The Phadei Chin are a very poor people group in western Myanmar, about 50 miles from the border with India. Living in Chin state and grouped under the Falam Chin as a sub-ethnicity, they have been praying since 1948 for Bibles in their heart language. Biblia Global had the privilege to be part of funding the delivery of 15,000 Bibles for every Phadei Chin believer in November 2022! Their story of getting God's Word is well worth the read. Thank you to all who give to Biblia Global - we hope you can sense in the following story how the work you give towards changes people's lives for generations and for eternity! Our involvement in projects like these continue and 100% of donations go to getting God's Word to God's people.
For 104 years after the first Phadei Chin Christian convert (1907), there was no physical Bible in the Phadei Chin's heart language. The Phadei began praying for a Bible in their own heart language in 1948. When the Falam Chin Bible translation was completed in 1992 a Phadei pastor named Rev. Cong Sum was inspired to begin the translation process for the Phadai. He began doing the translating work on his own with the cooperation of a western mission organization on March 1, 1993. His wife shares a little bit about her husband’s background;
“[Cong Sum] didn’t attend even one day of school because of his family’s poverty but he always came to school and listened to the teaching and watched the writing in the classroom from the window. The teacher didn’t allow him to attend because his parents couldn’t pay the school fees. By the grace of God, he learned to read and write by learning from outside the classroom. Because he loved God and feared God, God gave him wisdom and when we moved to Kalaymyo from Chin State, Kalay Baptist Convention pastors allowed him to study correspondence and he became a pastor. In 1992, the Falam Bible was released and my husband was motivated by the Holy Spirit to translate the Bible into the Phadei Chin language.”
An example of the new, corrected page on the left, and the same page with missing letters and verse numbers before correction.
There was a falling out with the western mission organization Sum was working with, so he spent much of the next 18 years finishing the project on his own, finally completing the project in 2010. As the Phadei people are poor, they had no way to print this finished translation so they approached a western Bible translation organization for help with funding and expertise. The organization arraigned for 500 of these Bibles to be printed inside Myanmar, but the quality ended up being poor; quite a few pages had missing verse numbers and letters (see above images), and the Bible was very large and heavy, weighing 2.2 lbs each (see below for a size comparison of the old Bible versus the new).
A size comparison of the old Bible (right) versus the new (left). The only difference is paper quality. Low quality Bible paper is heavier and thicker
On top of that, the Christian translating organization required the Phadei people to pay for their Bible instead of giving it to them, making it extremely difficult for most Phadei people to afford. No further Bibles were printed after this initial 500 Bible printing in 2011. Rev. Cong Sum died 2 months and 13 days after his Bible was printed and dedicated in 2011, 63 years after the Phadei first began praying for a Bible in their heart language. Cong Sum's wife shared, "[Cong Sum's] last words before he died were, “Let us pray to be able to reprint my Bible so that all Phadei people can bring it wherever they go, this is my prayer to the Lord”. After he said these words we went to the Lord."
Jesus taught his followers that they ought to always pray and not loose heart (Luke 18:1-8). The Phadei continued to pray that the Lord would bring a Bible to every Phadei believer. When our contacts in Myanmar began to work with the Phadei to print the 15,000 Bibles for every believer, additional problems arose. Rev. Sum's Bible translation file was on a thumb drive and the drive could not be found after his death. The backup plan had been for four pastors to have thumb drives with backups of the translation file. These pastors didn't have computers, but they could keep hold of the thumb drive for safe keeping. Once the backup files were needed, it was found the backup drives either had a virus or were corrupted. The print shop in Myanmar who had done the original 500 Bible printing no longer had the file. Someone could retype the whole Bible in about six months, but then there would be additional time required for individuals to go through the reading and revision process to check and correct the master file.
Rev. Cong Sum's widow with one of the new Bibles
A solution was found. A good copy from the initial 500 Bibles printing was sent to the Bible printer we partner with and they scanned each page of the original Bible, then meticulously digitally corrected the missing letters and verse numbers missing in the original printing. They worked with the Phadai pastors to ensure every correction was done right. The end result is a perfect looking printed Bible, printed on high quality, light Bible paper, in a reasonable size!
15,000 Bibles were printed, delivered, and given to the Phadei Christians in November 2022 with the help of Biblia Global. There were many people who played a part in making this project happen, most of whom cannot be mentioned due to security concerns (including the amazing printer we partner with). When the Phadei Christians finally received their Bibles, they were overjoyed to see not only the Bibles they had long been praying for; but to see a direct answer to prayer and witness God’s faithfulness. You can feel this in the TESTIMONIES from a number of these believers. It is our joy and blessing to be a part of God answering these people’s prayer for His Word. Pray with us that God's Word would blossom in the Phadei Chin's hearts and bear 100 and 1000 times the fruit in their lives.
