Karen

Introduction

The story of the Karen people group in Burma and Thailand is long and intricate. What we call the “Karen” in the west is really a collection of 20 + sub-ethnic groups, the largest being the Sqaw/Sgaw Karen and the Pwo Karen.[1] When the British arrived nearly 300 years ago in what would come to be called Burma, they began to intentionally group smaller sub-groups into more cohesive people groups, and it was then that the “Karen” identity began to form.  What is fascinating about the ethnic Karen identity is that Christianity was also introduced during the formation of this growing ethnic cohesion, so in some segments of Karen society, Christianity is genuinely seen as part of a Karen tradition.[2] In fact, it can be said that Christianity provided the cohesion and knowledge to unite the various scattered Karen groups.[3]

The Karen accept Christianity

The Karen – like many similar tribal groups in SE Asia - have an oral tradition that says they were given a Golden book of wisdom that taught about the One true, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God. But the Karen lost their book either in a field or it was eaten by ants.[4,5] The oral tradition says their white brothers across the sea retained the Golden book from God, however, and would one day bring the Golden book of wisdom back to the Karen.  Additionally, the Karen also believed they were being menaced by an evil spirit and were waiting for the One True God to come back and save the Karen and humanity from sin.[5]

Buddhism was introduced to the Karen 1500 years before Christianity and was mixed with traditional animist beliefs to form a type of hybrid Buddhism by the time the British arrive in Burma.  Buddhism was seen by some Karen as the fulfillment of the oral tradition of the return of the Golden book of wisdom and salvation, yet other Karen readily accepted Christianity and Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the promises of their oral tradition when western missionaries brought the gospel to the Karen in the 1830’s.  For the first Karen who accepted Christianity, the crucial turning point for them were the core components of Christianity; the Bible being seen as the Word of God; the Holy Spirit coming in power to break sin and the bondage of their animist traditions; and Christianity being the religion and source of knowledge of God that they had lost and then retrieved.[6] 

A fight for Identity

Burma, like its surrounding neighbors - is a country made up of many ethnic minorities.  By one count over a third of the population in Burma belongs to ethnic minorities and within these ethnic minorities, at least 100 different languages are spoken.[7] For nearly 125 years, control of Burma was either fought over by the British (1824 – 1885) or governed by the British as a British colony (1886 – 1942).  During that time a number of ethnic minorities became allies of and supported the British, and thus began to be seen as “loyalists” with the British, to the scorn of the majority people group, the Burmans.[8] The Karen were one of these groups who allied themselves with the British system for nearly a century and fought with the British against the invading Japanese during WWII.  Like many minority people groups in SE Asia – the Hmong and the Khmu for example in Vietnam and Laos – when the ethnic majority sought independence from their colonial masters following WWII, those minority people groups who were previously allied with the Western powers, were the ones who fell into disfavor by the new ruling parties once independence was achieved.  The Karen were one of the many minority people groups who fell into disfavor following Burma’s independence in 1948.

As the new independent Burma was taking shape during the late 40’s onward, the Karen began fighting first for recognition as an indigenous people group, then as an independent Karen nation, and finally as an autonomous Federal region within Burma. While this fight at first occurred around the political table, it shortly turned into a military insurgency against the authoritarian military regime ruling the country.  This insurgency has been waged for the better part of the last 60 years and continues to this day with atrocities occurring on both sides.  

Current situation

What the insurgency has meant over many decades is 1. a large displaced Karen refugee population living within Burma and on the border of Burma and Thailand, 2. Those Karen who are genuine Christians are doubly persecuted for being both Karen (a minority people group who were once allied with the British and are now fighting an insurgency) and Christian (In Burma, religious violations and abuses occur against Christians on a regular basis [9]).  Many Karen are simply caught in the middle of the decades long, brutal power struggle; these are the ones who suffer most.  There are many, many Karen who are true followers of Jesus Christ who live in this doubly difficult plight.  Because of the Karen's situation as a persecuted people group, in a war torn region with many refuges, with a government who is hostile to the Christian faith, the Karen have no access to God’s Word – the very Word that they believe to be the Golden book promised to their people for thousands of years! 

Biblia Global exists to serve brothers and sisters like these and to come alongside those Christians who are asking for God’s Word but don’t have a way to get it! Will you pray about giving to our Bibles for Asia project so Karen Christians and other persecuted Christians in Asia like the Karen may have their own copy of God's Word? Printing costs are usually $5 - $7 per Bible and transportation cost are roughly $1 per Bible*

Mrs. Esther, Burma

My name is Mrs. Esther. I am 48 years old and I live in L Village, Ah Township. In 1999 I began praying to own my own Sqaw Karen Bible. After 22 years of long prayer, God answered my prayer. I received a Sqaw Karen Bible freely from Rev. PH on December 28, 2021. God never failed me and was always faithful.

This is the first time I have owned a Bible is my life. I could not buy one myself because it cost 23,000 Kyat [$12.50 USD] per copy in our area. When I work the whole day at my job, I get 1500 kyats [$0.81 USD]. So it is impossible to be able to buy a Bible. Most of the people in our village and neighboring villages still don’t have a Bible because they don’t have the money: There are also no Bibles to buy.

Thank you all. God bless you all.

Rev. S. Samuel, Burma

My name is Rev. S. Samuel, pastor of K Karen Baptist Church, K village, T Township, Karen State. I am also the Chairman of Th Eastern Karen Baptist Church. There are 16 villages in our Th Eastern region.

I was born into a Christian family. I accepted Christ when I was 30 years old through the sharing of Rev. Lah when our family moved a third time. I accepted Christ and I always pray to God to be able to serve him. God answered my prayer and now I am serving the Lord as a pastor.

I moved from village to village 8 times because of the war and our villages were burned to the ground [by the Burmese Army]. We ran for our lives more than 100 times. In our region there are 16 villages with more than 3,500 people but 99% of these people don’t have a Bible or have never seen the Bible. This is unbelievable but it is really happening in our areas. There are 26 pastors in these 16 villages. Rev. J and PH gave us Bibles for FREE in December 2021. 16 out of 26 pastors didn’t have Bibles. As soon as I received this Bible, I started reading and now I have already read completely through one time from Genesis to Revelation. This is the very first time I have owned a Sqaw Karen Bible. My father had one when I was a child but as we moved and ran many time we don’t know where it was lost.

We have been praying to get a Bible from you every day. Without your help there is no way to get Bible in our areas. To get to our area, you need to ride a motorbike for at least 4 hours and some villages takes 6-8 hours in the non-rainy season. In the rainy season, it is more difficult to get our remote area villages. So, as we heard from Rev. PH, we will receive Bible before the rainy season.

Thanks to you all for your deepest concerned for our Karen people especially who those who live in the mountains and the most remote areas. To receive and own a Bible is the most precious treasure for us. God bless you all.

Mrs. NP Shi, Burma

My name is Mrs. NP Shi. I’m 73 years old. I accepted Christ when I was 14 years old. After I accepted Christ, my parents were killed by the Burmese army. I cried a lot because of their death. I remembered Jesus and 3 years after I lost my parents, I started going to Church. I had my father’s Bible but our house and the entire village was burnt to the ground by the Burmese Army. My Bible was burned with our house. From that time on I have not had a Bible even though I eagerly wanted to read a Bible.

When I was 20 years old, I started praying for a Bible but never saw a way to own one in my entire life because Bibles are expensive (17,000 kyats [$19.20 USD]). I also live in a very remote area and it is very difficult to even get to a bookshop in the city. What I could do, however, is to pray for my need of a Bible.

God answered my prayer and I received a Bible freely after 51 years of prayer. God prepared for me the best people to get a Bible to me in my home: the Rev. PH and Rev. J came to my house and they gave me a Bible!

There are no more words in my mouth when I received the Bible because I was so happy. I cried with tears and praised God for His faithfulness and unfailing love to me.

I read this Bible every day and I received many spiritual blessings in my life especially blessings of peace in my heart. By the grace of God, my eyes still are very good and I am able to read the Bible. I memorized 120 Bible verses now and recite those verses in the Church worship service.

The happiest day in my life is when I received my Bible. My most precious belonging is my Bible. I was Joyless in my life when I couldn’t read the Bible, but I have joy now that I can read the Bible and memorize verses.

Thanks to God and to you all. God answered my prayer though you all. God is good all the time for us.

