The CHIN People

The Chin are an ethnic group who reside in the Chin state of western Myanmar (Burma) and eastern India. As a mountainous region, there are few transportation links and Chin state is considered the most underdeveloped state in Myanmar with a poverty rate of 73% [1].

There are a number sub tribal groups that make up the Chin people in Myanmar.  These include the Tedim Chin (also known as the Zomi or Kuki), the Falam Chin, the Phadei Chin, the Hakha Chin (also known as the Lai), and the Matu Chin.

Because of their Christian faith, Chin Christians report that the government keeps the region economically underdeveloped. A contact recently reported that, "our government excludes Christians and therefore the Chin people from advancing in society. After high school I wanted to join the army, but the government did not accept me into the military. We are kept in poverty, because we are Christians. But God keeps in His hands those who trust Him".  As a result of this poverty, many Chin Christians don't have the monetary resources to own a Bible or replace Bibles when they wear out. Additionally, because of the remote location, there are no opportunities to purchase Bibles were the finances to be available. Very few Chin own a Bible, including many of the pastors. Can you imagine pastoring a church without your own Bible? We estimate that the need for Bibles amongst the Chin people to be between 200,000 and 300,000.

A number of years ago the first 10,000 Bible were brought and given to the Christians of one of the Chin tribes. When word was spread that Bibles were going to be given out, Christians donated money for their pastors to purchase a bus ticket to travel from their hill communities to the distribution center. The pastors and other Christians who received Bibles were overwhelmed with gratitude and said that in the history of the Chin Christians, they had never received a blessing like they received that day.  One Chin pastor writes of that day, "I have a Bible, but it is very old and some of the pages have fallen out and been lost, but I still use what I have. I wanted to get a new Bible with all of the pages, so I have always been praying for a new Bible. I heard that in this town the Bible would be given away for free, so I borrowed money so I could buy a bus ticket to town so I could receive a Bible. The Bible is more important than anything else in the world." another Chin pastor reported, "I have a Bible, but I need one for the village church that I started. There are nine families and all without Bibles. I became very happy when I heard we could get a free Chin Bible."

Biblia Global continues to work to meet the need of Bibles for our Chin brothers and sister and other believers in the region. Printing costs are usually $5 - $7 per Bible and transportation cost are roughly $1 per Bible*. Your gift to our Bibles for Asia project will help us in this ongoing effort to get Chin Christians and other persecuted Christians in Asia their own copy of God's Word. 

We have a limited number of Hakha Chin Bibles (Lai), Tedim Chin Bibles (Zomi/Kuki), and Falam Chin Bibles available for believers in North America . Please contact us for more information.

Matu Chin Pictures and testimonies, 2023

During the spring of 2023, Biblia Global funded the delivery of 17,776 Matu Chin Bibles to waiting Christians in Chin state, western Myanmar. Names and locations are changed for security reasons. Our contacts involved in the delivery shared that Matupi is a hot spot for Myanmar’s civil war.  Gun fire and explosions can be heard around Matupi, so the Burmese military is strict in this area. Please pray for the safe delivery of all Bibles and safety for the individual believers!

Mrs. LK, 73 years old, Matupi Township, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. LK. I’m 73 years old. I was raised in a Christian family, and I accepted Christ when I was 17 years old. In our village, which is in one of the most remote areas, only the pastor had a Burmese Bible. There were a few Burmese Bibles for sale in a town far away, but they were too expensive for most people. One time I had saved a long time in order to buy a Burmese Bible, I traveled the long journey to the town to buy a Bible, but then no more Bibles were available. So I had no way to get a Bible. All I could do was pray. From that time, at the age of 23, I started to pray to have a Bible. I wanted to have one and read one all the way through it before I died. I preferred to have one in the Matu language [her heart language], but none existed.

Recently, one Sunday in church, unexpectedly, our pastor came with Bibles for all of us and he gave them to us for free. He had attended a Bible distribution where Bibles were given out for our Matu Christian people. Now at 73 years of age, I have been given my first Bible. God answered my prayers for a Bible after 50 years.

I live alone, but now I am so happy and I read the Bible every day. The Bible is my family, my friend, my joy, and it gives me peace in my heart, because the Bible is the Word of God. All of the words of the Bible are God’s words.

Thanks for your support and donation so that we can all get Bibles freely. I highly appreciated our Matu Bible, because there is not only a Bible, but also a hymnal. I am so happy, because I own a Bible before I died and God is now speaking to me through His word.

Mr. and Mrs. TT, Matupi Township, Myanmar

My name is Mr. TT (72 years old) and my wife is DN (69 years old). We live in T Village, Matupi Township, Myanmar. This is a very poor village. We have never seen a Bible in our language in our village. But the pastors came and gave away Bibles to us freely. My wife and I were given one Bible to share. This is the first time we have ever had our own Bible and we are so happy. By the grace of God, our eyes are still good and we can read very well. We don’t have any children, so that part of our lives feels unfulfilled. But now we are reading the Bible every night, and every break time when we work on the farm, and the Word and Spirit of God are filling our hearts and now we feel fulfilled in life. When we draw near to God, God fills us with his joy and peace. Thanks to the donors. God bless you all.

Mr. HT, Matupi Township, Myanmar

I am Mr. HT from Y. Village. I am 50 years old. Most of my life I have lived in this extremely remote village. I was raised in a Christian family, but without Bibles, I was raised as a cultural Christian. I didn’t really understand the Christian faith. When I was 34 years old I traveled to Matupi Township. While I was there I went to a church and I heard the preaching of Reverend TA. He explained very well that we must believe in Jesus and repent of our sins and accept Christ’s forgiveness through His shed blood, and to also commit ourselves to obey Jesus as Lord. I wanted to be with Jesus, so after this one sermon I gave my life to Christ and accepted Him as Lord and Savior. From the beginning I was hungry for God’s word, but there were no Bibles available. I went to another church service, and they preached from Psalm 32. During the service I wrote down the entire Psalm. I kept reading it until I memorized it and it became my favorite scripture. Back in my remote village, this Psalm was the only part of the scriptures that I had, so I would read it every morning and meditate on it all the time.