D.S. Thian, Myanmar
My name is D.S. Thian, wife of Rev. Cong Sum, the Bible translator of the Phadei Bible. I am 88 years old I was born and brought up in a Christian family in Phaizawl Village, Chin State. I accepted Christ when I was 15 years old through the teaching of Rev. Nun Tiam. As we Phadei tribal people are the generation of Cong Kham [the second converted person in northern Falam Township], we love God and always enjoy singing and worshiping God.
I married Rev. Cong Sum when I was 21 years old. Our family was blessed and tasted heavenly life on earth because God is our head of family.
I would like to share about my husband. His name is Rev. Cong Sum: He didn’t attend even one day of school because of his family’s poverty but he always came to school and listened to the teaching and watched the writing in the classroom from the window. The teacher didn’t allowed him to attend because his parents couldn’t pay the school fees. By the grace of God, he learned to read and write by learning from outside the classroom. Because he loved God and feared God, God gave him wisdom and when we moved to Kalaymyo from Chin State, Kalay Baptist Convention pastors allowed him to study correspondance and he became a pastor. In 1992, Falam Bible was released and my husband was motivated by the Holy Spirit to translate the Bible into the Phadei Chin langauge. So, he asked permission from the Rev. Doctor S. Hre Kio who is the translator of Falam Bible and he got permission and started the Phadei Bible translation work on March 1, 1993 and completed it 18 years later. He printed 500 initial copies and dedicated the Bible on Febuary 15, 2011. Two months and 13 days later, he went to be with the Lord. Rev. Cong Sum typed the whole Bible three times with a typewriter. The first printed Bible was printed in Myanmar. As our country was still developing country, this first Bible weight was very large and 1 Kg per Bible. All Phadei people highly apprecated and read this Bible but it is very difficult to bring to the Church or other places from home. His last words before he died was that “Let us pray to be able to reprint my Bible so that all Phadei people can bring wherever they go, this is my prayer to the Lord”. After he said these words we went to the Lord.
I myself and all Phadei people remembered his very last words and we prayed continually. After 9 years of our prayer to God to be able to reprint with the best quality, God answered beyond our prayer through the chosen people of God, not only best quality of Bible but also with aHymnal. PRAISE THE LORD.
I stronlgy believed that my husband was so happy and saying words of Thanks to you all from the bossom of God in heaven. I am so happy and satisfied to God through your support of my husband’s translated Bible. I am ready to die and excited to share with my husband about your donations and the reprinting of his Bible above and beyond our prayer.
May God bless you all.
Mr. C. Mang, Myanmar
My name is Mr. C. Mang, the younger brother of Rev. Cong Sum. I am 87 years old. I was born and bought up from a Christian family in Phaizawl village, Chin State. I accepted Christ when I was 15 years old through the teaching of Rev. Nun Tiam, the faithful servant of God.
The Phadei tribal people are the first converted people to Christianity in the Falam tribe because of Mr. Cong Kham, the first convert. But we didn’t have a Bible in our heart language. We have been praying since 1948 to have a Bible in Phadei as we are the first Christian tribes among Falam. We continued to pray even though there was no answer. By the grace of God, my brother Rev. Cong Sum started a translation in 1993. There was small or little hope to have the Bible translated by him and there was little hope he could do it as he had no formal education. By only through God’s grace God giving him wisdom, [he finished in 18 years] and we have a Bible in our own language in 2011. After 63 years of LONG PRAYER, GOD ANSWERED OUR PRAYER.
But when the Bibles in his translation were printed in Myanmar, it was a very heavy Bible. So, we began praying again to be able to reprint with best paper quality and much less weight. After 9 years of prayer, God answered our prayer beyond what we prayed because not only was it a Bible printed, but it was also a Hymnal was included. HALLELUIJAH.
I came to Thayagone village, Kalaymyo to get the Bibles and I attended this Bible dedication service from Chin State because I am so happy and today is a historical date of our Phadei people.
My favorite Bible verses are Psalms 23, and I Timothy 2:4.
Thanks to you all those who worked hard and donated for our Phadei Bible with Hymnal. God bless you all.
Rev. V. Tiam, Myanmar
My name is the Rev. V. Tiam, pastor of Z. Baptist Church. I was born and brought up in a Christian family and I accepted Christ when I was 25 years old through the teaching of Rev. N. Tiam. I am 52 years old.
Before I accepted Christ, I was a street fighter. There are many scars on my body. People hated me and were scared of me. My parents couldn’t control me and they kicked out of the family.