Mr. SG, Burma

My name is Mr. SG and I am 71 years old. I have had to move from 12 different villages because of the war. During these times, 8 of my houses were burned to the ground and I lost all my family members and belongings. I had a Bible but it was burned up when my third house burned to the ground. I couldn’t buy another Bible but I have been praying to have another Bible again. By the grace of God, I received a free Bible from Rev. PH in December 2021. The Bible is my best friend because whenever I read, I have peace and joy in my heart. Thanks to you all and God bless you.

Mr. Roland, Burma

My name is Mr. Roland. I am 17 years old and I live in Ti Village, Ng Township. I was born and brought up in a Christian family but I was not a born again Christian. I didn’t know and understand about Salvation because I had never attended Bible teaching and training in my life. There is no pastor in our village because our village is on the mountain side and in a very remote area. Our village also cannot pay the salary for a pastor.

When I heard about a Bible training program in December of 2021 at Singugyi Church, 45 miles from our village, I was interested to attend and by the grace of God I attended. Rev. PH taught about salvation in detail and I accepted Christ through his teaching. I was baptized and I received a Bible for free.

I am really happy to receive this Bible. There is no Bible in our village and the neighboring villages. I am the only one who owns a Bible in our village. I am so Blessed.

Now I owned the best and most powerful book. I strongly believe that the Bible is the KEY to success in life. Thanks to you all.

Mrs. EM Wa, Burma

My name is Mrs. EM Wa and I live in Ph village, T township. I was born into a Christian family. I was married to a Buddhist young man and he died in 2019. I am so lonely and tried to kill myself 7 times but whenever I tried to kill myself I heard a small voice “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH” so I stopped. I received a free Sqaw Karen Bible from Rev. PH in 2018 but I never read it. As I heard the small voice, I remembered I had a Bible in my box. So, I took out the Bible and read from the Gospel of Matthew. I read it every night and when I read John chapter 13,14,15, and 16 I felt something in my heart and lost all my sorrows. I felt full of peace in my heart. In John 14:27, Jesus says “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

From that time on, my life is full with peace and joy which was given to me by Jesus. I really thank all those who work to get a Bible to me. This Bible (the Word of God) gave me peace in my life and saved me from suicide. If I don’t have this Bible, and I don’t read the Bible, I would have killed myself.

Even though I am alone now, I am talking with God every day and reading His words every day. I will praise God all the days of my life. You saved my life through giving me the Bible.

Thanks again and again for your free gift of a Bible to me. Thanks to all the sponsors for working to get us Bibles. When we get to heaven, we will say “THANK YOU” face to face because I will never see you in this world. God is good.

Mr. EK Paw, Burma

My name is Mr. EK Paw. I am 31 years old and I live in the most remote region village of Kl, Ng Township. Our village is nearby a river and there are no roads. It is very difficult to come to our village especially in the rainy season. There are 127 Christian families in our village but there is no pastor and no church building because our Church building was damaged and our pastor and family died by the Typhoon Nargis in 2008. After that we couldn’t rebuild and couldn’t find a pastor for our village up to this day.

I was born and brought up in a Christian family. My parents and two of my elder brothers died in Typhoon Nargis in 2008. After that I have lived alone and mostly I cry. Our house was completely damaged and there is no house for me to live in. When I was 17 years old, I started smoking, drinking alcohol, and sometimes using drugs because I felt that my life was nothing and I didn’t have parents, brothers, a house, or any place to live. I lived like this for 7 years.

After ten years, I was met by an evangelist in a small bamboo tent at the farm, he shared with me the gospel about Jesus 6 times in 6 days. Then, by the grace of God I surrendered my wicked life to God and committed my life to the Lord. All my sorrows and burdens were taken by Jesus and I became a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17).

After I accepted Christ, my life was totally changed. I stopped every wicked thing and began attending Church. I started having fellowship with the people in Church and attending prayer meetings. I attended Bible Study class every Wednesday night. My life is now full of joy. God replaced all my sorrows with happiness. By the grace of God, I was able to build a small Bamboo tent and bought some small land for farming. God lifted me up day by day after I accepted him as my personal savior and Lord.

As I attended Bible study class and all Church services, I really wanted to own a Bible. But I couldn’t make that happen under my own effort because the Sqaw Karen Bible is too expensive for me. It cost 17,500 Kyats [$9.46 USD] per copy. We also cannot get it in our village. So, what I could do is pray and wait. After 6 years, I received a Sqaw Karen Bible for free from Rev. PH and Rev. J. They came to our village and distributed to us FREELY. THE DAY I RECEIVED BIBLE IS THE MOST JOYFUL DAY IN MY LIFE. I will never forget this day of December 28, 2021. I Highly appreciate Rev. PH and his friends as they came to our village because most of the pastors and ministers don’t want to visit us because it is dangerous to get all the way to our village. They came to our village not to take but to give the Bible.

I am reading the Bible every day before I go to the farm and before I sleep at night. God is always strengthening me and encouraging me through His word whenever I read. The more I read, the more I am encouraged and the more things I have learned as the Word of God is QUICK, POWERFUL, AND SHARPTER THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD…”.

Thank you for your free gift of a Bible to me. God bless you all. There are many Sqaw Karen Christian in our village and neighbor villages who don’t have a Bible. When they knew about our village receiving a free Bible, they wanted to get one and they are praying to get Bible from you.

Thanks.

Mr. Ee, Burma

My name is Mr. Ee. I’m the father of 5 children. My wife died in 2020 from COVID 19. I was born and brought up in a Christian family but I was not a born again Christian. I was addicted to drugs, a drunk man, a thief, a problem maker, and wicked in the village and also in neighboring villages. When I was in the local prison because of a drug selling case my wife gave me a Sqaw Karen Bible. At first I didn’t want to read it, but there was nothing to do in prison so I started reading the Bible. When I read the book of Romans and the Gospel of John I read that Jesus died for my sins and paid for my sins by his death. Those who believe in Him are saved. So, I confessed my sins and accepted Christ as my personal savior and Lord in the prison. Two weeks after I accepted Christ, I was freed from prison. Actually, I was supposed to stay in prison 12 more weeks but God amazingly delivered me from prison.

After I accepted Christ and was released from prison, my life was changed. I no longer used drugs, no longer drank alcohol, didn’t smoke and always read the Bible. I began sharing the gospel to others as much as I could. Through my sharing, two alcoholic men accepted Christ. Praise the Lord! I am trying to support my five children and also trying to be a good father for them. Our family reads the Bible together every night and prays for those who work to get the Bible to other people around the world. Our family tries to live for eternity and for God. I hope my wife is so happy when she looks down at us from heaven.

Thank you for giving me this Bible for free. This is an amazing work of Christ to our Karen people through God’s chosen people around the world. There are many villages and people who are waiting to get a Bible from you. They are praying and waiting for God’s timing. God bless you all.

Mr. Aung, Burma

My name is Mr. Aung. I am 69 years old and I live in Kh village, Ng township. My parents are from the Bamar tribe (Buddhist worshipers) and I was born and brought up in a very strong Buddhist family. I am not Karen but have lived and grown up among the Karen people as our village is a Karen village. As my parents are very strong Buddhists, they stand very strong against the Karen Christian people. There are 265 families in our village and only our family is from the Bamar tribe and also the only Buddhist family. 264 families are Karen and Christian.

My mother died in 2002 and my father died in 2009 from brain cancer. I am a single man and also a rich man because I am the only son and heir of my parents. After my parents died, I continued to live as a Buddhist and worship Buddha. I never allowed Christian people to share about Jesus and never ate or attended Christian feasts. I cared about no one because I was rich and many Karen people work for me to get money. They are my workers and I am their boss.

In 2014, I unexpectedly fell down on the floor in my house and became unconscious. My workers brought me to the Hospital and when the doctor checked my body, they found a tumor on my brain. They performed surgery to take the tumor out and test it. The result is the tumor is cancerous.

When I found out the results, I was so sad and decided to cure my brain cancer. I sold my house, all my animals, cars, and everything else to cure my cancer but nothing made it better. I had spent all my money and riches, and nothing could heal me. My cancer only got worse. I was waiting to die and I was really afraid to die yet I had no options. I was thinking about life after death but I found no answers.