A few years ago we heard that Matu Bibles were going to be printed and given away for free. We were excited about this, but then we didn’t receive any. There weren’t enough for everyone, and our village is also very hard to reach. There isn’t even a road coming to our village. Even motorbikes can’t reach our village. People have to walk. So everyone in our village and the surrounding villages were so sad, because we didn’t get any Bibles. But now there has been a second printing, and now we have received the Bible. And this printing is better than the first printing, because this Bible also has a hymnal. Praise the Lord! This is the first time in our history that the people in our villages have received a Bible in our heart language.

In my picture you can see my house behind me. You can see how poor I am. Everyone in my village and everyone in the surrounding villages are as poor as me. If you had sent these Bibles here to be sold, there was no way for us to buy the Bible, because we are too poor. Almost all of our money goes for food, then there’s not much left. When we received Bibles freely, we were all praising God with tears and thanking God for His great blessing to us all through God’s chosen people in the world.

Thank you for your generous and precious donation to our Matu people. Now, all Matu people in our area have received Bibles freely and are ready to grow spiritually. You have given us the most precious books for our lives. God bless you all.

Mr. T. Bil, 85 Years old, Matupi Township, Myanmar

I am Reverend T. Bil, 85 years old, and I am the former pastor of a Church in Matupi Township, Chin State.  I was the first person from my village to convert to Jesus Christ.  My parents, and everyone in our village, were animist worshipers.  My parents sent me out of the village to go to school in Matupi Town.  There were Christian churches in Matupi and I was curious to go and learn what they were teaching, but my parents didn’t allow me to go.  I graduated and became a teacher in Mindat Township, about a four hour drive from Matupi.  Then my parents got sick and they both died.  So then I asked some local pastors about Christ.  The pastors shared daily with details about Christ.  They did this for six months, and then I decided to accept Christ as my personal Savior and Lord.  I was 23 years old then.   

After I accepted Christ, I went back to my village and shared the gospel. My villagers rejected my sharing and arrested me, because I became a Christian. They beat me more than 30 times and me kicked out from the village. I moved to another village to rest and heal.  And after I was healed I went back again and shared the gospel to the people in my village. Once again they arrested me and beat me and kicked me out from the village. I moved to another village, and after I was healed, I went back to my village a third time and shared the gospel again. By the grace of God, this time the village leader accepted Christ and he forbid all of the villagers from kicking out me from the village.  This leader let me stay in the village, so I stayed and preached the gospel to the people.  After one year, all of the villagers accepted Christ and became Christians.

After I accepted Christ and all my villagers became Christians, I stopped working as a school teacher and I decided to study in Bible school. God openned the door for me and I completed my course when I was 30 years old.  From that time until today I have served the Lord.  Even though I have retired from being a pastor, I am still serving the Lord as much as I can.

I am so happy with our Matu Standard Bible with Hymnal, because we Matu people have needed this more than anything else.  Many Matu people didn’t receive a Bible from the first printing, especially in the villages.  But this second printing one is more precious and good, because it includes the hymnal.  We Matu people are growing spiritually after receiving Bibles.  Even though the military closed all phone lines and internet in our area, our Matu people are growing spiritually, because the military couldn’t stop us from reading the Bible and growing nearer to God.  Thanks for sending free Bibles to our Matu people. Now, our Matu people are enjoying reading the Bible every day.  And even though we cannot attend church most of the time, since the military isn’t allowing large gatherings these days, all families are reading the Bible in their homes and they worship the Lord regularly.

Now, because of your support and help, all Matu will receive a Bible.  I am always praying for you all.  We will see each other in heaven and that time I will say to you face to face “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND HELP FOR OUR MATU BIBLE.” God bless you all.

Mrs. NC, Matupi Township, Myanmar

I am Mrs. NC, and I live in L. Village, Matupi Township. Our village is 56 miles away from Matupi. I was raised in a Christian family. I accepted Christ when I was 16 years old through the teaching of Rev. Biak Sawn.

After I accepted Christ I eagerly wanted to read the Bible, but there were only a few Burmese Bibles available for sale, but I do not properly understand the Burmese language. So, I prayed to God to own our own language Bible. A few years ago I heard that our Matu Bible was printed and distributed in Matupi Township, but as our village is far from Matupi, we didn’t get that Bible, not me and not anyone in my village nor the surrounding villages.

But by the grace of God, now we have received a better Matu Bible than before, because this Bible also has a hymnal. God always has the best plan for His people.

My dream has come true now, because I own our own language Bible.

Thanks for your deepest concerned to our Matu people to be able to own a Bible free. Without your help, it is impossible for us to ever have Bibles. God bless you all more and more.

Miss. VS, L. Village, Matupi Township, Myanmar

My name is Miss. VS, from L. Village, Matupi Township. My parents are Christians, and I accepted Christ when I was 7 years old.  The three greatest interests I have in my life are reading, singing and Jesus.  When I received our Matu Bible plus hymnal, I was so happy, because now I can read about Jesus and I can sing to Jesus. The more I read the Bible, the more I am interested to keep reading it.

I am so happy and so thankful to the donors.  You have so blessed me and you have inspired me.  Now my prayer is to grow up and to become a donor to the needy people, just like our Matu Bible donors.  I also want to be a blessing to other people for the sake of Jesus.  Praise the Lord!

