muslims. They are easy to recognize as most men wear a long shirt over the traditional longyi (an ankle length garment similar to a sarong). The more religious Muslims wear a white cap and grow a beard unlike the Buddhists who would never do this! Usually women are not veiled, but depending on their ethnic origin some wear a scarf or a kind of embroidered cap. Downtown Yangoon, Mandalay and Mawlamyine you can see several large old mosques, most of them still dating from British occupation. Most Muslims are engaged in businesses ranging from small roadside shops to international trading companies. Muslim families are larger than average, often with 5 or more children. The official number of Muslims is 4% but it may be closer to 6 or 7%. In reality that's over 3 million people.

Flag of Burma

Myanmar - Burma - Map

There are different groups within the Muslim population. Some are culturally very much adapted to the Buddhist Myanmar people. Only the religion is different.

Pray for the 3 million + Muslims in Myanmar (Burma):

* Pray for the government to have wisdom to rule this ethnically diverse country in justice and in peace.

* Pray for the many Muslim children , that they may get a chance to listen and respond to the gospel.

* Pray that the Lord will call local workers from the churches in Myanmar for the harvest among the Muslims. Pray that the Christians will overcome their fear by love.

Background on Myanmar (Burma) (World Factbook)

Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948.

General NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to house arrest, where she remains virtually incommunicado. In November 2005, the junta extended her detention for at least another six months. She was finally released in November 2010.

Economy of Burma / Myanmar

Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, and rural poverty. Lacking monetary or fiscal stability, the economy suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including rising inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat, a distorted interest rate regime, unreliable statistics, and an inability to reconcile national accounts to determine a realistic GDP figure. The most productive sectors will continue to be in extractive industries, especially oil and gas, mining, and timber. A major banking crisis in 2003 shuttered the country's 20 private banks and disrupted the economy. Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - often estimated to be as large as the official economy. US imposed sanctions add to Burma's economic woes.

Statistics on Burma / Myanmar

Population: 53,999,804 - see notes below (July 2011 est.) World rank #24

Life Expectancy at Birth: 64.88 years. World rank #168

Ethnic groups: Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%

Religions: Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%

Languages: Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages

Literacy: 89.9% -- Male: 93.9 %, Female: 86.4 %

School life expectancy: 9 years

Note: Population estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (World Factbook)

Video from Burma: SHOOT ON SIGHT

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Tensions between Muslims and Buddhist Rohingya

Stories like this are commonplace in Arakan, the mountain range along the west coast of Myanmar (formerly Burma), the homeland of the Rohingya (pronounced Rohinja) people. About a thousand years ago, Arab maritime traders settled along the coast of the Bay of Bengal and intermarried with the local Hindu and Buddhist population. Thus a Muslim presence already existed in northern Arakan even before Islam reached Bengal in the 13th century.

For centuries, Muslims and Buddhists lived peacefully side by side. Muslims held influential positions in the Arakan army and the royal court. The palace grounds of the Buddhist king even housed a mosque. Britain annexed Arakan in 1826, making it part of British India. During this time, there was some immigration of Muslims from other parts of India into Arakan. During World War II, the British fought fierce battles against the Japanese in Arakan, which brought terrible suffering to the civilian population.

Human Rights Violations

In 1948, Burma gained independence and the tensions between Muslims and the Buddhist majority increased. After the military coup in 1962, Muslims were discriminated against, or even openly persecuted. In practice a citizenship law denied the Rohingyas the right to be full Burmese citizens. This situation, worsened by severe human rights violations, led to mass refugee movements in 1978 and 1992. More than 250,000 Rohingyas fled across the border into Bangladesh. Though most of them have now been repatriated, their problems remain unresolved. Up to two million Rohingyas are in reality stateless, without any appropriate identity papers. They cannot travel from one village to another without having special permission. The condition of the Rohingya education system and economy is disastrous. It is illegal to publish any literature in the Rohingya language.

Rohingya Seeking spiritual help

Most Rohingyas are despondent and without a future; some are turning towards radical ideas. Hopes of leaving Myanmar illegally are growing. An estimated 1-2 million Rohingyas are already living in foreign countries such as Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Malaysia. This complicated situation has given them the name "Asia's new Palestinians".

Flag of Burma

Myanmar - Burma - Map

There is no known church or individual believers among the Rohingyas. Strongly influenced by folk Islam, the Rohingyas seek spiritual help by wearing charms, following magical rituals and visiting the tombs of saints. While their physical situation may be terrible, their spiritual situation is even more desperate.

Prayer for Myanmar (Burma):

* Pray for Myanmar's Christians to have opportunities to evangelise the Rohingyas. Pray that God will call labourers to work among them.

* Pray that the Rohingyas will find help for all their difficulties through God's intervention.

* Pray that the Word of God, Christian literature, videos and radio broadcasts will be produced in the Rohingyan language.

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