During this time, the Karen Pastor of our village came to me in the hospital. He shared with me about Jesus who healed a woman having an issue of bleeding for 12 years [Luke 8:43-48]; a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years [John 5:1-15]; People Jesus raised from the dead; and two blind men healed by Jesus. But all the pastor’s sharing about Jesus didn’t touch my heart. I still stayed strong following Buddha and not Jesus. After the pastor shared, he prayed for me and gave me a Sqaw Karen Bible. Even though I am not Karen, I can speak the Karen language and can read Karen letters very well. I didn’t even touch the Bible for one week but after one week, I took it and started to read from the book of Matthew. Then, I felt something in my heart when I read the Bible and I became more interested to continue to read. Whenever I woke up and finished eating and receiving the injections by the doctors, I read the Bible. The more I read, the better I felt in my heart and body. While I was reading chapter by chapter from Matthew, I saw all the miracles Jesus did which the pastor had shared with me. So I was very excited and decided to challenge Jesus. So, I challenged and pray to Jesus “IF YOU HEAL ME FROM MY BRAIN CANCER, I WILL WORSHIP YOU MY ENTIRE LIFE AND NOT WORSHIP BUDDHA ANY LONGER. YOU WILL BE LORD AND MASTER OF MY LIFE”.

After I prayed to Jesus, I felt that all my cancer pain, all my burdens in my heart, were filled with peace. The next day, I called the Karen pastor and asked more about Jesus and what to do to be born again in Christ. He explained all Jesus had done for me and then prayed for me. I accepted Christ, crying and confessing my sins to Jesus on that day. This is the glorious day of August 1, 2020.

After one week, the doctor checked on my brain tumor, but he found no more tumor on my brain. The doctors were shocked because they had already given up on me and had given me 15 days to live. But I am still alive because Jesus overcome my cancer. Now, I have no cancer. I lost all my riches and my worldly things, but I now belong to Jesus and I am rich in Jesus. My health is totally good now. I share the gospel and share my testimony to people who are not yet born again, especially with Buddhist worshippers.

My favorite Bible verse is Matthew 16:26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Thank you for Bible which I received for FREE from your donation and those who come and distribute freely to our village. May the Lord bless you more and more.

Now, I live in a Bamboo tent (see the background of the picture) and not a house but I am so happy because Jesus healed me.

Rev. Samuel, Burma

My name is Rev. Samuel, pastoring in my native K village. There are 567 families in our village, they are all Christian but there is only one copy of the Bible in our village which was purchased in 1971 (See picture below). I started pastoring in my village in 1984 but I didn’t have my own Bible until today. When I and my villagers received one copy of the Bible freely to each family. They are so happy.

It is very difficult to buy and to own a Bible for the people who live in the remotest villages because they are so far from the city and there is no income for the people. They are just farmers and they have only rice for their food. Some villages are isolated, and the government doesn’t care because of the civil war in these areas. Therefore, there are no roads, and most villages depend only on the river to visit neighboring villages. Cars can only reach some villages only in the summer season. My Church members are hungry for the Word of God and they have been trying to get their own Bible as much as they could, but it hasn’t been successful because our Sqaw Karen Bible is so expensive especially for village people. When they work the whole day, they got only 1500 Kyats (1 US$). They have family and the children need to go school. So there is no way to be able to buy one copy of Bible for them or even for me as their pastor.

One month after we received the Bible in our Church, there are great changes. Even though we cannot gather in the Church [due to COVID19], the people read the Bible together, pray together, sing and have regular family prayer meetings. Church members are growing in reading the Bible and loving each other more and more. Some members come to me and ask me about questions from the Bible. These show the great changes after the people have received their Bibles. I would like to say thank you so much for giving us our Sqaw Karen Bible freely to our Church. You sow the seed to best place. Our prayer is that you will grow your sowing seeds and that they bear many fruit in our village and also other villages of Sqaw Karen where Rev. H and friends

Mrs. Lydia, Burma

My name is Mrs. Lydia, I’m 78 years old. I was the pastor in N village until I was 70 years old but now I am retired. I pastored 48 years without a Bible. I just copied by hand all the New Testament books, the book of Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. This hand copy book is my handbook of the Bible for 48 years.

Today is the most precious and blessed day for me because I received our Sqaw Karen Bible plus Hymnal completely free. WOW, AMAZING AND UNBELIEVABLE. My right eye cannot see now but left eye is still good. So, my prayer to God is that “Lord, before I read this Bible from the beginning to the end, and before I sing all Hymns, do not take my life”. I strongly believed that God will hear my prayer and I will read the whole Bible and sing all the hymns.

Also, I would like to say thanks to you concerning Sqaw Karen Bible Promise Book. It is really useful for all ages especially for the children. There are many children in our neighbor villages. As we received only one copy per Bible for family, if you can give Bible Promise Book to all Sqaw Karen People, it will be highly appreciated because this small book is like a Bible. This is my deepest and humble request to you on behalf of my people.

We Sqaw Karen people received the most precious blessings (through the Bible) through you. Even though we are sinners, God loves the Karen people. Praise the Lord. We Sqaw Karen people in villages are so poor and most Karen people in the villages are moving here and there for their lives because of the fighting. They have pain in their heart because they lost all their land, properties, parents, relatives, brothers, and sisters. The Bible is the best to CURE the pain in their heart. Some men and women became drunkards, drug addicts, and started smoking because they thought that these bad things can cure the pain in their heart.

Now in our areas, as I heard from 16 pastors from 16 villages, those who received the Bible from Rev. J and friends. They read the Bible and stopped doing wicked things. They came to the Church praising God. They began to work harder in their farms and worked towards unity in their family. All these great changes came because of the reading of the bible which you distributed freely to them. You have done a great work for those people. You are amazing in the eyes of the lord. Your reward in heaven is great. Please keep on for our Sqaw Karen people those who still don’t have bible especially in the villages.

As I pastored for 48 years, I visited and shared the gospel to many villages of the remote areas. So, when these people heard they could get the Bible in my village, they came to me and asked me how. Also, they really wanted to get a Bible Promise Book. I called to Rev. H and asked for more Bible Promise Books. He said there is no more. So, I would like to request to you to also reprint Sqaw Karen Bible Promise Book for us. Thanks to you for all your hard work for our Sqaw Karen people. God bless you all.

Mrs. Esther, Burma

My name is Mrs. Esther, I’m 81 years old. I was driven out of 7 different villages because of the fighting and now I am living in T village. My husband and two of my sons died in the fighting. I ran with my daughter for my life and now I am living with my daughter.

I accepted Christ as my personal savior and Lord when I was 15 years old (1954). From that time on, I really wanted to own a Bible and I was hungry to read it but it was totally impossible for me to own because of my poverty. I live in very remote area and I moved so many times as I ran for my life. But I have been praying to God since 1954 until the day I received a Bible on May 12, 2020. After continually praying for 66 years, I received a Bible. HOW GREAT IS MY GOD WHO ANSWERED MY PRAYER.

On August 12, 2019, my right knee was in so much pain. When I went to have it checked with the doctor, they found cancer. I was so sad especially since I didn’t own Bible as I prayed to God. I don’t want to die before I owned a Bible. So, I prayed to God continually not to die before I owned Bible.

On May 11, 2020 I heard blessed news from my Pastor that a group will come to our village to distribute Bibles. So, on May 12, I woke up early in the morning and waited with prayer. The group came to our village at 11:30 am with Bibles and I asked my daughter to help me walk at her side (as I could not walk myself) to meet the Rev. H and the group. Then, I shared about my prayer and desire to have a Bible before I die and that I had been waiting for 66 years for a Bible. Rev. H handed me one. I cried out to the Lord and said to the Lord, “thank you God for answering my prayer. Give me more days to read this bible, let me finish reading it one time from the beginning to the end, then I am ready to die.” I praised and cried to the Lord as I am so happy and satisfied that I finally owned my own Bible.

After praising God, Rev. J encouraged me to read the Bible. He said that God is able to heal my cancer and that the Word of God is alive and powerful. So, I started reading as soon as my pastor and the group left our village. I could not sleep because of the pain on my knee. But now, as I could not sleep, I read the Bible day and night. I started reading from the New Testament and within 8 days I finished Matthew to Revelation. The more I read, the happier I became and I forget the pain on my knee. After I finished the New Testament, there was not much pain in my knee. The next Monday, I went to the doctor with my daughter to check my cancer on my knee, when the doctor saw the result, IMMEDIATELY the doctor looked to me and said “WHY, WHAT HAPPENED”, there was no answer from me because I don’t know what he was talking about. Then, the doctor said, “THERE IS NO MORE CANCER CELLS ON YOUR KNEE, NO MORE”. God totally healed cancer on my knee. PRAISE THE LORD. God healed my cancer through His Word. I am healed now. After one week, I can walk very well and now I can cook myself. PRAISE GOD.