Mrs. SC, L. Village, Matupi Township, Myanmar

I am Mrs. SC, 50 years old. I am a primary school teacher in L. Village. I was born into a Christian family, but my parents were too poor to pay for my schooling, and they wanted me to get an education so I could have a better life than theirs. So, when I was three years old they sent me to live with a Buddhist family in the town of Pakokku so I could go to school there. This family adopted me. Since I was raised by a Buddhist family, I never attended church. Often I went with my adoptive family to the Buddhist temple. I prayed to Buddha many times, asking for many things, but there were no answers and I felt nothing in my heart. So, I was not satisfied with Buddhism.

After I graduated from university, I went back to see my birth parents, and at that time there was summer Bible camp in our village. I attended this Bible camp all seven days and listened to the teaching about salvation by Rev. Thui Khu. On the seventh day I accepted Christ. At that time I was 24 years old. After I accepted Christ, my life was full with joy and I instantly received contentment in my heart. I couldn’t explain how I had become happy and peaceful in my life except only by Jesus.

When I went back to my adopted parents in Pakokku, I shared about Jesus to them and they got angry at me, because I had become a Christian. They rejected me and kicked me out from being their adopted daughter. But I always prayed for them every day. After I prayed for them for five years, they became Christians through the sharing of one evangelist. Hallelujah. God is so good.

I prayed for many years to get our own language Bible. I have a Burmese Bible, but sometimes I would like to study and read our own language Bible. I didn’t get a Matu Bible from the first printing and distribution, because the village I live in is far from Matupi where the Bibles were distributed. I was so sad, but I prayed to God. Unexpectedly, at a recent Sunday service, Matu Chin Bibles with hymnals were given away freely. PRAISE GOD. God has answered our prayers!

Thank you so much for your donations to our Matu Bible so that we Matu people received Bibles freely. This is a great donation and a great blessing for us. And in heaven there will be a great blessing for you all. Without your support, we Matu people would not get free Bibles. And because of our poverty, if they were not given freely, many Matu people would never own a Bible in their life. You have done the most precious thing for our Matu people. God bless you all more and more as you serve the needy people in the world.

Phadei Chin Pictures and testimonies, 2022

During November 2022, 15,000 Bibles for the Phadei Chin were delivered to waiting Christians in western Myanmar. To read the amazing story of how the Phadei were finally able to get a translation into their own language and have that Bible printed, please go HERE. Names and locations are changed for security reasons:

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 correspondence 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 language. 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 February 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 appreciated 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 a Hymnal. PRAISE THE LORD.

I strongly 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.

Mrs. ZP, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. ZP. I am 72 years old. Since I was 20 years old, I started praying to have my own Bible. God is so good and never denied my prayer. After 52 years, God answered my prayer and I received freely my very own Bible in our heart language, Asang Khongcaa. It would be totally impossible to buy this myself and it would also be totally impossible to print through our tribal people’s efforts. But God used his people overseas to help our tribal people print and receive the Bible in our own language.

My prayer was that before I died, God would allow me to read the Bible once from beginning to end. I have read through the entire Bible once, and after readying through it, I am ready to die and meet my God who answered my prayer after 52 years. When I meet God I will say to Him “YOU ARE LATE TO ANSWER MY PRAYER BUT THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING IT BEFORE I DIE.”

Thanks to you all. I will pray for you all every day. Whenever I read my Bible, I will bless you in the name of Jesus. Thank you and thank you.

Rev. TO, Chin State, N Village, Myanmar

I am Rev. TO. I am 61 years old, pastoring in N Village, N Asang Baptist Church. There are not many words to say because we don’t know how to say thank you to everyone because to receive the Bible in our own tribal language for FREE is impossible when we think about it by our own human heart. This is like dream come true in real life.

In the 46 days since we received our Bibles, there has been a great change in my Church and village. The young people in the village have stopped fighting and prefer to go to Church. Parents can smile and are satisfied with their children because they are in Church, worship God, read the Bible, and discuss about God’s words when they meet together. WOW, WOW, WOW! There are no more free seats in the Church. Our worship services are amazing because people now want to share what God has done or what they have learned by reading the Bible. They want to recite scripture text which they memorized and they praise God with their whole heart. They pray and recount God’s blessings with tears. Even though we are physically poor, now we are rich through the Word of God so that people are always smiling and loving each other.

Thanks for your great donations and great work for our Asang Khongcaa people. May the Lord bless you more and more to be able to help the needy people in need of the Bible.

Mrs. AH, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. AH. I’m 71 years old. I accepted Christ when I was 16 years old and I have wanted to own a Bible ever since. But there was no way to get a Bible. Then, I started praying to have my own Bible in our own tribal language. After 55 years of praying God answered my prayer for my own Bible.

Within 46 days, I have already read through the entire Bible. I am happy to die now because I now own a Bible in our own tribal language and was able to read it from beginning to end. But before I die, I will read through it again. I don’t know how many times God will allow me to read it before I die.

God bless you all.

Pastor TK, Chin State, L Village, Myanmar

My name is Pastor TK and my wife is Mrs. KS. I am pastoring in L Village, L Asang Baptist church. I participated in the checking of our Asang Khongcaa Bible translation. All the doors were closed to print our Bible because our people don’t have the funding. 96% of our Asang Khongcaa people are farmers and live in remote mountainous areas. Because of God alone, we have food to eat from our farm as there is no income at all.

My salary is 25,000 Kyats [$16 USD] per month. It is not easy to raise funds to print our Bible. All of us leaders were upset and discouraged because there was no way to print. But I looked to the Lord and prayed to him because this is the only way we can do it. After praying to God for more than 9 years, God’s miracle came to our Asang people without money from of our Asang people. The Bible was printed and distributed FREELY. This is a wonderful miracle from God for the Asang Khongcaa tribal people.

