Rescue Shop at he gates of Hell

Poverty, war, and corruption have left many Burmese combating threats from crime syndicates, leaving them in vulnerable conditions as they struggle to secure food for their families.

Shining the Light of Jesus in the Darkness of Asia

From time to time, we receive very sensitive reports from our partners in Asia. We often refrain from sharing such stories to protect the safety of our partners, while striving to create balanced newsletters that don’t overly burden our readers and leave them with broken hearts. Sadly, many of the stories include suffering and reflect some of the worst depravity of mankind.

While we love to encourage readers with stories of revival and Gospel breakthroughs, to only share those would be unbalanced. Asia is also a place of intense spiritual darkness, and sometimes things that are difficult to read are necessary to share so that believers around the world can know how to pray.

Now take a moment to consider William Booth’s quote cited above. Have you ever wondered what it might actually look like to run a rescue shop just outside the boundary of hell? What we are about to share with you in this newsletter is the result of believers doing just that in Myanmar today.

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” (Luke 12:49-51)

Last year we were excited to receive a call from one of our dearest ministry partners on the field in Asia. He is seeing God move powerfully among hungry hearts, with thousands of people having been added to the family of God. What he shared that day caused our hearts to grieve and tears to fill our eyes.

You might have enjoyed reading our 2024 reports and watching videos of how the Lord is saving countless beautiful children in Myanmar. Satan does not let any genuine move of God go unchallenged, however, and the story we are about to share is both gripping and heavy, but please read it through to the end, as there is a message of hope at its conclusion.

Eva (not her real name) was just 11 years old when a great darkness visited the slum she calls home. It happened on a sunny day, just like any other. The streets were buzzing with life as schoolchildren were on holiday and were making the most of their young lives in the impoverished neighborhood.

“Follow me for some free candy!” one child shouted to groups of playing children.

Eva’s belly growled at the thought of eating something sweet. She frequently felt hunger pangs at home due to a lack of food, so she welcomed the invitation and hurried over along with other children for some free candy.

Eva had noticed that some of her friends as well as others had disappeared from time to time, never to return. This made many in her village aware of the dangers around them and suspicious of strangers. But the young boy leading them to get candy was a familiar face in the neighborhood, and his parents met the group of children along the way, putting Eva’s heart at ease.

As the group walked quite a distance from the village, the boy's parents excitedly told them about a free medical clinic that would be distributing candy along with a free vaccine for each child.

Coming from destitute families who can’t afford the most basic medical procedures without becoming enslaved by debt to violent gang lenders, the children considered the offer of medical help one less cost for their parents to worry about.

Finally, beyond earshot of the village, the group of now 20 children, along with a pregnant mother, entered the local graveyard. It seemed like an odd place for candy and vaccines to be distributed, but sure enough, there was a table set up with medical instruments operated by staff dressed in white lab coats.

The children formed a line and quickly, one by one, received an injection in the arm, followed by a piece of candy. While they were all enjoying their candy, Eva noticed something very odd beginning to happen to each one of them. A strange fog clouded their judgment and made them dizzy.

And then it happened.

The pregnant mother was suddenly murdered right in front of the children by these criminals dressed as doctors and nurses. With no concern for the sanctity of human life, they proceeded to slash open the deceased mother’s stomach, pulling her precious unborn child from her womb.

Terror of the worst kind gripped every child. Drugged beyond the point of being able to resist and now threatened with death themselves if they did not cooperate, the children were herded into the backs of open-bed trucks and driven through their village to a nearby fishing pier, where they were placed on boats.

Eva inwardly screamed for help, but no words made it to her lips because of the drug-induced state she was in. It was at that horrifying moment that she remembered the words she had heard at a Christian meeting she had attended since she gave her life to Jesus. It was there that she first learned that Jesus cares for everyone and can save people when they call upon His name.

“Jesus,” she cried out in Burmese.

It was all she capable of saying.

The boat that took the children across the river docked on the far side, and each child was whisked through the fish market and hurriedly pushed into cars that drove them away.

Eva watched with crippling fear as she was pushed closer to one of the cars, its door opening for her as she approached.

Then, out of nowhere, two very tall, white angelic beings appeared. They released her from the arms of her captors, brought her back to the pier, and put her on a boat returning to her village on the other side of the river.

Eva made it safely home and has been slowly recovering from the trauma, but sadly, none of the 19 other children have returned to their families since that day.

Please consider helping children like Eva through TCF (The Children's Fund)

Most children who disappear in Myanmar under these circumstances do not live to tell their stories. Asia Harvest has since learned from our partners in the slums that the 19 children were most likely sent to various hospitals, where they were sedated before surgeons removed all their organs, killing them in the process.

The murder of the pregnant mother and the nature of the diabolical events of that day confirm that these children were victims of human organ harvesting. Key organs, such as livers, kidneys, hearts, and lungs, are sold for transplant in wealthier countries.

Ongoing civil war in Myanmar has torn the country apart and resulted in the breakdown of society and the failure of the justice system. As a result, the police do nothing to assist victims, creating an environment in which such monstrous evil can thrive.

While the Church in Myanmar lacks the human ability to get judicial help against these threats, God’s children there have learned that the Lord Jesus is the true source of their rescue. The Scriptures have become very real in their lives, such as Psalm 20:7:

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

Perhaps God moving so mightily in Myanmar today—the likes of which have never been seen before among the Buddhist majority—is heaven’s response to the cries of desperate believers who lack an army of chariots and human forces to rescue them.

With no such resources outside of Christ, they have been discovering the blessing that this “last resort” was all along their only lasting hope. Through this profound discovery, God’s revival fires are burning ever brighter amidst Myanmar’s darkest hours.