Every day, I read the Bible and now I already read the whole Bible one time. I started again from the beginning. The more I read the hungrier I am for the words of God. The more I read the more I am healthy.

I would like to say THANK YOU to you all. You brought to me the best cancer medicine to me; the Word of God. Now, I am healthy and share my testimony to other sick people. There are many villages those who don’t have a Bible in our areas. Please continually support and help them to get Bibles because I don’t want them to die without tasting how the Lord is good and His word is powerful. God bless you all.

Mrs. Phawsar, Burma

My name is Mrs. Phawsar, I’m 72 years old. I have been praying to own my own Bible since I was 10 years old. After 62 years of praying for a Bible, I received one today for free. Today is the happiest, Historical, blessed day in my life because I received my own Bible. The Bible is the word of God, powerful, alive, can give joy, allows us to understand the will of God, and to see God’s goodness in our life.

Thank you so much for giving me this Bible. There are many other people, especially those who live in the rural Sqaw Karen village like me, who need a Bible and who have never owned their own. They are praying to get a Bible before they die. They are hungry for The Word of God and eagerly want to read the Bible in their family

I am so happy and God bless you all. I will pray for you always. You all are in my heart. See you all in heaven.

Mrs. NH Phaw, Burma

My name is Mrs. NH Phaw. I live in R Village. Because of our family needs, my husband went to Thailand for work in 2015 and died by a car accident on 2016. I and my daughter live alone now. I am always discouraged because I have no husband and I need to take care my daughter. I do not know how to continue for our future.

By the grace of God I received our Sqaw Karen Bible with Hymnal. I started reading and it is really encouraging to me every word from the Bible. I prayed and called to the Lord every night. After reading 10 days and praying to God to be able to have a small house, our village leader and villagers helped to build a small house of Bamboo for us [See the picture].

I wanted to read from the Bible for a long time, but there was no Bible for me. I can only understand our Sqaw Karen language. The other villagers are the same. We are surviving for daily food and it is impossible for us to buy one copy of a Bible. When I visited Pathein [the capital of the Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar], I went to the Bookshop and I asked the price for our Sqaw Karen Bible. It was 17,000 Kyats ($12.10 USD). It is huge amount for me. When I work the whole day on other’s farms, I got only 1500 Kyats ($1.10 USD). So, with big sorrow, I left the Bookshop. From that time, I decided not to try to buy a Bible and just listen to the preaching of the pastor in the Church because I would never have enough money to buy a Bible.

But now, I received one freely. What a great joy to me and my daughter. We read together every night and are praying for those who donated our Sqaw Karen Bible. There are many Sqaw Karen villages who praying to be able to get a Bible to the most remote areas. They are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God but there is no Bible to read. They couldn’t buy one for themselves. I believe that GOD HAS GIVEN YOU A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE ABLE TO GET A BIBLE TO THOSE WHO REALLY NEED IT AND ARE HUNGRY TO READ THE BIBLE. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN PEOPLE TO HELP THOSE PEOPLE TO GET BIBLE.

Thanks for your love, care, and donation of the Bible to me and our villagers. Actually, one copy of Bible per family is not enough: please help us to get at least 3 copies of the Bible per family. Most of families in our Sqaw Karen villages are generally more than 7 people. May the Lord bless those who donated these Bible and also those who carried the Bibles to reach our village - not only our village but also the other Sqaw Karen villages in the remote areas. God bless you all and we’re praying for you all.

Mrs. Ruth, Burma

I am Mrs. Ruth. I am so glad today because I received our Sqaw Karen Bible freely but I will not use it for myself because my son is a pastor in L village. He doesn’t have a Bible so I will give him. It is very difficult to get a Bible and most of the pastors in the villages and the people in the villages don’t have a Bible. Some people in the most remote areas have never seen the Bible until today. I will use the Bible Promise Book you gave me for myself and I will send this Bible to my son.

God bless you all.

Mr. Photawa, Burma

My name is Mr. Photawa, I live in H village. I was a drunkard and a drug addicted man. I have been in jail twice because of using drugs. My life is nothing. My parents don’t love me and all my relative ignored me and all my friends departed me because I am nothing, a filthy man.

But when I received the Bible, I started reading and I understood that God loves even the smallest person and he died for all people in the world. So, I committed my life to the Lord and now I am a new creation in Christ. Old things are gone and have become new.

After I accepted Christ, I stopped smoking, using drugs, and alcohol. I left those things behind me and read every day the Bible and learn from God everything what I need. God teaches me many things through the Bible and now I am a blessed man in the eyes of the Lord.

Your donated Bible reformed me now and I am new man. Thank you for saving me from hell and being a useless person. Now, I am sharing my testimonies to my old friends and other Buddhist people in my neighbor village. Thank you.

Mr. Chit, Burma

My name is Mr. Chit, I’m 41 years old from K Village. My wife divorced me because of my disease on my whole body. My parents also don’t allow me to live with them. When I was 28 years old, this disease started on my nose and grew to my whole body. As my wife divorced me and my parents don’t allow me to stay with them, I bought a small bottle of poison and drank it but I didn’t die. I never smile and I am never happy in my heart.

When I received our Sqaw Karen Bible from Rev. J, I started reading and when I read John 3:16 and Matthew 11:28. I totally understood what God wanted for me and how great he loves me. So, I totally changed my heart and prayed to God. I praise God because he loves me so much and he died for me and calls me to laugh. He is calling me to rest in Him and he is ready to take all my burdens. PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS UNFALLING LOVE TO ME AND TAKING ALL MY BURDENS.

Now, I am a new man and reborn with a new heart in the Lord. I am the happiest man even though no one loves me but God loves me so much. He has taken all my burdens and given me full peace in my life. All these came to me because of reading the Bible.

Thank you for your free gift of our Sqaw Karen Bible to me. This is my first Bible and this Bible changed my life totally. Thank you again and again for your free Bible to me. God bless you all.

MrS. Susan, Burma

My name is Mrs. Susan, I’m 71 years old from K village. This is the very first time I have received and owned a Sqaw Karen Bible. In 2012, I went to Yangon for the Karen Baptist Convention Women Department Training and I went to the Bookshop to buy a Sqaw Karen Bible. But all the money that I had been saving for 6 years to buy a Bible was not enough to buy one copy. At that time, the Bible cost 14,000 Kyats. I only had 10,000 Kyats. I still cannot buy a Bible to this day.

As you see in the picture, my small house was built by Bamboo and bamboo leaf [see picture below]. It is not easy for me to have extra money. Money just for daily food is sometimes not easy. Therefore, it is not easy for me to buy a Bible. There are many Sqaw Karen people like me who just barely have food, but no income. So, I just gave up or surrendered to not have my own Bible because there is no way to be able to buy one for those who live in the most remote areas as a farmer.

By the grace of God, I received a free Bible which I could not buy with my own money, a Bible freely given from Rev. H. I am the leader of Women Department in our district, but I don’t have my own Bible. I am so happy for receiving this Bible. I read every day. Before when I didn’t have a Bible, I felt lonely in my life. But now I am so happy because when I read the Bible it is like I am talking with God.

When I read the Bible more, I learn many lessons and I can teach the women leaders in our district. Our village is located in a very remote area and there is no road, even for a motor Bike. Our village can only be reached by walking 2 hours on foot. I really thank God and thanks to Rev. J and friends who come to our village and carried the Bible boxes themselves. I highly appreciated their sacrificial life for our remotest area villages people. 

After our villagers received a Bible (one copy per family), every night all the families in the village are singing and reading the Bible together in their house. Even though we could not worship in the Church because of COVID, our villagers are praying, worshipping and reading the Bible every night.

Finally, I would like to say thank you so much on behalf of our village. As you have given us our first Sqaw Karen Bible, our villagers walk closer to God. All our villagers and our neighbor villagers can read only our own language. So, you have done the greatest thing for our Sqaw Karen people. There are many villages those who don’t have a Bible. Please remember them in your prayer that they would be able to own a Bible. God bless you all.

MrS. Phawlay, Burma

My name is Miss. Phawlay, I’m 21 years old. I live in T village. I lost my parents when I was 11 years old. They went to the farm and they have not come back to this today. I live alone in this small bamboo house. I am so happy for this Bible I received freely.

Before I received this Bible, I felt so lonely every night but after I received this Bible, I don’t feel lonely in my heart because when I read the Bible, I have peace and joy. God always comfort through His words in my life.

Now, I can smile because God’s Word gives me joy in my heart. He is my best father who take care of my whole life.