In the 40 days since receiving our Asang Bible, things have changed, particularly in my Church and village. Especially, there are family prayer meetings in most of homes, there is more love and more concern for each other, many people have come to the morning prayer at dawn at church, no one is late to come to the Church, respect for the pastor has increased, people bring their Bible to every worship services and they are more interested in the preaching in the Church.

This is the very first Bible we Asang Khongcaa people have ever received. Thanks for your great donations to be able to print our Bible and to receive this gift. God bless you all.

Mr. Th, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is Mr. Th. I am 54 years old.  I received a Bible Feely in our own tribal language 45 days ago. I would like to share two things.

First, before I received the Bible, I had never had a Bible nor read from one. My life is full of sorrow and full of problems. I never smiled and never went to church. I was always angry with myself and with others too. I drank alcohol every day, smoked, and sometimes used drugs. No one loved me and most people are not happy to me. I always have a pain in my stomach.

Second, after I received a Bible and began to read from the Bible, my life fully changed. When I read the Bible, my behaviors changed. I became a new person. I don’t want to drink alcohol, I stopped smoking and especially eager to go to church. Now, I cannot stay at home when it is time to worship. I don’t want to go to the farm without reading my Bible. I went to the pastor and asked him to share the gospel with me and now I have accepted Christ. Before I converted, I would have said I was Christian, but I was not born again. Now, God healed my stomach and there is no more pain.

So, I would like to share my testimony that THE WORD OF GOD IS POWERFUL, ALIVE AND HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE!

Mrs. NP, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. NP. I am 57 years old. I am the Asang Khongcaa women’s department director. My house was burned by the Arakan Army in 2019 and all my properties are gone. I am so sad and tried suicide three times but my husband and my mother found me and stopped me all three times.

When I received this Bible and read it, after three days, God gave me peace in my life and encouraged me through His powerful words. I am happy now and I promise you all that “I WILL NEVER TRY TO KILL MYSELF AGAIN AS I UNDERSTOOD NOW HOW GREAT GOD IS AND COMES ALIVE THROUGH READING THE BIBLE.”

Thanks for giving us our own tribal language Bible freely. You have done a great work for our Asang Khongcaa people. God bless you all.

Pastor MB, Chin State, S Township, Myanmar

My name is Pastor Mang Bawi, pastor of  K Asang Baptist Church, S Township. I have been pastoring for 51 years but have never had a Bible in our heart language. I was only able to use the New Testament in Matu.

God blessed our Asang Khongcaa tribal people with the best gift with this Bibles in our heart language. 89% of our Asang Khongcaa people understand only our own language so this Bible is very precious and it is the key to spiritual growth in our people.

After we received the Bible in our own language, my church members are highly motivated to attend Church and our Church services are completely full. Not only fully attended, but people are also sharing testimonies of what God has shown them through reading the Bible. In the services the people share words of thanks to God and thank the donor for this free Bible.

90% of families have started family prayer meetings in the evening. PRAISE THE LORD! Before we had a Bible, most of young people drink alcohol, smoke, and use drugs. After we received the Bible 95% of the young people stopped these bad habits and prefer to attend Church. Their parents are so happy and satisfied when they see their children attending Church and singing gospel songs at Church.

There has been a great change in our Church and our village. Not only my church and my village also the neighboring village and neighboring churches. They learned from the Bible about how important it is to respect their parents and older people.

So, finally, I would like to say you have done the most precious work in giving to us the precious Key to our Asang Khongcaa tribal life. I strongly believe that after 2 years, our Asang Khongcaa people will reach and develop more spiritually through reading the Bible. THANKS TO YOU ALL.

Rev. TB, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is the Rev. TB. I am the former General Secretary of the Asang Khongcaa Baptist Association, and a part of the translation check team. Now, I am a retired pastor but I was the leader of checking the Bible translation into our heart language, Asang Khongcaa. Rev. B started translating in 1988 and completed everything in 2009.  But there was no way to print. Rev. B went to more than four printing ministries in the United States who denied his request as he had translated from the King James Version. He came back to Myanmar really upset.

In 2013, 500 believers came together and began praying and fasting for a way to print our Asang Khongcaa Bible. Continually, we prayed to God for 6 years and finally God answered above and beyond our prayer request.  What I mean when I say “beyond our prayer request” is we were going to borrow money from someone or a Bank and after we printed our Bible, we would then sell and give back that which we borrowed. But God’s plan is beyond our purpose and prayer because now we don’t need to borrow money and as you funded the printing of our Bible.  We received God’s Word for FREE! This is a marvelous blessing to our Khongcaa people.

Up to today, we Asang Khongcaa tribal people don’t have any printed books, even tracts. This Bible is the very first book that we Asang Khongcaa people have received and it is the most precious book to us.

By the grace of God, you, his chosen people, funded all the needs we had for printing and for transportation. Now, we Asang Khongcaa people freely received the golden KEY, the Bible, to help us grow Spiritually and Physically. We Asang Khongcaa tribal people are the most undeveloped tribe among other tribes of the Chin because we didn’t have the Bible.

My prayer was to see and hold our Asang Khongcaa Bible before I died. God answered my prayer and now I see, hold, open and read our own Bible in Asang Khongcaa. PRAISE THE LORD! Thanks to all of God’s chosen people who supported and distributed our Asang Khongcaa Bible to us.

Mrs. P, Chin State, N village, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. P. I am a primary school teacher (Headmaster) in N village. Our prayer has been to be able to have a Bible in our own language. I realized that without a Bible (God’s word) the people are perishing. Therefore, I have been praying to have a Bible in our tribal language since 2001. After 19 years, God answered my prayer. A I am the headmaster at the school, I have decided to teach at least one scripture text in my school each day and read the Bible before class begins. that is why I requested 120 copies of our Asang Khongcaa Bible. They gave me what I requested and now we have the Bibles in the school. As soon as the political and COVID situation is better in our country, I will teach all students to read the Bible before we start classes.

