April GAP newsletter

By Nathan Stob

MATUPI, MYANMAR— Myanmar has been struggling since a Feb. 1 military takeover, pushing back democracy and returning the country to military rule.

Since this coup, hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered in the streets. Tensions were already running high throughout the country for many reasons, including the 2017 attacks against the Rohingya Muslims, many of whom have now fled to Bangladesh. The situation is complicated. The conflict has even reached the small mountain village of Matupi, home a Luke Society ministry. Ministry director, Rev. Chan Thleng, gives this update:

“Thank you for remembering us in your prayers… The protest goes on every day in every quarter of the city… The police and soldiers crush the protesters day and night, and as a result, several young people have died and many are severely injured and more than one thousand are detained.”

Chan also shared that “the main roads are blocked with sand bags and bricks and… iron bars to prevent the police and soldiers from coming into houses and shooting the people or dragging them out… I can hear every day the shooting and crying of the people since the unjust military coup. All offices, banks, schools, churches, pagodas, mosques are closed. Food becomes more and more a big problem for the people.”

Le Ding, who sees patients at the Luke Society clinic in Matupi, was advised by the local people not to open the clinic, or the police and soldiers might destroy it. He has cautiously chosen to keep the clinic open so that people can receive much needed health care. Please keep Chan, Le Ding and the country of Myanmar in prayer.