Thanks for giving me Bible. This is 100% impossible to buy and own a Bible for me. Without your support, never in my life could I own a Bible. There are many Sqaw Karen young people like me in the villages, they don’t have a Bible, have never seen a Bible, and have never read a Bible. When I received this Bible free, I feel concerned for them and I want them to receive Bible like me so that their life will be changed and they will be able to be happy in their life. Most of them are in pain on the inside because of poverty, losing their parents, other loved ones, and relatives. To lose the pain in the heart, they need the Bible (The words of God); it is the best medicine. Please help them to get Bible before they die. This is my humble request to you all in Jesus name.

Thanks again. God bless you.

Pastor Ehwa, Burma

My name is Pastor Ehwa, pastoring in PLY Karen Baptist Church, PLY Village. There is only one copy of the Bible in the village and it belongs by me. There is no other Bible in our Church. So, every worship service, I read the Bible and all the members follow me. All my Church members are praying to be able to buy their own Bible but it is not easy for them to buy one copy of the Bible. All of them live in small houses and work for their daily food. My house [shown in the picture below] is the best building in our village.

God answered our Church member’s prayer through you all. All the young people thought that the Bible can only be owned by a pastor, not by members or individuals because they are so difficult to get in our remote area villages. When they received one copy per family, they were so happy and respected the Bible. The use and hold it very carefully. I wish you could see how happy they are and how they love their Bible.

As we are so far from the city, we have to hold our worship service in Church secretly. After we received the Bible, more people attended the Church and encourage each other from what they read in the Bible. They shared with each other about what they received and are encouraged through the Bible verses that they read. They testifying what God has done in their family after reading the Bible and what they learned from the Bible.

It is very difficult to get Bibles recently so that when we heard about the Bible distribution, most of the people in our village didn’t believe it. One reason is that some ministry came to our village to make a list of names and pictures to distribute Bibles, but they never came back. So that most of the people couldn’t believe when they heard about this free Bible distribution. But they understood now that IT IS REAL AND NOT A LIE.

On behalf of our village and Church, I would like to say Thank you so much for your free gift of our Sqaw Karen Bible to each family. All our villagers can read only Sqaw Karen language so that what we need the most in our village.

There are many other villages those who don’t have a Sqaw Karen Bible. They can read and understand only Sqaw Karen language so that is the Bible they need. Please remember in your prayer and continually support us to get the Bible in our own Language especially to the Karen people in villages.

God bless you all.

Mrs. Phawlar, Burma

My name is Mrs. Phawlar, I’m 77 years old, now I live in T Village. I live in this village after having moved five times [Due to the war].

When I received the Bible, I thought that it is my dream but it is real. I am so happy, so excited, having received this Bible with blessed tears in my eyes. When I was 12 years old, I had a New Testament but it was burned by a fire when our village was bombed by the army. After that there was no Bible. I was so hungry to read the Bible but there was none for me in the whole village. I was thinking that I would die without reading the Bible again. When I think about this I don’t want to die yet. My prayer was to own a Bible and read the Bible at least one more time before I died. But this vision is so difficult to fulfill for me because of poverty. But By the grace of God, my vision has come true. PRAISE THE LORD.

Thanks to you all because you have made me happy and satisfied in my life because I am the one who now has my own Bible and can read God’s word. After I read my Bible one time, I will be ready to die and happy to die. You are so precious to me because you gave me this Bible freely. This is totally impossible for me to own Bible but now I owned by His grace alone.  Thank you. There are many of my relatives and other Karen people who still don’t have a Bible to this day so please be concerned for them and help them to get Bible. God bless you.

Mrs. Flowra, Burma

My name is Mrs. Flowra, I live in T Village. I am a government schoolteacher. As I am a Christian, I use some Scripture text to teach in the class. I copied by hand the scripture on small paper and give it to the students. I really wanted to buy and own my own Bible but there is no Bible to buy in our village.

But now, I received the Bible freely and there will be no need to write on paper by hand. I am so excited to reopen school because I can teach my students many more Bible verses. I requested to Rev. H 10 more copies for our school office and to use for students.

Thank you very much for giving us our Sqaw Karen Bible for free. There are many other villages those who don’t have any Bible. Even in this modern time, it is impossible and unbelievable that there is no Bible or only one copy of Bible in the village, but this is real. So, that I would like to request to you please continually support and help to get Bible in the Karen villages.

God bless you all.

Mrs. Thida, Burma

My name is Mrs. Thida. I live in PH village. I am a Sunday school teacher in our village. My Bible was so old, some pages have been lost, but I couldn’t buy a new Bible. There are 211 children in our Church Sunday school. All of them don’t have a Bible. My Sunday school children are always praying to get a Bible and they asked me again and again “when will we get a Bible as we are praying to God for?”  I answered them, “in God’s timing.”

After three months, Rev. H and group came to our village and gave us Bibles Freely. My Sunday school children did not get a Bible but they got a small Bible Promise Book. They all are so happy and praising God with tears. As our village is located in a remote area, we worship in Church every week. Now, more than 100 Scripture text from Sqaw Karen Bible Promise Book are memorized by my Sunday school children. Thanks to your free gift of Sqaw Karen Bible with Hymnal to each family and also Sqaw Karen Bible Promise Book to children.

There are many children who wanted to get a Sqaw Karen Bible Promise Book. When I asked Rev. T for more, he said there is no more copies with him. So, I would like to request “please help us to be able to get more Sqaw Karen Bible promise books especially for the children in village”.

Thank you for your great concerned to our Sqaw Karen people especially for the remote areas  to be able to get the Bible freely. God bless you all. Pleas continue support us with Bibles.

Pictures and testimonies from the 2019 Sqaw KAren delivery

Biblia Global donors funded 13,427 Bibles for the Sqaw Karen which were delivered in the spring of 2019 (see below).  Thank you to all who give to our Bibles for Asia project who made this possible and to aaa.ngo for providing the 2018 $20,000 matching gift challenge that helped fund this project!

Mr. Htoo, Burma

My name is Mr. Htoo and I am 51 years old. My parents died when I was seven days old. I have never seen their faces, even in pictures as there are no pictures of my parents. When I was 18 years old I accepted Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. When I was 21 years old I was called to fight for the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to protect our Karen people from the attacks by the Burmese Army. I fought many battles against the Burmese Army, but God protected me and saved me many times from the hands of the enemy.

When I was 45 years old I fell down and could not walk anymore. So from that time I had to retire from the KIA and my relative built a small bamboo house for me (see the picture). My relatives came to me every day to feed me. I prayed to God every day to heal me so I could walk again, but nothing happened. On June 14, 2019, I received a free Sqaw Karen Bible and I started reading. Whenever I read it, I focused on Jesus and I strongly believed that as God’s Word is powerful and alive that by reading the Word of God, God will heal me. I finished reading the New Testament in three days (June 15-17) and when I woke up in the morning of June 18, I could move my legs. I stood up properly. Then I tried to walk and I could walk. PRAISE THE LORD! After I was healed I called the pastor and he took the picture of me standing with my Bible. I have decided to pray for you every day and whenever I can I will testify of God’s healing power. Thank you to you all who gave and worked to send me a free Bible, through which the Lord has healed me and now this cripple can walk again.

Mrs. NP Sim, Burma

My name is N.P. Sim and I am 92 years old. I was raised by Christian parents, but we never had a Bible. I accepted Christ when I was 15-years-old and since that time I have been praying to have my own Bible. But because of the fighting, I have had to move out of 11 villages during my life. We always lost our land, our animals, and our houses, all that we owned, and we could not go back to our villages. We lost everything each time and just ran for our lives. But God is so good and He has saved my life until today.

Until today, I have never had my own Bible. But God never forgot my prayers to have my own Bible. And now today, in May of 2019, after praying for 77 years, you have given me a free Sqaw Karen Bible with hymnal, and this is the first Bible I have every owned in my life. I thank the Lord that he has answered my 77 years of prayer for a Bible. And I am so blessed that I can read this Bible without eye glasses. Today is by far the happiest day in my life, because I have seen, received free, and now own my own Bible.

I lost my husband and three children because of the fighting. I live alone now. But God has given me the best friend in my life now and that is His Word; the Bible. There is only one copy of Bible in our village which is 23 years old and it was put in the church pulpit and only the Pastor can use it. This may be difficult to believe for this present time, but this is real and unbelievable.