I strongly believe that my students are growing in education and wiser than before because of the foundation of wisdom is God. My school must be the top school in our township because we put God’s Word first in our school.

God bless you all.

Mrs. ST, Chin State, Myanmar

My name is Mrs. ST and my husband is Mr. Kh.  The day we received a Bible in our tribal language is the most blessed and happiest day for our family. Every day we read the Bible and our family has become the happiest and most joyful family.  My husband was a drunkard and always made problems in our family. But after we received Bible and began reading it every night, he has stopped drinking alcohol and has begun to show love to our family. God’s Word is the best tool to stop drinking alcohol because God’s Word is powerful and can changed people’s attitudes.

Our family will always be praying for you all and we will never forget you because you have brought us the key to becoming a happy and blessed family.

Rev. DZ

Note: The Rev. DZ went to heaven on July 11, 2021 due to COVID 19.

I am Rev. DZ, General Secretary of a Baptist Association. I would like to share a brief History of our Chin Bible, the difficulties to get a Bible, the great Blessings to us Chin people for receiving Bibles, and a word of thanks.

The Chin Bible was mainly translated by a well-educated Chin pastor. It was checked and edited by the Chin people. After they were ready to print, a large Bible Society checked it and printed the Bible. Unbeknownst to us, the Bible society took the copyright for themselves. Whenever the Chin church tried to print it again, we had to request from the large Bible Society. The first Chin Bible was printed and released in the early 90’s. Only a few copies were printed by the Bible Society up until 2016. Some of the printed Bibles had mistakes and the Chin people didn’t want to buy the Bibles with mistakes. Then, the Bible Society limited the printing and we could never get the Bibles, even enough for one copy per family.

As the Bible Society limited printing, it is very difficult for us to get the Bible in our heart language. Most villages are in remote areas have never had the opportunity to buy a Bible. The Chin Association office couldn’t help our people because the copyright belonged to the Bible Society. The Bible Society wouldn’t allow us to print ourselves. The only thing we could do is give the need to God in prayer. In Chin State, workers only get 1,500 Kyats ($1 USD) per day. So, it is very difficult to buy even one copy of the Bible which costs 5,000 Kyats– 6000 Kyats from the Bible society

God delivered the Chin people from the difficulties of getting Bibles by you, his chosen servants. Getting the Bible is the most precious gift from the Lord to our Chin people. Now, even in the remote areas, villages have received free Bibles. When they received the free Bibles they could not believe it and they praised God with big tears. How great are the blessings that flow from the Lord through His chosen people.

On Behalf of all Chin people, I would like to say “THANK YOU SO MUCH”. There are no more words to say, but our heart it is full of joy and we want to say thank you all for this wonderful and precious blessings which you donated for us. God bless you all.

Rev. RL

My name is Rev. RL, General Secretary of the Chin Baptist Union (CBU).

First, God delivered our Chin people from the difficulties of getting Bibles through you all. To be able to print our Bible, we argued many times with a large Bible Society who took the copyright from us. They wouldn’t give the files to us and wouldn’t give us permission to print it ourselves. Finally, one of our leaders met with the top leader of the Bible society and by force he asked for the files and we got it and were able to print. God always open the door for His people and those who need a Bible.

By the grace of God, because of all the donations for Bibles, 87 percent of Chin families received a Bible. We praise God that Roman Catholic Churches are interested and eager to distribute to their Churches as well. More than 10,000 copies went to Roman Catholic Churches in remote areas. We distributed to 56 denominations and groups of Chin Christians in all of Myanmar.                                                    

Thank you so much for your deepest and generous donation to us. We will never forget you all and pray for you all.

Father RH

I am Father RH, from the Catholic Church. I am the Director of a certain Chin region of the Catholic Churches.

It our Roman Catholic Church, our members are not allowed to own or read the Bible themselves. I was the one who forbad the members to own and read the Bible. But I realized that this is not the good way. Our Catholic Bible has many books added at a later time so I prefer to use the Protestant Bible.

When we wanted to buy and read the Bible printed by a large Bible society, we couldn’t even buy any because the Bible Society had printed very limited copies. So, we Catholic groups cannot get a Bible.

By the grace of God, we received free Bibles from the Baptist Leader. The Baptist leaders are highly concerned about us being able to get the Bible. I think in the first and second distributions, we got 10,000 copies in Chin State for the Catholic Churches.

Now, the Catholic members - especially the young people – are eager to read the Bible and I strongly believe that they will see and understand the reality and truth of the Words of God in their lives. Actually, I never worship Mary and don’t like the Roman Catholic teachings now because I was converted in July 2019 but still I am in the Catholic Church. Most of the Fathers knew and they denied my teaching and preaching but I am looking to God.

Thanks for giving us the Bible freely and we always remember you in our prayer. All the donors are chosen by God to help get the Word of God to those who need it. May the Lord bless you all.

Major HL

My name is Major HL from the Salvation Army. I am a General Secretary of Chin State. We have never had the opportunity to buy Chin Bibles because the Bible Society printed a very limited number and prefered to sell only to the Baptist denominations. So, it is very difficult to get this Chin Bible to other denominations.

By the grace of God – and the donations of God’s chosen people around the world – we were able to print outside of the control of the Bible Society so that other denominations can receive Bibles. Thanks to you all. We in the Salvation Army received 1980 copies. So, I would like to say thanks to you all. Praise the Lord.

We really thank you all for donating towards the Chin Bible. Because of your donation, all denominations have also received the Bible. You have done a great work for us.                                      

Now, our Salvation Army young people read the Bible and are growing in the Holy Spirit. Not only the young people but also the older people too.  I would like to say great thanks to you all again and again. God bless you all.

Rev. NH

I am the Rev. NH, President of the Church Of Christ (COC). There are 557 families, 17,650 members in our COC denomination in Myanmar. Including the pastors, evangelists and Bible students, we needed 850 copies. By the grace of God, we received 750 copies freely. We still need 100 more copies but we can share with each other.

