The Mess and Mystery of Myanmar

Face to Face

George Bednar

While George served as a pastoral resident with College Church, we were blessed by many stories of his missionary experiences in Myanmar. So, when the coup took place, we reached out to him for his thoughts. Here’s what he had to say.

A CELEBRITY WEIGHS IN

Myanmar—what a mess. A mess that those who know Myanmar saw coming long ago. While I was in Myanmar, the late chef Anthony Bourdain toured the country, showcasing both food and country. We were all thrilled because he had a brilliant way of uncovering the deep beauty of the culture. We wanted the world to see what we saw. We wanted the world to know what we knew. At the same time, we were also terrified that he was going to promote the country as fully and finally reformed.

Myanmar had just opened to the world. It held democratic-like elections. Things were looking up. But those of us on the ground knew the truth—that opening was likely a poorly constructed facade, a facade that was incredibly delicate. Fragile. We feared that Bourdain would call tourists and businesses to flood the country as though everything was just suddenly good.

There’s a scene at the end of his episode on Myanmar (filmed in 2013) where Bourdain is sitting atop a pagoda I know too well in the city of Bagan. The scene is, as one would expect, beautiful. Seasonal rains had made the arid landscape green and full. It is quiet. There’s calm. Bourdain makes the case that things are in the process of changing. A country he long refused to promote for fear of supporting an oppressive military government was becoming worthy of the world’s spotlight. Then he closed the episode with a statement that went something like this, “Things are changing. Things here are beautiful and untouched. And things are changing. But even with all of the change and all of the excitement, you can tell that in the hearts of the people, there is the sense that at any moment everything could flip right back to the way it was.”

That’s my George paraphrase, of course. Bourdain knew that things were changing, but he also sensed that those leading the change weren’t necessarily doing so with open hands. They wouldn’t risk that. Their grip might have been shifted to the shadows, but a hidden grip is still a grip, nonetheless.

A MILITARY UNDERESTIMATES

My best friend from Myanmar has been stuck in the States since February 2020, mainly because of COVID and travel restrictions. He became engaged to a young woman from South Carolina while she served overseas. They traveled here to see her family before they returned to Myanmar to be married. They never made it back, which meant I oversaw his wedding here!

My friend has been uncharacteristically vocal on social media. He has always been calm. Careful. Guarded to a degree. Genuine. But now he has spoken out and spoken out aggressively. I think he knows that if the world sits back and lets this happen, there’s a chance that he will never see his family again. He’ll never make it home. The last time the military took over the country like this it lasted five decades.

The problem the military ran into was its underestimation of just how much the people would enjoy freedom. For the people of Myanmar, freedom and a voice meant further distancing themselves from the military every chance they got. The military also underestimated the ability of the people to pay attention. It wasn’t long ago that the military generals running the country actually resigned from the military in order to serve the country in the same position as civilians. This was their attempt at being credible in hope of gaining legitimacy in the eyes of the world.

The people weren’t fooled. Each election cycle since things “opened” was a landslide vote against the military party even as they served as civilians. They lost more and more control, but they would never lose all their power. While Aung San Suu Kyi was locked away, the military made it so that they’d never have less than 25% control (based on my understanding). The recent election brought them too close to that number for comfort, so they simply revealed their hand. Their grip was still intact.

The charges against Suu Kyi and the president she put into place after the election are foolish charges. Suu Kyi is charged with illegally importing walkie-talkies and faces up to three years in prison for it. She and the president also face charges of violating COVID precautions during the lead up to the election. That’s another three years in prison. Suu Kyi is 75 years old. It seems like six years in prison might effectively end her ability to influence and help the Burmese. This is, in my opinion, the hope of the military.

A GOOD WORK CONTINUES

Yes, missionaries were caught in a bad spot. Once the coup took place everything shut down. There were missionaries whose passports were inside the now closed U.S. embassy. There were missionaries who needed cash. They had no access to their passports. No access to cash. And, even if they had cash, there were reports that markets were running out of rice and other goods. People were stocking up on rice the same way we stocked up on toilet paper when COVID arrived. These are, at the moment, mere inconveniences. The Americans I know there are, as of this writing, fine. They are being extra careful. They’ve shut down social media (the military has been shutting down the internet anyway). They’ve gone dark and live with the tension of do they stay, or do they pack up their belongings in case they are kicked out.

But even as they are careful, some of them haven’t stopped. One family has been ministering to a Burmese family for months. Their work with that family hasn’t slowed. In fact, that family just recently believed and the only thing stopping them from true, genuine baptism is an honest fear of water.

So, the work continues. And, for some, they are reporting that this has opened up a different level of work. It is funny how that happens, isn’t it? Something major happens. A disaster or pandemic. And the assumption is that the Lord’s work is going to be hindered. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a major piece of this that fits nicely into the category of spiritual warfare, but as the dust settles, what is evident isn’t a God whose work has been slowed, but a God who simply opened new doors and directed and redirected his work as he always planned.

DISPERSED PEOPLE SPEAK OUT

A bright spot for me has been to read the comments my Burmese Christian friends wrote on social media. Before social media was shut down and/or monitored, my other best friend there was echoing Peter’s words to “those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad.” Peter instructs these folks that in their suffering and difficulty, there is an honorable way for them to live and that because of their fear of God they need not fear anything nor anyone else.

My buddy issued a similar call to the Burmese church. He reminded them that this isn’t their home. That theirs is a king who reigns not because he won majority votes and suddenly and belligerently seized control. Theirs is a kingdom that can’t be taken from them. And while they’re here on this earth breathing the air their king created and gifted to them, they are to honor him in how they respond to this. The collapse of their earthly freedom, my buddy said, wasn’t sufficient cause to compromise their convictions of what is good and honorable conduct.

Tragically, the situation is grim. Violence has elevated and people are being killed, even children. Yet in the midst of it, there is the light of Christ shining bright as ever. Awakening dead hearts to life. Guiding the conduct of his people to love and serve in ways that make zero sense in the eyes of the world.