Recovering from an earthquake takes years of work, especially when a community is already impacted by conflict and poverty.  

This is especially true in Myanmar, and why our local Baptist Partners’ work is so vital.   

It’s been a year since a deadly earthquake devastated villages and displaced millions, and life is still difficult for many. Conflict, the high cost of living, limited income opportunities and disrupted local markets make it hard for people to meet their needs. 

The country is also still in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, with over 16 million people in need of aid, including five million children. 

Feeding Families And Supporting Children 

Throughout these hardships, our Christian Partners in Myanmar have been showing God’s love to the community in many practical ways. 

Thanks to generous supporters like you, local churches working with our Partners have been able to provide 150 families with essentials such as mosquito nets, toiletries, detergent, and food, so they can stay healthy and avoid disease. 

Our Partners are also helping to protect children in displacement camps, located in conflict-affected areas of Myanmar, by establishing eight community-based Child Friendly Spaces for 3 to 18-year-olds. 

Being displaced has a huge impact on children—on their health, their risk of exploitation, their mental wellbeing, and their ability to form relationships.  

In these spaces, trained staff provide structured activities (e.g. music and drama sessions) that help children express their emotions, interact with others, and find healthy ways to relieve stress.  

Teenagers also receive support to help them regulate their emotions and further build their resilience. 

So far, thanks to supporters like you, 608 children have been helped through these spaces, and parents report positive changes in their behaviour and confidence. 

Opportunities To Learn 

Currently around 4.8 million people in Myanmar need education support, and a growing number of children can’t safely access learning opportunities in their community, leaving them at risk of exploitation and child marriage. 

To address this problem, with your support, our Partner is establishing informal education centres to help around 3,000 school-aged children with their learning.  

With your support, our Partner is establishing informal education centres to help around 3,000 school-aged children with their learning. 

Run by churches, these centres support children with their learning, and provide access to resources they may not be able to afford (e.g. textbooks and stationery). They also help care for the children’s mental and spiritual wellbeing.  

Advocating for Myanmar in Australia 

In February, alongside our Partners’ work, Baptist World Aid’s Advocacy Manager Mike Bartlett spoke at a parilamentary Senate hearing on behalf of the Baptist Advocacy Roundtable on the need for increased aid in Myanmar.  

Our submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade argued that Australia’s aid program can play a strong role in sustaining peace at a local level, especially through local church-based networks that operate in hard-to-reach areas. 

The submission was positively received, and the Committee responded with 11 recommendations that align substantially with what was presented. Mike was also invited to speak again on the subject.   

Please pray for our team as they engage with Australian leaders on the injustices faced by citizens in Myanmar.  

Here are some other ways you can pray: 

  • That churches would be strengthened as they care for people in the community, and provide for their needs 
  • For children to be protected and provided with opportunities to continue their education 
  • God would continue to provide for vulnerable families in Myanmar, and give them opportunities to earn a living 

Through the generosity of supporters like you, God is at work in Myanmar—enabling his church to help communities not only recover from the earthquake, but endure through conflict. May God continue to work through his people in Myanmar, and bring about peace in the region.  

Our Partners in Myanmar are helping families survive by providing essentials such as hygiene kits, food and other forms of support. Your generosity could make a difference—please give here.