It is very difficult to get our Chin Bible because previously, the Bible was controlled by a large Bible Society. When the Bible society printed the Bibles, they only gave the Bibles to Baptist denominations because this Bible was originally translated by a Baptist group.

But this time, the Chin Baptist Union was widely concerned with all Chin people and because of your donations, other denominations got the precious opportunities to get Bibles freely. This is answered prayer that we have been praying to God for over 20 years to be able to get Bibles to other denominations. God answered our prayer through you all.

After we received the Bible freely, all our local churches are growing spiritually and in maturity in their lifestyle. Some drunkards have stopped drinking alcohol, some have stopped using drugs, some have stopped smoking and they offer their money to the Church. The church members who are reading the Bible have been sharing their testimonies and prefer to attend Church over others who don’t read their Bible.

Thank you so much for your great donation and giving us Bibles FREELY. When I deeply think about getting the Bible for free, it seems impossible because this is the first time I have ever experienced this in my whole life.

God bless you all abundantly.

Mr. TK

I am Mr. TK. I do Children ministry and serve in the orphanages for the Chin tribe. In my children’s home there are 250 children now. The Bible is the biggest need for our children’s home but there is no way to get Bibles for my children. We only had 5 copies of the Chin Bible donated by the Chin Baptist Union office.

We were praying that all children would be able to have their own Bible. After praying 3 years, God answered in such a wonderful way when we received His Word FREELY.

The Chin Baptist Union gave us 250 copies for each one of my orphanage children. Thanks for your support. My children are reading every morning and night and have memorized more than 75 scripture texts. After reading the Bible, my orphanage children can now smile. Some children cannot smile because they don’t have parents and are always discouraged in their life. But they can smile now. Praise the Lord.

May God bless you all.

Pictures and testimonies, 2018

Biblia Global donors funded 3,623 Bibles for Chin believers which were delivered in 2018.  The following pictures are from the 2018 delivery (names, locations, and sub-tribe are changed for security reasons):

Samuel

My name is Samuel. I am a high school student from M Village. I was raised in a Christian family, and when my grandfather was young, someone gave him a Bible. We still have that Bible in our family and it is the only Bible we have in our family. But it is old and worn and getting hard to use. But from when I was born again I have been reading this Bible and I really love to read the Word of God. But because our Bible was so old and worn I asked my parents to buy us a new one. But they replied that they didn’t even have enough money to keep me in school. The family has to skip some meals just to keep us in school. So there was no way we could ever have a new Bible in our situation. And Bibles were not even available for sale in our area. So since then I have been praying to God for a new Bible. I didn’t know where there were any Bibles available and even if we found one we wouldn’t have the money to buy it, so all I could do was to pray to God and trust He would do a miracle for us.

Then one Sunday we went to church and there were Bibles on the front table near the altar. I asked my pastor if I could have one, and he said, “We are all going to have new Bibles today.” I was so excited to hear this, and during the service the pastor gave a Bible to each family. From that time on I have read this Bible every night before I study my school lessons. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” The word of the Lord is really changing my life and teaching me how to have a better, solid relationship with God.

From the bottom of my heart I am thankful to those who provided the Holy Bible to my family. Thank you so much for providing this spiritual food to my soul.

Pastor Elise

I am Pastor Elise from STZ Village. I am ministering to more than 20 families in the village. I am thrilled to write this appreciation letter to God’s beloved servants who have generously contributed to us.

Many people in the city would say that everyone can buy a Bible if they really have the desire to have the Bible. But I do not agree with those who think this way, because people living like us in the village have a hard time to merely survive. We work and work and sometimes don’t even have enough to eat. There are some people who live without any money at all throughout the year. They grow their farms and they live off of their farms, and they don’t have any money at all. So it is very difficult for us to get a Bible for [nearly US$ 4]. So we don’t have Bibles in our church.

Then one day we received some Bibles in our church and I cried and was filled with joy. I gave one Bible to each family in my church and I encouraged them to read the Bible at home and to bring the Bible to every worship service. We have added a Bible study class each Thursday night. Some believers even carry their Bible when they go to work on the rice fields and they will read the scriptures during their lunch breaks. I have seen significant spiritual growth and discipline after the believers have been reading the Word of God.

Thank you so much for these Bibles. May our good God continue to bless you and your ministry.

Ruth

My name is Ruth. I attend Phual Church. I have never had the Bible before, as it is almost impossible to come by. But I felt that my spiritual life was not strong and I was missing much of what God wanted for me and from me. But I received a Bible at the Chin Bible give-away and I want to thank you for it. I love it and it gives me strength when I am weak. I have been longing my whole life to have a Bible for my personal use. So I have prayed to God and God has answered my prayers through you.

I read my Bible every day and I meditate on what I read. It lifts my life up again and brings me hope when I am going through depression. I came to realize the greatness of God through reading His Living Word. How precious! Reading the Bible made me understand about God’s wonderful creation of man. Even me! I was created in the image of God and allowed to live a life with purpose.

There is nothing more to say than the words “Thank you.” Thank you very much. Because of your labor I now have the word of God which is changing my life and encouraging me every day. God bless you and your ministry bountifully!

Lian

My name is Lian and I live in K Town. I am now sixty years old and all my life is so misery. My wife and I had eight children, but all of them died. When my children died I said to myself, “If God is really there, He would not harm me so much. So it is better to go back to my ancestor’s religion. Because the God whom I worship now cannot bless me.”

Whenever our pastor visited our home I said, “There is no God and I will never go to church.” One Sunday our pastor came to our home and he invited me to go to church and he said, “Today we are going to give you a Holy Bible.” So I just did what he said and I went to the church. During the worship service our pastor encouraged us to read the Bible saying, “All the answers of your doubts will be found in the Bible.”

