BACKGROUND

The country of Myanmar is also known as Burma. The people and language are still referred to as Burmese.

America’s first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson, went to Burma in 1813. His translation of the Bible into Burmese is still used today. A former British colony, Burma gained its independence in 1948. In 1962 a Soviet-style military government took over, renamed the country Myanmar, and implemented a policy of systematic violence against certain populations, particularly the Chin and Karen people due to their Christian faith. A democratic government was elected in 2015, but the military junta took power again during a coup in 2020. Myanmar remains a deeply fractured nation politically and ethnically. There is freedom to evangelize but ongoing civil unrest presents many challenges.

 

TCM WORK IN MYANMAR

TCM initially came into contact with Pastor Ling in Myanmar through his relative who attended Grace Church in Indianapolis.  In 2014, TCM leaders and nearby missionaries visited Myanmar and provided basic Bible and dispensational seminars to a group of pastors led by Pastor Ling.

TCM formed Team Myanmar in 2016 with Dan & Amy Banac and Salvina Ulfindo as the first TCM missionaries assigned to Myanmar. Salvina resigned from TCM in 2018, but continued in the country as an independent teacher. Gardner & Ledith Improso transferred from Kenya to join the Myanmar ministry in 2017. They left in 2020 as the Covid pandemic began and were finally able to return in 2024.

TCM began working with the Grace Gospel Churches of Myanmar, and established the Myanmar Grace Theological Seminary (MGTS) to train local pastors and ministry leaders. In 2019 the TCM missionaries branched out on their own to form the Grace Believers Church of Myanmar.  The 2020 Covid pandemic and military coup forced the closure of MGTS, and ongoing civil unrest has hampered the growth of the ministry. However, the missionaries and MGTS graduates continue the church planting ministry and outreach.