Update No. 2 Mission Relief Work in Myanmar

Dear family and brethren,

“Mingalaba!” Greetings, good morning, good afternoon or good evening in Burmese. Whatever time of day it is said, it is a respectful welcome by a humble and friendly people.

It is Day 2 for me in Myanmar and everything is moving very fast. I have always said that when in Asia, MARCH for Christ can hit the ground running, and indeed that is how our almighty God has put us to work.

So far, we have been blessed to accomplish what we have set out to do on my first two days here. The surprised faces of the V. family and their neighbors at my arrival was a golden moment. It was an emotional time to see them safe, and for them to know of your concern for them. They are very happy and grateful that we remember them and that you have sent me with aid for them. If you had not sent anyone, perhaps they would have lived on and later on tell us how they had suffered, but for them to see our love in action is a priceless treasure.

Roofing sheets, plywood, nails, lumber, etc. have been purchased for the repair of the V’s leaking and damaged roof. We also have the materials for the 6 small houses a short distance from their home, which was damaged by the typhoon. One of these 6 is the house of the community secretary. He is the overseer of what they refer to as 100-1000 households in the area where the V. family live. Through the years he has been supportive of the house church; as we have found out in Myanmar, all he has to do is air a complaint against the church and the military will come and close down the church. On May 20, Tuesday, we will have a fellowship lunch in their neighborhood. In addition to this, he has allowed W.V. to use their community hall for VBS.

We also visited the Preacher Training School, and found that it has suffered almost no damage at all. Only 9 mango trees, 7 cashew trees and 3 other bigger trees were all toppled and have to be cleared---plenty of firewood for our Myanmar preachers who regularly go there for training and fellowship.

Tomorrow, a vanload composed of the V. family, a couple of people who have been to Irawaddy, a neighbor and myself head for no man’s land---the Irawaddy River Delta. A checkpoint at a bridge prevents foreigners from entering, but hopefully, being someone who looks Burmese, I pray that I will be able to sneak in. If not, I will stay at a aid center before the bridge, and let the Burmese survey the Delta region as deep into the region as they can. We leave at 6 am and expect to be back by 9 pm. Please keep our safety in your prayers.

Ah yes! How faithful is our God and how He has answered your answers. Providing us the good health and energy to go on, and letting us meet people with whom we can partner with in delivering aid to the suffering and desperate people in Irawaddy. So far, I have 4 Burmese doctors who are willing to conduct a medical mission with our brethren inside Irawaddy. I also talked to a man who is close friend of the V. family, making arrangements for me to join a convoy of a general who will bring aid possibly on Thursday to Irawaddy. In addition, the boyfriend of one of the V. ladies is the son of a retired admiral, who is going to the partly submerged Hiene-Gyi Island, the most badly damaged by cyclone Nagris. I have put in a request to join them on Friday or Saturday for a 2 day mission. In both the general and admiral’s trips, I will be bringing relief goods, tarps and medicines badly needed by the cyclone survivors.

It has started raining since I came. And for now drinking water is not a problem, but disease, exposure and famine continue to be major problems that might kill more than the cyclone.

I am waiting for my team that will start to arrive before the weekend. One of them already has a visa while three other doctors and one of our team leaders hopefully will get theirs tomorrow. I am also waiting for Thai brethren to join us. We also still have to go to ICRC/Red Cross to find out where else we can help.

I understand that you continue to raise funds in the US, and I pray that our brotherhood will generously give. Now whether you give it to MFC to manage or to another group does not matter to me so long as the help reaches the poor suffering people. God will be glorified to see His children doing acts of charity and in preparation for a harvest.

I had earlier written a longer report, but someone must have been monitoring my email, because as I was about to end and close it, it just got erased. So I am sending this as a Word document in my flash drive, and attaching it to this email.

This will be all for now. Please continue your prayers for us.
Your brother, fellow servant and partner in the work,
Chito C.


Report from Bro. Chito Cusi, M.A.R.C.H. President. First Filipino Team Member to arrived in Myanmar.