After I accepted Christ, I was humbled and began to love others because when I read the Bible every day, I learned how God wants me to live and God changed all my thoughts and desires to the way he wanted me to live in life. I was eager to serve the Lord and prayed to study in Bible college. God opened the door for me to study in a Bible College and I completed that when I was 31 years old. From that time until today, I have served the Lord. Now, by the grace of God, 153 people accepted Christ and have been baptized through my sharing and teaching. There are 742 members in my Church. When I started the Church there was only 15 members. After 21 years our Church has become a big church. The main purpose of our church is to save the lost.
The Phadei people have been praying to have our own language Bible for more than 60 years. Our church has been earnestly praying since 2005. God answered our prayer and now we received freely not only the best quality Bible but also one with a Hymnal. How great is God. When we heard that our Phadei Bible was being printed and going to be distributed freely, our Church praised God with tears in the church.
My favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 24:11-12 “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?” This is the most important responsibility of why God has called me and my Church.
Thanks to all sponsors for our Phadei Bible with Hymnal. Our church will be always praying for you and we will pray for your future.
God bless you all.
Mrs. D.S. Tling, Myanmar
My name is D.S. Tling, from M. Village, Kalay Township. I am 71 years old. I was born and brought up in a Christian family and I accepted Christ when I was 16 years old.
Today is a blessed day for me because I have been praying to have a Bible in our own language since I was 19 years old. After 52 years, God answered my prayer. While Rev. Cong Sum was translating the Bible into our language, I prayed for him and offered eggs, cooking soup for him because I wanted to own and see and read a Bible in our own language.
Now, it has been completed and we have received our own Phadei Bible with Hymnal freely. My prayer was that I wouldn’t die before I read our Phadei Bible at least five times from the beginning to the end and also to sing all Hymn twice in my life.
Thanks to all the donors. You are sowing seeds that fall on good ground. Your rewards in heaven are so great. I want to be like you in my life. God bless you all.
Mr. T. Bawi, Myanmar
My name is Mr. T. Bawi, Deacon of B. Baptist Church, Chin State. I am 61 years old. I was born and brought up in a Christian family and I accepted Christ when I was 16 years old through the teaching of Rev. Cong Sum.
I didn’t have difficulties becoming a Christian because the Phadei tribal people are Christian [so other tribal people and his family didn’t pressure him to renounce his faith].
This is the very first time I have been able to get a Bible in my heart language. The first printing [in 2011] was only 500 copies so I couldn’t get it then.
My favorite Bible verse is Matthew 11: 28-30 because only Jesus Christ can take all our heavy burdens and this is the best way to learn from Him how to live in life. Whenever and wherever I am, I always called [to God] and learned from whatever I faced in my life.
That I received our Phadei Bible with a Hymnal freely is unbelievable. But through God everything is possible. We Phadei people are the most blessed people because God answered our prayer for our Bible more than 50 long years ago and when God answered our prayer he added more blessings which we didn’t ask [A Bible with Hymnal]. So, we received DOUBLE BLESSINGS from God.
Thanks to all who donated and supported our Phadei Bible printing and for us to be able to get it freely. May the Lord bless you all more and more. Now, we are waiting to get more copies soon so that the people who didn’t received yet will receive soon. God bless you all. Today is the most blessed day for Phadei people.
Mrs. D.S. Zen, Myanmar
My name is D.S. Zen, Secretary of Phadei Christian Women Fellowship. I am 54 years old. I live in K. village, Chin State. To get to [the Bible distribution site] I travelled 84 miles by motor bike.
I was born and brought up in a Christian family. My father was a pastor in our village until he died. I accepted Christ when I was 12 years old through the teaching of my Father.
There was nothing difficulties after I accepted Christ because all our village and neighboring villages are Christian. When I accepted Christ, my parents killed a pig and did a thanksgiving feast because they are so happy.
After I accepted Christ, my life was so happy and serving the Lord in the Church as much as I could. Every morning and evening, I went to the Church and prayed especially for lost people.
As we live in remote areas, 95% of our Phadei people in villagers do not understand other languages of the Bible. We really needed to have a Bible in our own language. The Phadei leaders prayed for this before I was born and continued to pray to God for more than 60 years. After 60 years, God has answered their prayers.
Today is the Blessed day for our Phadei people because we received the most precious gift of the Word of God [Bible] freely. The Words of God is alive, powerful and can change our life from nothing to blessing.
My two favorite Bible verses are Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”; and 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”. We cannot correct our young people without the Word of God. There are many wrong doctrines in our country but we Phadei people will know the truth through reading the Bible.
Thanks to all the sponsors of our Phadei Bible with Hymnal to be able to get it freely. This is an amazing miracle to our Phadei people to receive the Bible with Hymnal freely during the Pandemic. God is so good to our Phadei people. May the Lord Bless you all more and more.
