Names Index

In an effort to make this blog  more functional I am beginning the process of indexing the 360 posts on this blog by names referenced in the posts.  In the margins are the alphabetical categories.  If you know the name of the person you can look them up using the categories.

Es Lu Lu Launches Sushi Business

Although we miss Es Lu Lu here in High Point we are proud of her new venture.  She is an independent contractor serving three Raleigh Kroger stores with Sushi made fresh daily.  During this first month she is being trained by a Kachin arrival (8 months ago) named Ga-Aung who is from Roanoke.   Here are the pix.

Our Blog Tipped 7000

Just a quick note, our blog has been read 7,000 times since it opened .

High Point Enterprise Article

This past Sunday Melody Hennessee had an article published by the High Point Enterprise that took up the front page of section B.  To access it, click on this link and scroll to page 8/9.  Those of you who take the Sunday paper, please save us a clipping.

The story is headed “Strong in Spirit” and titled “Teens battle genetic bone disorder”.  There are pictures of a couple of our First Wesleyan teens and their story.

Do I need a license to tell people about Jesus?

Today a Burmese friend of mine called to ask if he needed a license in order to share his faith about Jesus with a non-Christian.   Wow, think about our freedom in contrast to the oppressive conditions in Myanmar.   Also think about the privilege we have to be an advocate of our Lord to anyone who might listen.

Been Cuttin’ Firewood

This week Kyaw Win and a friend were helping be bring in some firewood ahead of next weeks storm.  We don’t burn wood any longer at our house, this is for sale by the Refugee Welcome Network.

CPAS raises $25,500

The Compassionate Performing Arts Series (CPAS) has been a joint initiative of the First Wesleyan Church and Premiere Productions.   Concerts were scheduled throughout 2009 and proceeds beyond the expenses were designated for two ministries:  the Citizens against Violence (CAV) of High Point and the Refugee Welcome Network (RWN).   Last Sunday a check was presented to each charity in the amount of  $12,750.  The Refugee Welcome Network has been able avert a person being homeless, provide portable heat, feed some who were hungry and generally be a secondary safety net for the refugees among us.   Thank you on behalf of the RWN for your concern for those with needs among us.

First Wesleyan Church, January 24, 2010

Turin Preached in the Chin/Burmese Service Sunday

This weekend an entourage of Matupi visitors from Baltimore visited High Point.  Among the visitors was Turin.  He is a lay preacher that assists at his Silver Springs congregation with the Matupi Chin people.  He preached first in Burmese and then in Hahka, ministering the word to the 30 people that attend the FWC Sunday morning Burmese language worship service.   Turin first came to the United States after the 1988 Burmese student uprising.  He attended a Georgetown conference for the dissidents.   He had to flee his country to India where he eventually obtained political asylum status and could come to the United States.   He works for a Maryland tool manufacturer in their distribution department.

Others who visited were two fathers named Yung Uko and Aung Oo and Rosen.  Rosen is a boyfriend of Frosintina, one of the young ladies in our church.   Below is a picture of the group with their hosts, Peng Len, Nu Nu and Sang Bik.

Baltimore Visitors in High Point

Welcome Cung and Cing

Cung Peng Lian & Ngai Lam Cing

Cung Peng Lian and Ngai Lam Cing just arrived in the United States last Thursday.   They understand and speak English quite well.  They are from the Hahka District of the Chin State of Burma.   They fled their country and lived in Malaysia for awhile before being granted refugee status and coming to High Point.  This is a wonderful Christian couple that I have been privileged to meet.   Welcome to America Cung and Cing.

Peter

Biak and Ap Ar’s son, Peter, came to church last Sunday.   He is really growing and he really looks like his daddy.  We like to have a growing church. Ask mom and dad they have plenty of more pictures. 

Biak has started taking graduate courses at a school in Winston-Salem.  He continues to be one of the key leaders of our Chin/Burmese speaking congregation at FWC.

National Lao Ministries with the Burmese

The other day I talked with Pastor Inthava Inthisane of First Wesleyan Church in High Point.    He shared with me a directory of Laotian pastors serving various evangelical denominations across the country.

I had lunch with one of these pastors in Stockton, California last month, Rev. Prasert Duangmala.   Then just last week I became acquainted with Captain Bruce Keobounhom.  Captain  Bruce has served with the Salvation Army since completing his studies at Asbury College in Wilmore, KY.   His Lao congregation has an outreach to Karen Burmese in Rockford, Illinois.   While working out transportation for a migrating Chin family he and I recognized our brotherhood in the Lord.

A neighboring Lao pastor in Rockford, is Phengphone Chanthalangsy who leads a Lao Christian Missionary and Alliance Church that ministers to a diverse group of recent Burmese refugees.  As you will often see me post, this kind of ministry is close to the heart of God.  The scriptures enjoin us to minister to the aliens among us, making them our friends so that we can continue to be a shining light for the Lord.

Sang Bik and Zo Par, Welcome to High Point

Sang Bik and Zo Par, we want to welcome you to High Point.  Sang Bik is a second cousin to Peng Len (their grandfathers were brothers).  Sang Bik arrived in the United States about three months ago in Rockford, Illinois, outside of Chicago.  They were a long way from any relatives and really wanted to be closer to the four Matupi Chin families in High Point.   They had received some settlement money and chose to use it to buy discount tickets on Southwest Airlines.  They flew into Raleigh this past Wednesday.  They will be seeking their own apartment and a job for Sang Bik.   Again welcome to the Sang Bik family.

ESL or EAL

I was visiting with Ka Di Thang “Kyaw Win” [Jaw Win] today and discovered a new perspective about our arriving Chin Burmese.   When a person flees Burma the eastern folks go over the border into Thailand and end up in a refugee camp.  They are relegated to the premises, among people that speak their language and they receive a subsistence alotment of rice each month.

The western folks, Chin and Kachin Burmese, travel south to Malaysia where their status is dicey, they aren’t citizens so they aren’t supposed to have jobs, there is no refugee camp.  They have to scramble for a living.   So they eek out a living in a foreign culture.  But not only that, many of them learn to speak Malaysian,  as well as knowing their original dialect of Chin and state mandated Burmese.   So when we conduct English as a Second Language (ESL) classes it is more accurate to say it is English as an Additional Language (EAL).    These folks who had to make it on their own, adapt to a foreign culture and learn a new language seem to be enculturating to America at a more rapid pace than other arriving refugees.

Kyaw Win and Sang I at First Wesleyan Picnic

New Name Written Down in Glory

Pywae Mae Accepts Jesus as her Savior

This is a picture of Pywae Mae last Friday when she accepted the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior.

Pywae Mae is the first Burmese-Karen that asked her pastor how to become a Christian.  She had this question for some time.  Finally, she confessed that she could not keep it to herself.  I believe that the Lord prepared her for a long time.  When God’s time had come, she joyfully once more heard the Gospel through Philip, an interpreter and committed herself to the Lord.  Praise the Lord.

May God richly bless her and help her to grow in Him.   -ii

Cha Dah and Mu Plo Great to have you Here!

In November, Cha Day brought his family and sister-in-law to America.  His wife is the sister of Be Aye and his brother, Kyaw Eh Su has been here for about nine months.   They live over on Brentwood Street.

(r-l) Mu Plo, Ma Nae Htoo, Win Win Chaw, Thay and Cha Dah