After the service was over I went home with a Bible and I just threw the Bible on the couch. My wife took the Bible and started reading it. Some days later she asked me, “Are you are really so against reading the Bible?” I grudgingly opened the Bible and it opened to the Book of Job. From the first chapter I became very interested, because Job’s sufferings and mine were similar. This helped me to stop feeling so sorry for myself. After reading more of the Bible I realized that there is a God and He does things according to His own will, not the way I want it all the time. But He wants us to become stronger, and that can happen through hard times. So reading the Word of God strengthened me and brought me back to faith in Jesus Christ. My greatest thanks go to those who brought Holy Bibles here to be given away for free. Through this Bible God has turned me away from my sin and back unto Jesus and has saved my soul.

Mr. Kham

My name is Mr. Kham.  My church is M Evangelical Baptist Church in K Town.  My family does not have the whole Bible, but only a New Testament.  Many times I tried to buy a Bible at the Christian Bookstore, but they did not have a full Chin Bible for sale. They only had Burmese and English Bibles for sale.  So I have prayed for many years in order to have a whole Bible version in our Chin language.

Then unexpectedly my church pastor gave me a free, full, Chin Bible with both the Old and New Testaments.  I was overjoyed.  Now my family and I can read the whole Bible.  I asked my church pastor, “Where did you get this Bible?”  He replied, “It was a present to the Chin people from a missionary abroad.

I am very thankful to you and to the people who are working for this great distribution.  May God bless you more!

Reverend Nang

My name is Reverend Nang and I am the pastor of S Evangelical Baptist Church.  My church is a new church.  It is only five years old.  Since we started our church, no one could afford to buy a Bible, but also there has not been any Chin Bibles even for sale at the bookshops for many years.  I have one Chin Bible and there are no more in my church.  So it is so difficult to grow up the church members in the word of God if they cannot read it for themselves.

But now we have been given one Bible for each of our families and we are all happy for that.  This letter is their thank you for your donation.  We all pray for you that more Bibles will be given to other believers who do not have a copy of the Bible in their hands. 

Pictures and testimonies, 2016

Biblia Global donors funded 2700 Bibles for Chin believers which were delivered in February 2016.  The following pictures are from that delivery (names, locations, and sub-tribe are changed for security reasons):

Mr. G.T.

My name is Mr. G.T.  I am 29 years old.  I was not born into a Christian family.   But God touched my life on the night of April 8, 2002 and I became a child of God.  Once I was born again, my life began changing in unbelievable ways.  And many tensions arose in my family because of my faith, and some family members ignored me because of my new faith.  But now my immediate family members have also believed in Christ.  We all take our part in serving the Lord.  I have also faced difficulties because of poverty.  But God helps me in various ways, and I can pass through all difficulties, because of God’s help.

I have never had a Bible before.  Since the day in 2002 when I received Christ as my personal savior I have desired to have a Bible and since that day I have prayed for a Bible.  When I heard we were going to get free Bibles, I was greatly overjoyed and I prayed for those who are concerned for us and who work for us to have Bibles. I put salvation first in my life, so where ever I go I have shared salvation to others. 

Reverend N.H.

My name is Reverend N.H.  I am 32 years old.  My family has been Christian since the time of my grandparents who were the first in our lineage to accept Christ.  Since I was young I have been familiar with God’s salvation, love, and mercy.  I praise the name of the Lord.

The heaviest burden in my life is poverty which is suffered because of politics and the definite separation of religion and politics.  But my hope is realized when through the Lord I overcome poverty and difficulties.  In family and individual life, difficulties can be faced with the Lord.  I experience the love and goodness of God in my daily life.  But the goodness and love of God cannot be expressed with words.  I praise the name of the Lord.  I do my best to spread the Gospel in my village.  The greatest work is to spread the Gospel. 

I have never had a Bible of my own.  I read the one community Bible that we have for the whole church.  It is not easy for me to buy a Bible, and it is also very difficult to even find a Bible to buy.  But I am happy now, because I have my own Bible.  I really give thanks to those who work for our Chin people to get free Bibles

Mr. N.S

My name is Mr. N.S.  I am 56 years old.  I was born into and brought up in a Christian family.  My trust in God increased especially when God saved my child from a serious illness.  My son had fainting spells and one time he fell down and he had no heart beat.  I quickly prayed that God would give me my son back, and then I breathed into my son’s mouth and God showed His grace and my son came back to life.  And not only that, but God healed my son from his fainting.  This caused us to have great strength in God.  Now I participate in God’s mission by praying.

I have a Bible, but it is now old, and I have been praying every month for two years to have a new Bible.  I greatly rejoiced when news came about the free new Bible giveaway.  I will give my old Bible to someone who does not have a Bible.

Mr. Z.N.

My name is Mr. Z.N.  I am 39 years old.  I was brought up in Christian family.  But it was one night in 1994 when God touched my heart and let me know by a real experience from Him that He died for me.  It was then that I truly became a Christian.  After being born again I rejoiced in meditating on God’s word.  God called my father through sickness.  He committed himself to God in his life and also when he was near death.  But he recovered from his sickness. 

We have faced difficulties because of our faith, but the Lord helps us to overcome them.  When I face difficulties in the family, I prayed to God.  He always led me to overcome the difficulties.  God sees me as His child and He answers my prayers and keeps me in times of grief and sorrow.

I have a Bible, but one is not enough for all my family members.  The news to receive a free Bible surprised my mind, because this has never happened in my life time.  I thank those who gave this Bible.  May God bless you all.

Mr. N.L.