Rev. S. Thang, Myanmar
My name is Rev. S. Thang, pastor at B. Assembly of God Church, in Kalaymyo Township. I am 48 years old. I was born and brought up in a Christian family. I accepted Christ when I was 17 years old through the teaching of Rev. Cong Sum, our Phadei Bible translator.
After I accepted Christ, God gave me a burden for lost people. So, I visited our Phadei people, and Ngawn and Tapong tribe villages. I shared the gospel village by village and by the grace of God, more than 300 people have accepted Christ.
My favorite Bible verse is 1 Timothy 2:4 “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”. The meaning of my life is to obey and to fulfill the desire of the Lord.
Thanks for your donations for our Phadei Bible with Hymnal. We have been praying for our own language Bible for more than 60 years. The first printing was too heavy and we couldn’t bring it to the Church, yet all the Phadei people love to read. So, we prayed again to be able to reprint a Bible that weighed less weight and had a better paper quality. After 9 years, God answered more than we prayed for. These Bibles are not only the best quality, but they also contain a Hymnal. How great is our God.
Thanks to all sponsors for our Phadei Bible plus Hymnal. May the Lord richly bless you all.
Mrs. D.S. Hmen, Myanmar
D.S. Hmen is my name, daughter of Rev. Cong Sum and D.S Thiam. I am 51 years old. I was born and bought up in a Christian family. As far as I remembered my parents, especially my father, taught us Bible verses, how to pray, and shared the words of God with us every night.
I accepted Christ when I was 9 years old. I attended all classes of Sunday school, and also all youth services in the Church, and women services too.
I got married when I was 23 years and did have children until 10 years later. I went to many doctors and was checked to see what was wrong. The doctors answered that we couldn’t have child because my ovaries were too small and too weak. I was so sad and my husband eagerly wanted children. My husband tried to divorce me. At that time, my father came to our house and said “let us look to the Lord and pray” he said. After 2 years of prayer, God answered our prayer and I was pregnant and had a son. Praise the Lord. God never left us and answered our prayer when we needed him. So, our family are the happiest family now. I have two sons and three daughters.
My favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not”, Because when I called to God to have a child, he answered me. Then, we, the Phadei people, called to God for my Father’s translated Bible to be reprinted which he answered again. Concerning our Phadei Bible, God shew us his great and mighty things which we never dreamt (We received not only a Bible, but a Hymnal as well).
Thanks to you all those who donated and worked for my Father’s Bible reprint with the best quality paper and also with Hymnal. God bless you all.
Mr. S.K. Thang, Myanmar
My name is Mr. S.K. Thang, headmaster of B. government high school. I am 58 years old. I was born and brought up in a Christian family and I accepted Christ when I was 31 years old. Rev. Cong Sum, the Phadei Bible translator is my father; I am his second son.
My father was faithful in serving the Lord but I was the wicked son. I never obeyed my parents’ words, attended Church only on Christmas and special days. But I was good in school lessons. I always got first place in every class. I smoke, drank, was addicted to drugs, and was a drug dealer. In Genesis chapter 6, when God saw the wickedness of man on earth, He regretted that he had made man on the earth. Likewise, my parents maybe felt as God did.
When I was 30 years old, while I was riding my motorbike, a big truck crushed me, I became unconscious and was taken to the hospital. The doctor said to my father, “there is no hope for him to live because there is damage to his brain and he has lost too much blood”. My father was so sad. He looked to the Lord and prayed for three days behind my bed in the hospital. God answered my father’s prayer and we saw God’s miracle of healing me and my brain became normal. When I was back from the hospital, my father shared what my condition was from the accident and I confessed my wickedness to my parents and as well to God. I requested my father to share every detail about Jesus. After he shared for two days, I confessed my sins to the Lord and accepted Christ is my personal Savior and Lord.
After I accepted Christ, all my lifestyle totally changed. I no longer drank, no longer did drugs, no longer sold drugs, no longer smoked, and tried to be good. I was never absent from school and came to my office every day. The government promoted me to the headmaster position 3 years after I accepted Christ.
My favorite Bible verse is 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” My life is totally changed through Christ.
My father worked hard for this translation for 18 years and his first printed Bible was 1 Kg in weight. He wanted to reprint with good quality paper but that did not happen until he died. He died with a big burden for this Bible because He was not able to reprint with a better quality. So, we Phadei people and all his relatives pray to fulfil my father’s desire. God answered our prayer through God’s chosen people. Now my father and all the Phadei people’s burdens were taken through you all. God answered above and beyond our prayer. The paper is the best quality. Not only did we get the Bible but we also got a Hymnal. I strongly believed that when we all get heaven, my father will says to you all THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I gave this Phadei Bible to all the students in my school and now all students read it every day in reading period. We have one hour reading period every day. Students are so happy to read the Bible.