By the grace of God, now we received Sqaw Karen Bibles freely. When we heard that our Sqaw Karen Bible would be distributed freely in our village, no one believed it, because it has never happened in our area. But it is real and it has happened today. How great God is today for our village.

There are many more villages in our area that do not have Bibles. They are also praying to be able to get Bibles in their villages. Our region is very remote so most people do not visit us. In rainy season there is no way or road to get to our villages. Therefore, I would like to humbly request that you please remember and have concern for the others who do not yet have a Bible and please bring Bibles to these other villages. There are many, many, many more villages that do not have Bibles.

May the Lord Bless you. And I would like to say again and again, ‘Thank you so much for giving me this precious gift of a Bible.’

Mr. Saw K., Burma

My name is Saw K. from T Village. I am 72 years old.  My parents died in the war when I was only five years old.  I was raised by my uncle’s family.  My uncle was the pastor for seven villages in our area.  He has passed away already, but as far as I remember, he never had a Bible of his own.  But he only had some hand copied verses from the Bible in his notebook. 

I was converted to Christ when I was 17 years old by the teaching of my uncle.  From that time I was very hungry to read the Bible and I wanted to have my own Bible.  Then I started praying for a Bible, but I never received one.  But I have kept praying my whole life to own a Bible.

In our village only the pastor has a Bible that is always kept on the pulpit.  Only the pastor can use it, because we don’t wont’ someone to borrow it and lose it.  Even the pastor cannot take the Bible to his house.  This is the highest rule in our village church.  It’s because we highly respect the Bible and want to make sure the pastor always has a Bible to preach from.  But we always also want to read the Bible, but we have never had the opportunity to do so.  Only the pastor can read the one Bible in our village.

By the grace of God and by God’s chosen people from around the world, today I have received the free gift of a Sqaw Karen Bible with hymnal.  After praying to God without ceasing for 55 years, today God has answered and given me my own Bible.  But not just me, but every family in our village has received a Bible.  Now God has broken down our church rule concerning the Bible as we have all received a free Bible.  This freely distributed Holy Bible is unbelievable for us, because it has never happened before during my 72 years of life.  We are all crying unto God with big tears and praising Him for His unending love to us: the most remote and forgotten people. 

I give to the sponsors my deepest heartfelt thanks.  And I deeply desire that the sponsors continue to remember the remote Sqaw Karen Christians as there are many, many more villages without even one Bible in the entire village.  Please don’t forget them. 

May God bless you all more and more.

Reverend Samuel, Burma

My name is Reverend Samuel. I have been the pastor in TTG Village since 1993 (26 years). When I went to Bible school I had a Bible, but then I became the pastor in SB Village during the war. The war came to our village and we all ran for our lives and we left all our belongings in the house. So since then I don’t have a Bible. I have been serving the Lord all these years without a Bible. When I transferred to be the pastor in TTG Village, there was also no Bible in the whole village. After three years the church was able to buy one Bible. It is 23 years old now, and you can see from the picture that it is falling apart. No one was allowed to read this Bible, except for me since I was the pastor. But I had to read it in the church. I could not take it home to read it. The church was afraid that if they lent out the Bible then it would get lost and the church would once again be without a Bible.

Many, many times we tried to buy more Bibles, but the villagers are very poor and it’s very difficult to get out from our village, because there is no road from here to the city. We live in a very remote place. Therefore, the villagers or church members had never touched a Bible in their lives. On January 1, 1999, I encouraged my members to pray to be able to own their own Bible. From that time until today (June 2019) we have kept praying this prayer to have Bibles. It has been so long without an answer that some people have given up praying for a Bible. But most of them have kept praying in great faith. In 2011 I went to Yangon and I went to the bookshop to buy a Bible, but I left in tears, because it cost 22,000 Myanmar Kyat [around $14.60 USD] to buy one Sqaw Karen Bible, but I only had 10,000 Kyat [about $6.60 USD]. So after 20 years of praying for our Sqaw Karen Bible, God answered our prayers with a great miracle. Because we received not only the Bible, but the hymnal and responsive readings, too, and it’s all for free and one per home. Thanks to all the sponsors.

After One Month Of Having The Bible In Our Village

My church members are reading the Bible every day, and there are great changes happening in our church and in our village. People now have big smiles. They have stopped using alcohol and cigarettes, and they love each other. Now they are hungry to hear the word of God. The people are filling the church during the services, and they are coming early so as not to miss anything. And many are now coming to the church at dawn to pray early in the morning. This is the first time we have had early morning prayer in our church. But now we have a problem in that so many people are coming to church that the church building cannot hold them all.

Whenever I walk through the village I see people reading their Bibles. And now each evening most families have family worship in the homes, family singing, and praying at home. Their negative words and gossiping has changed to thanking and praising God. So our church and village is now like a heavenly village.

Thank you so much for your precious and greatest gift to our church and village. You make our church and village smile and be happy and experience the heavenly life. God bless you all abundantly!

Mrs. MAry, Burma

My name is Mrs. Mary and I am 67 years old. I am from D Village, Karen State. I was born into a Christian family, but when I was two-years-old my parents died in the jungle from snake bites. So I was raised by my aunt and uncle. Because of the war, more than seven times we had to abandon our village and find another village to live in. Life was horrible, because we were always running for our lives. I only finished primary school. I started primary school when I was eight years old, but because we had to run so many times, it took me 11 years to finish primary school. I may have set the world record for having spent the longest time in primary school.

After primary school the army came again and burned to the ground every house in our village. Once again we had to run for our lives. My uncle died in this attack and I was so sad.

When I was 12 years old I had a Bible, but six months later I had to run for my life and I lost my Bible during that attack. I really wanted to own a Bible again, but there was no way for me to get a Bible. One reason is that I was living in a very remote village and there were no Bibles to buy. And also, I had no income. Just feeding myself daily was difficult. There is no road from this village to the city. To get to the city we must walk 14 hours. During the rainy season we could not go, because the road would turn into deep mud and there was also too much water. But I always prayed to God to be able to own my own Bible before I died. Whenever I prayed to God for my own Bible, I had confidence in my heart that God would answer. But I did not know when I would get a Bible of my own. So every morning I continued to pray for a Bible. After praying for 55 years and 6 months, God answered my prayers through you and the local workers here. God’s plan for me is wonderful and amazing, because I prayed only for a Bible, but God has answered me with a Bible, hymn book, and responsive readings all in one book. I am so happy and satisfied. I always read the Bible, and when I read more I love more and I feel more of the love of God in my life.

I would like to share with you that there are thousands of Sqaw Karen people who live in the remote and jungle areas and they do not have Bibles. They are praying to be able to get Bibles for their family. So I would like to request to you to please remember them and care for them and bring Bibles for them, since God has given you a heart to see the poor people of the world receive the Word of God. God bless you more and more.

Mrs. Ti, Burma

My name is Mrs. Ti. I am 53 years old and I have lived in KK Village since 1992. Before I came here, most of the time we lived in the jungle while running for our lives. We often had to move, and each time we moved we lost everything we owned. We lost land, animals, houses, friends, relatives, and more. My father had one Bible for our family, but when we had to flee from our home because of the war coming to our village we lost everything and we lost that Bible. I eagerly wanted to have a Bible again, but there was no way for me to get a Bible. Even in my dreams I never owned my own Bible. But since I reached this village in 1992 I have been praying to God for a Bible. I used to write down some scriptures from my Pastor, and then I would memorize these scriptures. The greatest ambition in my life was to be able to buy my own Bible. But after 27 years of praying, God has answered my prayers and fulfilled the greatest desire of my heart. God has given me a Bible. For me, I have never held a Bible in my hands until today (June 2019). Now I know that God is faithful and He answers our prayers. When I prayed for a Bible, I would often pray a scripture that I had memorized from my pastor’s preaching. This verse is Ezekiel 12:25 which says, “For I am the Lord. I will speak and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass. It will no longer be prolonged, but it will happen in your days….” God’s Word really worked and it has actually happened as He said it would. My God is so good and worthy to be trusted and praised.

In the past other people who said they had Bible Distribution Ministries came to our village and they took pictures and promised to give us free Bibles, but they never came back. So it is very difficult to believe them. So when we informed people from a nearby village that Bibles would be distributed for free, one per family, they didn’t believe us. Because it has never ever happened for us before. But when it really happened, our neighbors were amazed. Therefore, thanks to you all for your real work and to stand on your promise to give us free Bibles. Thank you. And please remember the thousands and thousands of Sqaw Karen Christians who have never had a Bible in their entire lives. I would say that 97% of the Christians in the remote, jungle, and mountainous areas have never had a Bible. God bless you.

