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June 2019
Equipping Myanmar Women Leaders
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"This kind of workshop is very useful as we, women leaders, need to be Spirit-led leaders."
"I learned new spiritual practices and they are really important for our spiritual growth. I need to fulfill these spiritual practices and I am eager to do it."
"We women have our own dignity and power. I have courage to confidently serve in God's ministry."
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May is the hottest month in Yangon. Temperatures in the 90's plus high humidity create a steam-room feel wherever we go. One day last week, the RealFeel
temperature hit 109! Meanwhile, power outages are frequent for a minimum of two hours daily (planned), plus multiple additional times as well (unplanned). No aircon. No lights. No wifi.
But the joy of being here has nothing to do with the weather or living conditions. It has everything to do with being part of what God is doing. Every day provides new opportunities for teaching, preaching, ministering, and outreach.
Most recently, for three days, we held a Spirit-Led Leader workshop for the Myanmar Baptist Convention (MBC) Women's Department. 45 women participated. Associations sending representatives included: Sgaw Karen, Pwo Karen, Asho Chin, Mon, MBC Union (Burmese speaking churches), and two large churches from Yangon.
Spirit-led leaders must first of all be Spirit-led Christians. In other words, before you trying to accomplish great things for God, first focus on strengthening your relationship with God and learning how to be led by the Spirit in your personal life. To help them grow spiritually, we discussed 50 spiritual practices they could draw from, including several new ones that they teach to their churches, such as Stop, Look and Listen; Lectio Divina; Silence and Solitude; and labyrinth prayer, which Jill introduced. The women were especially happy to learn from her, and I was thrilled to have her ministering again with me in Myanmar for the first time in over three years.
As always, what matters most in our ministries is what God does. And, once again, God was very active during the three day workshop. The Holy Spirit spoke through the teaching, discussions, and spiritual practices to many of these current and future women leaders in some very clear ways. Here are a few more of their comments about what they experienced or learned.
"I heard God's voice say, "I love."
"I need to be strong in faith, to submit my leadership to the Holy Spirit."
"God spoke to me through labyrinth prayer about the twists and turns of my life."
"I can feel the love, sacrifice and redemption of Jesus Christ."
"Toxic shame is the biggest problem in our leadership. Every leader needs to be free from toxic shame in order to lead effectively."
"This kind of workshop is needed to reach to all women departments across Myanmar."
In the midst of growing needs and concerns here in Myanmar, we are grateful that very good things are happening through our ministries. Exciting new opportunities are emerging for the year ahead. But we never forget that apart from Christ and the working of his Spirit, we can accomplish nothing of lasting value (John 15:5). We need your prayers and continued support for us to stay in the flow of the Spirit and for Christ to bear fruit through us. Thank you for your continued interest and support. We depend on you.
In Christ's service,
Rev. Timothy C. Geoffrion, Ph.D., D.D.
President and Teaching Minister
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Myanmar Baptist Church Regional Directors
Singapore Retreat
In May, the Faith, Hope, and Love team also traveled to Singapore to lead a one-day retreat for MBC Regional Directors of Ministers, as a follow up to last year's Spirit-Led Leader training for them in Yangon. We talked about their roles as the lead person in each of 16 regions/conventions throughout Myanmar. The goal was to discuss how the directors could better teach, train, support, and encourage the many pastors in their regions. Jill introduced labyrinth prayer to them and gave each participant a laminated finger labyrinth, generously donated by professional photographer Alain Kilar.
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New Links!
"How Well-Connected Are You?"
Tim's Sermon at New Life International Fellowship, May 26, 2019
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50 Spiritual Practices in two languages!
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Keep up-to-date on not only where in the world Tim is, but also what he is working on and whom he is serving. We would love to hear how Faith, Hope, and Love Global has impacted your life or the lives around you, too. Feel free to share on our page!
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We depend on the generosity of our supporters to keep the ministry going and growing. There are many ways to give to FHL Global Ministries,
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