Saturday, January 31, 2015

Teaching in Yangon, Myanmar

It is such a privilege to be at work in our Savior's kingdom. Today was no exception. Pastor Koenig has been here for a couple of days already so I was slated to teach the whole day. There were well over 90 in attendance today. The Bible seminar was from 9:00 - 3:30.

The crowd that gathered was made up of several independant pastors from the area along with many others from the area who were interested in learning more of what the Bible has to say. I was introduced to a number of individuals who have recieved Bible instruction class from Pastor Charles. Several of these individuals are converts from Buddhism and one woman was recently converted from Islam. Praise the Lord!

Before the afternoon session began 15 individuals came forward to recieve their certificate of completion for the course on Luther's Catechism that the recently completed with Pastor Edwards. The young lady who was recognized for having the highest score on the test was recently converted from Buddhism. Again...Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow morning during the worship service two recently converted Buddhists who are being instructed by Pastor Charles will be baptized. And again...Praise the Lord!!!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Arrived in Yangon

Just a quick note to let every one know that I made it safely to Myanmar today. I'm at my motel now with excellent internet access.

I'll meet up with Dave Koeing later today and then I'm hoping to get a good night of sleep tonight so I can kick this nasty head cold that I picked up along the way.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we'll meet with the pastors here in Yangon. This will be the first time I've met these men face to face. I'm excited to finally  have this opportunity and privilge to work with them in our Savior's kingdom.

A big thanks to Ed and Janice for hosting and scheduling my quick visit to India. It was great to spend time with them and the hospitality was top shelf. Thanks again!!!

Teaching and Meeting in India with the Students of the Martin Lutheran Bible School and the District Chairmen of the BELC

Waiting in Kuala Lumpur Airport

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I've made the first leg of my journey from Chennai to Myanmar. I'm about halfway through a three hour layover in Kuala Lumpur. I'll arrive in Yangon /Rangoon around 11:30 am (Friday).

I had great visit with Ed and Janice in Chennai. The class with Martin Luther Bible School students went well. And had a good visit and discussion with the District Chairmen of the BELC. I have really grown to appreciate and love those men in the 17+ years I've had the privilege of working with them. I'll post pictures as soon as I find some high speed internet in Yangon.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Chennai

My flight arrived at 1:15 am in Chennai and Ed and Kumar were waiting as promised...it's now 3:00 am Wednesday (India time) 3:30 pm Tuesday afternoon (St. Louis time)...I've been up for the 35 hours now. It shouldn't be too difficult to get some sleep I'm looking forward to a couple of days visting with Ed and Janice, the District Chairman of the BELC and the students at the Martin Luther Bible School.

Good night and Good Afternoon!

Waiting in Hong Kong

15 hours and 50 minutes of flight time brought me safely to Hong Kong...fortunately the flight to Chennai India is delayed too. My flight leaves in 5 minutes.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Waiting In Chicago

My early morning flight from St. Louis was right on schedule...if fact it landed a few minutes early. I turned on my phone to find a text message from Cathay Airlines informing me that my flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is delayed by one hour. That means that I probably won't make my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Chennai, India...this might turn a long day into a REALLY long day.

On a much happier note...I just got to visit with the students of Holy Cross Lutheran School in Phoenix (where my son Josh is the teacher) via Skype. They asked lots of really great questions about mission work, travel, and God's  Kingdom for about a 1/2 hour. That was lots of fun!

If I can find internet access in Hong Kong...I'll check in and let you know how things are going.

Please pray that the Lord would arrange my flights according to His good pleasure!

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Getting Ready to Go

Good Evening,

On January 26th I will be leaving for a CLC Board of Missions visitation to the Mission Fields in Myanmar (formerly Burma) is Southeast Asia. Our visiting missionary has been traveling to Myanmar annually since 2008, but this will be my first visit and the first official visit by the CLC Board of Missions.

Myanmar has a population of nearly 56 million...90% are Buddhist
I'm excited to finally meet the pastor who I first corresponded with back in 2007 when they found out about the CLC through our web-presence. At the time, I was serving as the secretary of the Bd of Missions and one of my responsibilities was to take up the initial correspondence of those who were interested in our church body and how we might work together to advance our Lord's kingdom here on earth.

I should mention as a side note, that it was during this time that, for some unknown reason, we had several foreign pastors and church leaders make inquiry with CLC about joining together in the work of the Kingdom. I recall beginning correspondence with at least ten individuals around that that time. Surprisingly, there were two different individuals from Myanmar that contacted the CLC about this time. One of those two contacts "panned out" the other did not as we soon found out that they were already involved with and receiving financial support from the another Lutheran church body in the U.S. This was also the time when correspondence was just beginning with a young pastor in Nepal that would eventually lead to the formation of the Himalayan Church of the Lutheran Confession of Nepal. Many of you have had the privilege of meeting this young pastor named Raju who has spent the past three years attending our ILC seminary in Wisconsin. Somewhat later, correspondence also began with a pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa that is still progressing to this day. Most of the other correspondence with other contacts have come to end because it was determined that doctrinal unity was not important to them or their requests had only to do with financial support with no interest in pursuing God-pleasing fellowship first through the study of God's word. The reason I mention all of this is so that we can rejoice together in the fact that of all the pastors and preachers and church-bodies spread across this vast and wonderful world, the Lord saw fit to give us the privilege of working together in His kingdom with the pastors and congregations of the CLC-Myanmar and the National Church of Myanmar. God is certainly good!!!

Official Flag of Myanmar - Adopted in 2010

I am not sure how often I will have the opportunity to update this blog. I hope to keep it up to date and also post lots of pictures. Again, I am excited to finally meet the pastor that I had the privilege of corresponding with some seven years ago as we worked through and found unity in the doctrines of Holy Scripture that we hold so dear.

I will be meeting up with Missionary Koenig in Yangon, Myanmar on January 30th after I spend a couple of days visiting with Missionary Ed Starkey and his wife Janice along with the leaders of the Berea Ev. Lutheran Church (BELC) and the students of the BELC Bible institute in India.

You can read some brief history of our involvement in Myanmar on the CLC Lutheran Missions website at: www.LutheranMissions.org 

Please pray that the Lord would...
  • keep us humble and grant wisdom in all things
  • grant us patience 
  • bless our preaching and teaching of His Word
  • bless those who hear the Word and lead them to repent and believe in Jesus
  • be with our families and help them not to worry
  • be with the members of Faith Lutheran Church of St. Louis County while I am gone
  • help us to rejoice always in this great privilege of proclaiming His word
  • keep us safe
  • keep us healthy
Thanks for reading!

In Christ,
Pastor Todd Ohlmann