Mr. Karly, Burma

My name is Mr. Karly. I am 77 years old and I live in TG Village. I was married and I had nine children, but I am alone now, because all of my children died in the jungle in 1992 while we ran for our lives from the Burmese Army. My wife was killed in a bombing in 1993. I don’t have any relatives, and I don’t know where the other people are from my village, as we all ran in different directions. My life is horrible, since I have lost everything. My life is worse than Job’s.

I have always wanted to have and to read the Bible, but I have never had a Bible. Throughout my life I have often asked the Pastors and Evangelists how I can get a Bible. But they all said it is very difficult to get a Bible. They often said that if they can get one, they will give it to me. But I never received one from any of them. So I decided to only trust God and I realized that God can meet my need. I started praying to God for a Bible in 1966 when I was 24 years old. After 53 years of praying God has answered my prayer and I have been freely given a Bible and hymnal. I am so happy to God, even though I am alone and my house is built of only bamboo leaves, because God is the one who saved me and He encourages me every time. Once I started reading my Bible I understood better who my God is and how great He is. In the natural world I own nothing. But now I own the most precious thing in life, and that is God’s Word. Thanks to you all!

Mrs. Thida, Burma

My name is Mrs. Thida.  I am 39 years old and I live in TP Village.  I have five children. My husband died on July 19, 2015 when he was fishing in the ocean.  My parents are born again Christians and I was converted when I was 11 years old through my father’s teaching about salvation.  Ever since I became a Christian I wanted to buy and have my own Bible that I could read whenever I wanted to.  But our village is so far from the city and our family income is sometimes not even enough for our daily meals.  In 2011 I started saving money to buy a Bible.  After two years I had saved 5,000 Myanmar Kyat (about $5 USD).  When my pastor was going to make a trip to Yangon in 2013, I gave him the money and asked him to buy a Bible for me. 

When my pastor went to the bookshop and asked the price for a Sqaw Karen Bible, the price was 18,000 Myanmar Kyat (or about $18 USD).  So my pastor could not buy one for me.  I was so upset, because my total savings could not buy even one copy of the Bible.  I copied Scripture verses on blank paper and our family would read together before we went to sleep at night.  Every night our family prayed to be able to buy and own a Bible.   It’s not easy for me to save more money for a Bible, because I am caring for five children without a husband.  Our house is built of bamboo. Four of my children go to school and the youngest one is with me all day long.  I cannot afford to send him to nursery school.   

I thank God that by God’s grace we received a free Sqaw Karen Bible with hymnal for our home.  God knows our family’s prayer and our need for a Bible.  As soon as my children were home from school I told them about God answering our prayers for a Bible.  And my children and I started praising God and crying with big tears for God’s goodness to our family. Now our family owns the most precious thing in the world, the Word of God.  Even though our family is poor, we can praise God, pray to God, and sing to God every night.  

Not having a Bible was the biggest need in our family.  Thanks to everyone who helped us to receive a Bible.  You have provided for my family’s greatest need.  

Having one Bible per family is wonderful compared to not having a single Bible in the Home.  But if I may request that you please give every family at least two Bibles.  It will be much better for us as we have large families. Secondly, there are many more Sqaw Karen villages that didn’t receive any Bibles this time, because they did not know about this project. So now they know and they would also like to have Bibles distributed in their villages.  Please remember them and help them.  The Bible is everything for our Christian life.

Mrs. Serah, Burma

My name is Mrs. Serah.  I am 85 years old and I live in PC Village.  I was raised in a Christian family.

When I was 12 years old, an English man presented me with our Sqaw Karen Bible.  I read the Bible and understood more about God and His love.  I learned many things to help my life.  I taught the word of God to my children.  My children are grown and they are successful in their lives because they fear God.

In 1980 our village was attacked by the Burmese Army and my house was bombed and it was burned up.  I lost everything, except the Bible survived. That Bible is 73 years old. 

I could never buy a new Bible, so I always kept my 73-year-old Bible.  But now, you have presented me with a new Bible with hymnal and responsive Bible readings.  I really thank you.  I am reading my new Bible every day, and because of reading the Bible, God has healed my eyes and now I can clearly see the words and there is no more pain in my eyes.   Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord, for healing me through Your word. And thank you, God, for this new Bible.

Mr. Ni Htoo, Burma

My name is Mr. Ni Htoo, I am 57 years old, and I live in SGG Village.  I was raised in a Christian family and I accepted Christ as my personal savior when I was 17 years old.  I am a pianist.  I starting learning the piano when I was 4 years old.  I always play the piano in church.  When I was 12 years old our family lived in the jungle for two years, because of the fighting.  After that we lived in three different villages as we tried to find a peaceful place to live.  In the war we lost everything that we owned.  In each new village where we moved to we had to restart life with nothing. 

Before today, my family and I have never owned a Bible.  The only place where we have ever seen a Bible is on the pulpit of the church.  In each of the villages that we moved to it was like this.  We believed that the Bible was only for the pastor to use.  We believed this because no one else in our remote area could get a Bible.  We had no hope of ever having our own Bible or ever being able to read the Bible ourselves. 

But by the grace of God, now that I am 57 years old, I have received a free Sqaw Karen Bible with hymnal for my very own.  This is really amazing to own a Bible even though we are not pastors.  After our family received our Bible, we gather every night and we read it together.  We sing the hymns together.  And we pray together.  Our family is now a very sweet family, because of reading the Bible.  Thank you so much for your precious gift of Bibles with hymnals.  Every family is singing and reading the Bible every night.  God bless you all!

Reverend Simon, Burma

My name is Reverend Simon.  I have been the pastor in L Karen Baptist church for 34 years.  I am now 64 years old. 

I was converted to Christ when I was 15 years old through the sharing of my pastor.  I only attended a discipleship training course, and after that I was appointed the pastor.  I had one very old Bible when I was first a pastor.  But after two years of being a pastor, the war came to our village.  My house was bombed and destroyed and my Bible inside my home was destroyed.  So I was left without a Bible all these years, even though I am the pastor.   

In 2009 I went to Yangon and I bought one Bible for 18,000 Kyat (about US$18).  In 2012 a thief came to my house and even stole my Bible.  Hopefully the Bible will be good for the thief.  I have not had a Bible again until today.  In the past I tried to get another Bible from the bookshop in Yangon, but now it costs 22,000 Kyat, and I didn’t have enough money.  So for many years I would copy down some verses from my pastor friend’s Bible, and I have used these verses for my preaching.  There are 675 families in our village, but there was no Bible in the entire village.  My members are so hungry to read the Word of God, but there were no Bibles to read.  

When I heard the good news that Sqaw Karen Bibles would be freely distributed here, I could not believe this was real.  In my thinking this seemed impossible.  I have never heard of this happening in my life.  I informed to our neighboring village, but they didn’t believe, like I didn’t believe.  So only a few people from that village came to the distribution.  But after they went home to their village with their Bibles the other villagers did believe.  Then they came and asked for Bibles as well, and we had Bibles to give to them.  This is the greatest blessing in our lives. 

Great Changes have come after reading the Bible for One Month

After having received free Bibles in our church and village one month ago, there have been great changes in people’s lives, and some miracles have happened.

People are reading the Bible often.  Every family is praying and singing hymns together in night time. People are hungry to learn more of the Bible so more people are attending church services.   The Bible is alive and powerful, and the more the people read the Bible the more their lives are automatically changed by the Spirit of God.  They have stopped drinking alcohol, stopped smoking, and stopped using drugs.  They now realize all that God has done for them and their negative thinking has changed to positive thinking.  They always focus on the Lord.   A sick man, while reading the Bible with faith, God healed him of paralysis.  The people love each other more than before.  The people are obeying the teachings in the Bible.  They are praying before they go to their farms.  In church they are sharing how God is blessing their hearts and their families.  Our church is experiencing the heavenly life after only one month of freely receiving and reading the Bibles.

Therefore, I strongly believe that after one year of having and reading our Bibles, our church will be more like Christ. All the villagers are happy and enjoying being in God’s presence and reading the Bibles.

There are many villages those who did not get Bible and there is no Bible in their villages, so please reprint and help them, too. This is my deepest request to you all in Jesus name.  May God bless you all!

Mr. Soe Naing, Burma

My name is Mr. Soe Naing, I live in K Village. I am 41 years old and I have 8 children.  I was raised in a Christian family, but I never owned a Bible before.  My whole life I have never even held a Bible.  My parents died never having owned a Bible.  My father and mother always said that they would like to own a Bible before they died, but I am so sorry for my parents that this did not come true for them.

