When Rev James San Aung from the Myanmar Lutheran Church and Rev Martin Lalthangliana from the Lutheran Church of Myanmar returned to their home country of Myanmar (Burma), they were full of thankfulness to you! Through your offerings, you made it possible for James and Martin to receive a short term scholarship to study theology […]

When Rev James San Aung from the Myanmar Lutheran Church and Rev Martin Lalthangliana from the Lutheran Church of Myanmar returned to their home country of Myanmar (Burma), they were full of thankfulness to you!

Through your offerings, you made it possible for James and Martin to receive a short term scholarship to study theology at the Australian Lutheran College in Adelaide for three months in 2012. The Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) is working together with partner churches and organisations, through the Mekong Mission Forum, to help support emerging churches in the Mekong region of Asia. The primary purpose of their study was to understand Lutheran Theology in various contexts of ministry, and to introduce them to people and ministry within the LCA.

Rev James said that it’s different in Australia. You can really work deeply into a subject and learn through your own methods of study and indeed your own life experiences. James’ main goal is to learn the techniques of teaching theology and how to motivate students. He hopes to reopen the Lutheran Seminary in Myanmar, in order to train more pastors. He said, ‘we want a Lutheran Seminary in our country, it is our vision’.

Rev Martin wants to learn more about the Lutheran Church in Australia and how it functions, in order to create a worldwide mission. ‘I believe [this scholarship] will give me more knowledge, ideas of fellowship and mutual partnership for different mission aspects’ he said. Martin’s main focus in mission is to spread the word of God through translating Lutheran texts into the some of the tribal languages regularly used in Myanmar today.

The Lutheran Church of Myanmar and the Myanmar Lutheran Church are both based in the capital of Myanmar, Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon). These are both young churches, which began in the 90s with only a handful of supporters. Between them they now count more than 4,200 members, 31 pastors and many evangelists and church workers.

This story was also published in the April 2013 edition of Border Crossings, the magazine of LCA International Mission.

If you would like to know more about opportunities to personally support a scholarship recipient in your congregation during their stay in Australia, or ways in which you can financially and prayerfully support LCA International Mission’s scholarship program, you are invited to phone Nevin on (08) 8267 7300 or email nevin.nitschke@lca.org.au

Read more stories about LCA International Mission scholarships at https://www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories/scholarships/