What Have I Been Doing?

Yes, it has been a long time since I lasted posted to this blog. So what have I been doing and why?

I’ve been giving more attention to another blog, Thoughts On Biblical Manhood. I’ve been posting there fairly regularly since the beginning of the month. I’m presently compiling a number of statements and meditations from the Puritan Richard Steele. You can visit that blog at any time and follow the thread of meditations from Steele’s Plea For Personal Integrity.

Present-day evangelical Christianity suffers from a lack of manhood; or at least its men do. But there was a time when the Christian religion was a vibrant, dutiful, and manly thing to behold. These meditations are designed to take us back to such a time.

REB

Pictures From Burma: A Word About All of Them

The pictures themselves are not as small as they appear in the blog. To enlarge them, simply click on them or select them and they will open in your browser to a larger size. The details in the picture will then become more evident.

REB

Pictures From Burma #7

This picture was taken when Rev. Hniar Ling went to see the destruction of U Aung Min’s house. U Aung Min is standing in the middle of the picture with the umbrella. So, in this picture are three persons: Rev. Hniar Ling, his wife Esther Ngun San Zing, and U Aung Min.

U Aung Min is Burmese and has two sons and two daughters. He used to be a Buddhist monk. But then by the grace of God he and  his house began to believe in the God of Scripture and they trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior of their souls. Now all his house believe except his eldest son, who continues to be Buddhist and for whom the Covenant Reformed Church in North Dagon continues to pray.

U Aung Min continues to bring his friends to Rev. Hniar Ling so they can hear the gospel. Most of them are Buddhist monks or former monks.

REB

Pictures From Burma #6

Here we can see the total destruction of U Win Naing’s house. He is the only son of U Phu Kyi, and has converted from the Buddhist religion to Christianity. U Win Naing has two sons who are also Christians. They are among the “wealthier” church members and own bicycles. It takes them about 10 minutes to ride their bicycles to church. There are five persons in this picture from right to left: Saya (this honorific roughly means “teacher” or “sir” and is generally used of those who have finished training for the ministry but are not yet ordained) Thiam, who is a friend of Rev. Hniar Ling; Rev. Hniar Ling, holding some roofing material (corrugated metal); U Tan Yin, who is a relative of U Win Naing; and Win Naing, and Daw Win Maw his wife.

REB

Pictures From Burma #5

This picture was taken when Rev. Hniar Ling went to look at the remains of U Phu Kyi’s house. The four people in the foreground of the picture are U Phu Kyi, his wife Daw San Myint, Puing Chu (a neighbor) and Rev. Hniar Ling. Rev. Hniar Ling is the one on the right who is bent over to look into the remains. The two people in the background are also neighbors of Phu Kyi’s, but they are working on their own house. U Phu Kyi is Kayin and Burmese nationality and Buddhist by religion. Although U Phu Kyi continues in the Buddhist religion, his wife and son have been converted to Christianity and baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. U Phu Kyi’s family is strong in the faith and walk approximately 30 minutes to church each Lord’s Day.

REB

Pictures From Burma #4

This is a picture of Daw Aye Thuai’s house. Daw Thuai lost her husband last year. Her neighbors have been showing sympathy to her and helping her in many ways and have tried to help her when the needs have arisen. The four people in the picture are Daw Thuai’s neighbors Ki Yee, Tan Thaih, Mg Mg, and Pe U. These neighbors sometimes come to church along with Daw Thuai, but they are not yet Christian believers.

REB

Pictures From Burma #3

On the left in this picture is the house of Daw Aye Nuaih. She is a Burmese convert to Christianity along with her four sons and one daughter. So far her husband has not converted to the Christian religion, but is still Buddhist. This house is about 30 minutes by foot to the nearest bus stop and then another 10 minutes by bus from the place where the church meets, but Daw Aye and her children are faithful to come to all the services.  It is hard to see the woman in the picture, but it is not Daw Aye; it is a neighbor whose house was not so fully damaged.

REB

Pictures From Burma #2

This picture was taken on the day after Nargis destroyed the homes of the people in the picture. The picture was taken during lunch as Rev. Hniar Ling preached the message of God’s comfort in Christ Jesus. He preached on the subject of “My only comfort in life and death is, that I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.“

The people who appear in this picture are UTin, Daw Aye Nuaih, Daw Mah Su, U Phu Kyi, Daw San Myint, U Aung Min, U Aung Kyay, Daw Tin Tin Aye, Daw Phu Ti, Thi Da Aye, and Daw Hlai Wey.

REB

Pictures From Burma #1

I posted some pictures last week of the church in North Dagon and some of the damage that was inflicted by Cyclone Nargis. Several people have written me privately and asked for more information on the people and damage in those photos, so I will now upload all seven of the pictures I received and explain who and what is in each picture. This first picture is of the ruins of Daw Tin Tin Aye’s house. Daw is an honorific in Burmese meaning something like Mrs. Her name is Tin Tin Aye. Daw TinTin lived in this house with her two daughters, which is about a 10 minute walk from Rev. Hniar Ling’s house. Daw TinTin is Burmese, but is converted to Christianity. She and both daughters were baptized by Rev. Hniar Ling. One of the daughters is still in school.

REB

Most Affected Areas of Burma