Ninety-five percent of K villagers have moved here from many different villages, because of the war in the conflict areas.  They lost everything they ever owned, because of running away for their lives.  Some of their relatives and close friends died in the forest by malaria, being shot by the army, or by bombs dropped by the army.  It is not easy for us to own a Bible, because the transportation problems, our poverty, and the expensive price to buy a Bible in the city.   And even though our hearts are really hungry to read God’s word and we all want to own a Bible, most of us had given up hope that we would ever own a Bible in our lives. 

There is not even one Bible in our village.  We don’t even have a pastor in our village.  But once a month a pastor comes and visits us, and we have only ever seen the Bible in his hands.  In all our lives we have never seen any other Bible.  When the pastor opens the Bible and reads from it we all appreciate it so much.  And we all would like to look into the Bible ourselves, but our whole lives we have never had the opportunity to read even one verse of scripture for ourselves.

But God has not forgotten us.  By God’s grace we have now unexpectedly and freely received one Bible per family.  This Bible is the first one I have ever held in my life.  Everyone in the village is full of joy and thankfulness to God and God’s people.  They are reading the Bible every day.  I can smile now, because I own the most important and special thing in life.  God bless you more and more.  And please remember to help the other Sqaw Karen people who did not get a Bible yet.  There are so many who still need a Bible in their home.  Many villages don’t even have one Bible in the entire village.  This may seem unbelievable, but it’s true. 

Mr. Thiha, Burma

My name Mr. Thiha and I am 72 years old.  I live in K Village. I have retired from the government army.  My parents are Christians, and I accepted Christ when I was 12 years old through the teaching of our pastor.

My father gave me a very old Bible when I started working in the army, and I always read it wherever I was sent.  Sometimes I was in the battle field and fighting other militias, but I always brought my Bible in my pocket.  In 1998 I was shot in the legs.  I lost my Bible at that time, and I also lost both of my legs.  I had to retire from the army at that time.  And since 1998 I have never seen another Bible to buy.  I have always tried to buy another Bible but it is not easy for me to travel to the city without legs.  And the roads to my village are terrible. The worst roads possible.  My first prayer to God every day is to have a copy of His Word.  I prayed twice every day since 1999 to have a Bible.  After 20 years of praying God has answered my prayers and He has provided me with a free Bible.  I am so happy that I cannot express in words the joy in my heart.  Thank you for giving me the greatest gift that I could ever receive!  May the Lord bless you all!

Pictures and testimonies from 2017 Pwo KAren delivery

Biblia Global donors funded 1000 Bibles for the Pwo Karen which were delivered in the spring of 2017 (see below).  Thank you to all who give to our Bibles for Asia project who made this possible!

Miss Su Ton, Pwo Karen student, Burma

My name is Su Ton.  I am a student.  Both of my parents are farmers.  I am their oldest child.  My parents raised me to believe in Christ and I learned so much about him in my Sunday school class and I really love God.  I’m not a nominal Christian.  When I was young I accepted Jesus.

After I accepted Jesus Christ I really wanted to read the Bible, but there weren’t any Bibles available to me.  So often I prayed to God, because I worried that I would be distant from my Lord. With a life of prayer I experienced God’s answers and protection.  Once I was drowning in a river and God saved me.  When I have problems He brings me through them all.

Thank you so much for giving me my first Bible.  I can’t wait to start reading it. My favorite Bible verse that I learned in Sunday school is Psalms 121:8:  “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more.”

Mr. SA, Assistant Pastor at a Pwo Karen Church, Burma

My name is Mr. SA.  I am an assistant pastor in our church. I was raised in a Christian family in the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar.  I am the oldest of six children in my family.  My parents were farmers.  In 2008 the Nargis Cyclone killed both of my parents and 4 of my siblings.  Only my sister and I survived.  This was devastating to us.  We both suffered physical injury and deep emotional pain.

When I was a child I never practiced any religion and I lived my own way.  I loved to go fishing and to drink alcohol.  My parents always told me that God is my refuge and I should seek to rest under his care.  But I didn’t care about what they were saying. But then on May 2, 2008, Cylone Nargis hit our area and many people died without help.  I wondered why I was still alive.  Maybe I survived because I would not have gone to heaven if I had died then.  I decided to start seeking God.  I found a church and started attending.  They gave me a Burmese language Bible and I started to read it.  I didn’t understand everything in the Burmese language, but I did learn that God loved me very much.  I realized God let me live to give me one more chance to live for His glory.  I confessed my sin and turned back to God.  It was amazing to me that I had to come back to God though I had never denied God.  Though I had neglected God and perhaps by my actions I had denied Him.

My favorite scripture verse is 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” I am so grateful to receive a free copy of the Bible and Hymnal in my own Pwo Karen language.  God bless you all. Amen

Miss Htoo, Pwo Karen Church planter and evangelist, KLT church, burma

My name is Htoo and I am an evangelist from our church.  I came to know Christ through the teaching of my Christian parents.  They shared so much about God’s love, so I put my faith in Jesus as my savior and my Lord and I trust in Him that He will take care of me in every situation. 

I wanted to read the Bible and pray most of the time, but life was so busy that I didn’t have time to do much of either.  When I had a job, I could take a few minutes at break time to read from my New Testament.  I also prayed that God would give me more time to read the Bible.  And He answered by giving me an invitation to attend Bible school.  I was so happy and all day I could read the scriptures.  I grew in knowledge and faith, and after graduation I returned to my village as an evangelist. 

One day one of my uncles encouraged me to serve God by serving the neediest people in Padautgone Village.  “They don’t have a church or even a Sunday school class,” he told me.  So I prayed to the Lord about moving to Padautgone Village.  I felt the Lord release me to move there and serve Him by sharing the good news, so I did.

When I arrived there, I found that most of the people were atheists and drunks and they had never paid any attention to God or shown Him any respect.  I prayed to God to convert the sinners and to start a church in that village.  But to be honest, it was so hard for me as a lady to try to do this.  But God is greater than my weaknesses and He is greater than the problems that I had to face.  And God is so amazing.  After one year three people accepted Christ and were baptized.  Now almost thirty people have accepted Christ and are baptized and we have our church.  And now, thanks to you, we have scriptures to give to all the new believers.  I am nothing, but God is everything and the Lord has done great things for us. My favorite scripture is the whole chapter of Psalm 91.

Miss Sa Naw, Pastor Pwo Karen church, burma

My name is Sa Naw. In 2000 I graduated Bible school and was recognized as a minister. In 2011 I was appointed a pastor of a small church. But it was difficult to lead the church without a copy of the Bible. I was concerned about the wellbeing of the church members, but I didn’t know how to lead them properly. Because of this I suffered inside, both spiritually and emotionally. Sometimes I became depressed and sometimes I considered resigning my position.

But then I received a Pwo Karen Bible with hymnal and it strengthened me and it taught me how to lead my church members. I gained knowledge learned of God’s promises for us. So in all situations now I trust the Holy Spirit to show me the way through all problems. Now I am overcoming all the problems by reading the Bible and praying to God. Receiving the Bible and reading it every day has made me feel spiritually more mature and bless by God.

I really appreciate all the donors who gave us the Pwo Karen Bible with Hymnal. God bless you all.

Notes:

[1] Jessica Harriden, “Karen Identity and the Politicization of Ethnicity,” Journal of Burma Studies, no. 7 (2002): 85.

[2] Gravers, Mikael, “Conversion and Identity: Religion and the Formation of Karen Ethnic Identity in Burma”, in Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma, Ed. Mikael Gravers (NIAS Press, Malaysia, 2007), 232

[3] Ibid.

[4] Paul Keenan, “Faith at a Crossroads: Religions and Beliefs of the Karen People of Burma,” Karen Heritage, Vol. 1, Issue 1: 3.

[5] Ibid, 233 – 234.

[6] Ibid, 234 – 235.

[7] Gravers, Mikael, “Preface”, in Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma, Ed. Mikael Gravers (NIAS Press, Malaysia, 2007), vii.

[8] Jessica Harriden, “Karen Identity and the Politicization of Ethnicity,”: 99.

[9] Rachel Fleming, “Hidden Plight: Christian Minorities in Burma,” U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (December 2016), accessed June 6, 2017, https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Hidden%20Plight.%20Christian%20Minorities%20in%20Burma.pdf 

*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.