My name is Mr. N.L.  I am 43 years old.  My family raised me in the Laipian Pau Cin Hau Pasian Religion.  In ancient times, most Chin people were Animists who feared and served the evil spirits which we call dawis.  The village priests whom the Chin people called Dawi Tuulpi or Dawi Siampi would tell the villagers what they must sacrifice in order to appease the spirits.  To the rich people this was not a burden, but to the poor Chin people, they often spent everything and would sometimes fall into slavery, because of the poverty caused by the many offerings demanded by the dawis.  The Chin people also believed that if they killed their opponent in this life, then in the afterlife the one who was killed would be the slave of the one who had killed him.  So many conflicts arose due to these beliefs.

Laipian Pau Cin Hau was born in 1859.  When he was 17 years old he supposedly began receiving almost daily dreams and visions from a powerful spirit called Pasian.  Because of these visions, Laipian lead many Chin people to stop serving the dawis and to stop acting violently towards each other.

During my childhood my whole family left the Laipian religion and accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior.  We left our past way of life.  I have lived until today with the life that I received from Jesus. I face sufferings because of my faith.  I was in shame because of poverty.  Until today I work for the Lord in the name of Christ.  The Gospel is the best means of comfort in times of grief. God looks at me with his eyes and he takes me higher and he always gives me strength.  We have witnessed God healing the sick people in our church when we pray. Some time ago in faith I gave my Bible to my friend who had never had a Bible, because it is almost impossible to get.  Now God has provided me with a new Bible.  Praise the Lord.  I really thank those who worked to give us free Bibles. 

Mr. D.K.

My name is Mr. D.K.  I am 45 years old.  I was born into a non-Christian family.  My parents are not Christians, but all of their children became Christians in their childhood.  Even though my parents were not Christians, they encouraged us to go to church.  I became a Christian by reading Christian booklets and by hearing sermons from some deacons.  I now am also a minister of the Gospel, but I am without any educational background.

Based on my faith I served the Lord and my spiritual life grew much.  My joy in His service also grew.  But I have been falsely accused and disgraced for matters that I had no part in.   Sickness in the family is another difficulty.  The power of the Holy Spirit is in me and He has lifted me up higher than I am worth.  He chose me rather than choosing someone else who is more qualified than me.  I am not good in preaching and spreading the gospel, but to share the gospel to others is my responsibility which given by Jesus.  So I will do my best. We have been praying for a Bible for each of us to have.  I am so happy when I received the powerful Book of His word which I have been praying about two years for.  I thank God and the people who I do not see—the same people who do not see us—and we who receive this gift know that your contribution is great.  

Mr. K.A.

My name is Mr. K.A.  I am 45 years old.  I was born into a Christian family, but I didn’t always live the way God wanted me to.  God called me to work for Him from when I was a teenager and I was born again.  After I was born again I stopped drinking alcohol.  Now I do my best to share and serve and give.  My father was the first in my family to accept Jesus, and his life was very much blessed. Our church members do not have Bibles, but now they will have their own Bibles to read.  Our church always prays to have Bibles.  I thank God for answering our prayers.  I am so surprised to have a free Bible for each family in my church

Mr. S.L.

My name is Mr. S.L.  I am 22 years old.  I was born into a Christian family.  God opened my heart to receive Jesus as the redeemer and savior.  When I was born again in Christ my heart changed.   Since then I feel love for others and I seek good for them. I have faced temptations since I have been saved.  God at times has whipped me when I was disobedient.  Even when I went away from Him He did not leave me behind.  I praise His name.  God loves me so much that when I pray with a broken heart He hears my prayers.

In the past I envied those who had a Bible.  Today God arranged a Bible for me as a free gift.  I did not spend a single kyat (Myanmar currency) for this Bible.  May God bless those who provided Chin Bibles for us freely! The Scripture portion I love most is Psalms 121.

Mr. E

My name is Mr. E.  I am 39 years old.  I was born into a Christian family.  My past way of life was changed when I was born again.  From a life of worldliness my life changed to a life of good conduct, Bible reading, prayer, going to church, giving tithes etc.  I enjoy doing these things.  I was the first one in my family to accept Jesus.  I was born again at a Bible preaching campaign.

I had a little suffering due to my faith.  I was born into a Catholic family, so there arose different concepts of practice in my family.  From the Catholic family I joined the AOG church.  God helped me to lead my family members into a single church.

God has helped me at times when difficulties have come.  He answered my prayers to convert my family members.  He reveals Himself to me when reading His Words.  He has touched my heart to tell others about redemption.  It is also necessary for us to worship in silence.  We must worship whole heartedly and wait for His timing, and be in silence in order to hear His voice.

I have a Bible, but it has become worn and torn from use over time.  Pages have fallen out, but I keep the pages because I love them so much. I was filled with great joy when I heard of this free Chin Bible Distribution.  This is a great gift.  I am so happy.  

Notes:

[1] Arno Maierbrugger, “37% Jobless In Myanmar, Study Finds,” investvine, investvine.com [home page on-line]; available from http://investvine.com/37-jobless-in-myanmar-study-finds/; April 21, 2015.

[2] Sam Bagnall, “Burma's 'forgotten' Chin people suffer abuse,” British Broadcasting News, news.bbc.co.uk [home page on-line]; available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8626008.stm/; Accessed October 8, 2016.

[3] Joshua Lipes, “Chin Christians Persecuted,” Radio Free Asia, www.rfa.org [home page online]; available from http://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/chin-09052012132942.html; Accessed October 8, 2016.

*Your gift to Biblia Global and our Bibles for Asia Project will pay for the printing of Bibles to our Asian brothers and sisters in the hardest to reach places of the globe. Unfortunately we cannot preference gifts to go to an individual people group's Bible printing or to a specific Asian country; we instead pool the money given to the Bibles for Asia Project to fund the next Bible printing and/or delivery to the believers in greatest need of Bibles. Printing costs are usually $5 - $7 per Bible and transportation cost are roughly $1 per Bible.