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