MYANMAR: FIVE WAYS TO PRAY

In the wake of two earthquakes in Myanmar on Friday, 28 March, Christians in Myanmar are calling on their global church family to join them in prayer.

Open Doors partners are already sharing how vital your prayers are in helping believers in Myanmar know they aren’t alone. “I share to believers when I meet them that, even though things are terrible and it’s easy to be isolated, we are not alone, and that there are people around the world praying for us,” says Daisy Htun*, a local Open Doors partner. Here are five ways you can pray:

1. Pray for protection and comfort for the people of Myanmar

More than 2,000 people have died as a result of the earthquake, which also affected neighbouring countries Thailand and China. Thousands more have been injured, and even more have seen their homes, businesses, hospitals, churches and other buildings destroyed. “There is no electricity, and the water supply is not functioning. It’s becoming a challenge to even go to the toilet,” shares a local Christian.

• Please pray for all who are mourning their loved ones, for those who are displaced from their homes and for those who are fearful. Pray that there would be no further casualties, and that water, electricity and WiFi would be restored, so people can communicate and have safe sanitation.

2. Pray for Open Doors partners and their work

There haven’t been any reports so far of Open Doors partners or their families being harmed in their earthquakes.

• Thank God for their safety. Please pray for partners’ projects in the region, and for protection over those they have supported and encouraged over many years. Ask God that their programmes would be restored when safe to do so.

3. Pray for Christians who already faced displacement and persecution

Even before the earthquake, many thousands of Burmese people were living in displacement – ever since the military coup in 2021. Christians are among those displaced, both by conflict and persecution, and Christian communities have been particularly targeted by both the military government and opposing rebel groups.

“For the Christians in Myanmar, those who have already been affected by the war, and those who have been displaced, this may have a compounding effect,” explains Daisy Htun. “They have already experienced the coup, there is economic hardship, and now, a natural disaster has befallen them.”

• Please pray for them to receive resilience and strength from God, and to know His kindness and presence.

4. Pray for the church in Myanmar to be salt and light

Daisy Htun asks: “Pray for the churches in Myanmar in areas that have not been affected – that they will have compassion and be able to extend a helping hand to their brothers and sisters affected by this earthquake.”

As the country recovers from this trauma, ask that God would use His children to be salt and light in the face of darkness. May people see their kindness and hope, and recognise that they demonstrate the truth of the gospel.

• Pray that the Burmese church will be Jesus’s hands and feet in response to this disaster.

5. Pray for wisdom and resources as the country rebuilds

Even in the wake of the earthquakes, there have reports of the military junta continuing to bomb their own people. Ask for peace in Myanmar and for an end to all violence.

• Pray that the nation’s leaders would have wisdom and fairness in their response to the devastation, and that they would use their resources and any foreign aid justly to rebuild the country for all its citizens.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers. They are much-needed by our brothers and sisters in Myanmar and the wider region.

If you would like to give to our Myanmar Crisis Appeal and help to support Christians struggling in the aftermath of the earthquake, you can do so here…