Every day our coworkers help precious children like Eva, and multitudes of young children and teenagers have been rescued who would have otherwise been trafficked by gangs into sex work, drug dealing, and many other types of modern-day slavery.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, thousands of at-risk families have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Not only have many vulnerable individuals come to Christ and been radically transformed, but many traffickers and gang members have also repented and surrendered their lives to the Lord Jesus!

Last year, Asia Harvest leaders visited the very slum where this diabolical incident occurred, and we even crossed on the same boats that took the kidnapped children across the river.

We have personally witnessed the powerful work the Holy Spirit is doing in those poor communities, and we can declare with great conviction that Jesus IS the answer and the only hope for Myanmar and the world.

For over 20 years Asia Harvest has helped reach and disciple more than 231,000 children throughout Asia by ministering to their physical and spiritual needs.

The Children’s Fund specifically helps us reach children like Eva. Not only do they receive food and practical assistance, but they are also introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ and are ultimately discipled and equipped to share the Gospel with other children and adults.

Even in the grimmest of circumstances, thousands of children’s lives have been transformed from darkness and despair to the light and hope that is found only in Christ.

If you would like to support the work in the slums of Myanmar and many other parts of Asia, please prayerfully consider giving to TCF (The Children’s Fund) or to any of our other initiatives through which Asia Harvest furthers the work of the Gospel by providing Bibles, support for evangelists, and relief.

The Wa tribes in Burma ... how they became Christians .. from Asia Harvest website

The history of Christianity among the Wa is a long one, with God first reaching them with great power through a unique demonstration of His love and grace in the 1880s. The late Don Richardson's wonderful book, Eternity in their Hearts, tells the extraordinary story of how the Gospel first came to the Wa people:

"The Wa were headhunters. Just once a year, in the planting season, Wa tribesmen felt compelled by bloodthirsty spirits to plant human heads in their fields along with their seeds—just to ensure a good crop. Neighboring tribes always wanted to leave for vacation when the Wa were planting their crops, but unfortunately that was when they had to plant their crops too.

A benign influence, however, was at work within the folk religion of the Wa people. From time-to-time prophets of the true God, whom the Wa called Siyeh, arose to condemn headhunting and spirit-appeasement! One such prophet, Pu Chan, appeared during the 1880s. He persuaded several thousand Wa tribesmen to abandon headhunting and spirit worship on the grounds that the true God was about to send a long-awaited white brother with a copy of the lost book. If he came to the Wa territory and heard that the Wa were practicing evil things, he might think them unworthy of the true God's book and turn away again! If that happened, Pu Chan warned, surely the Wa would never get another chance to have the lost book restored to them.

One morning Pu Chan saddled a pony. ‘Follow this pony,' he said to some of his disciples. ‘Siyeh told me last night that the white brother has finally come near! Siyeh will cause this pony to lead you to him. While Pu Chan's disciples gaped in astonishment, the pony started walking. Expecting the pony to stop at the nearest stream, they followed it."

Two hundred miles away, an American missionary from Nebraska, William Young, had recently set up base in the town of Kengtung. One day Young went to the marketplace to preach among the people, and he noticed strangely garbed men gravitating toward him out of the throng in the market.

They were not Wa, but were men from the neighboring Lahu tribe, who God chose to receive the Gospel first. The Lahu had also been waiting for a white man to come with a lost book that would reconnect them to the true God, whom they called Gwi'sha in their language. Richardson continues the story:

"They stared incredulously at the missionary's white face, the interior of the book in his hand, and listened to his description of the laws of God contained in that book. Then, in an outburst of powerful emotion, the Lahu pleaded with Young to follow them up into the mountains. ‘We as a people have been waiting for you for centuries,' they explained. ‘We even have meeting houses built in some of our villages in readiness for your coming.'

Some of the men showed him bracelets of coarse rope hanging like manacles from their wrists. ‘We have worn ropes like these since time immemorial. They symbolize our bondage to evil spirits. You alone, as the messenger of Gwi'sha, may cut these manacles from our wrists—but only after you have brought the lost book of Gwi'sha to our very hearths!'

Nearly speechless with awe, Young went with them. Tens of thousands of Lahu became Christians, and it was at that stage that Pu Chan saddled his pony (200 miles away in Wa territory) and told his Wa disciples to follow it to the missing book and the messenger of the True God. When the pony finally arrived at the home of William Young, the Wa asked him: ‘Have you brought the book of God?' Young nodded. The men, overcome with emotion, fell at his feet and blurted out, ‘This pony is saddled especially for you. Our people are all waiting. Fetch the book! We must be on our way!"

Thousands of Wa heard the Gospel from both the Young family and the new Lahu Christians. They repented of their sins and gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Young's son, Vincent, later translated the New Testament into Wa.

During much of the 20th century, many Wa people continued to outwardly follow Christ, but their faith generally slipped into dead formalism. A vibrant, life-giving revival was greatly needed among the Wa, lest the amazing breakthroughs of the past would go to waste.

One reason for the spiritual decline among the Wa was the problem with their Bible. Because of their widespread locations and multiple dialects, only a fraction of Wa were able to understand the dialect the Bible was available in.

Some years ago, a Wa Bible committee was set up to address this problem, and a new translation was launched in a common vernacular that many more Wa people could understand.

Asia Harvest has been greatly blessed to provide more than 80,000 new Wa Bibles , free of charge, through our Asian Bible Fund . There are many requests for more, and we invite you to prayerfully consider supporting this strategic endeavor.