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Presbyterian Missionary Union Presbyterian Missionary Union & Venture Guild International 1650 Love Road, Grand Island, New York 14072 v Phone: 716-775-0442 v Fax: 716-775-3405 Email: [email protected] Web: www.presbyterianmissions.org

MARCH/APRIL 2009, #235 ® “Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples.” Psalm 96:3

News to Know • BP Synod Church Plant-

ing Conference in NY All BP officers are invited to attend the conference scheduled for March 19-20, 2009, hosted by the Grand Island BPC, Grand Island, NY. The conference, entitled Presbyterians and Church Planting, will be presented by Ross W. Graham, General Secretary of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. For more information, contact the Grand Island BP office at 716-7737303. • PMU Field Director at Missions Conference Rev. Pine and Rev. and Mrs. Mok attended the Clearwater Christian College Missions Conference, March 2-4, 2009, in Clearwater, FL. They were also able to visit our BP churches in the area. • PMU Prayer Letters Available on the Web Prayer letters from Rev. Kim in Myanmar and Rev. Quisbert in Bolivia are now available for you to read on the PMU website: www. presbyterianmissions.org . Watch for more prayer letters from our missionaries. • E-Mail Prayer List for PMU Missionaries If you would like to receive monthly missionary prayer requests via e-mail (as well as any emergency prayer requests), please send your name and e-mail address to office@presbyterianmis sions.org. Please note in the Subject line: PRAYER LIST. Thanks for praying!

I Have Set Before Thee an Open Door The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I have set before thee an open door…” (Rev. 3:8). Thank God that He has set before us an open door in Perth, Western Australia. Last November several Bible -Presbyterian families in Perth asked us to minister the Word of God to them. After much prayer, discussion, and consideration this led to the establishment of “Family Worship” in the home of one of the families. Attendance at the “Family Worship” grew quickly from 40-50 people to 60-70 worshipers, at which time the home in which we were having our meetings became too small. The Lord then opened the door for us to move to the premises of a local Bible -believing church (Attadale Baptist Church), and we had our first Family Worship Service there on January 18, 2009. We are meeting each Lord’s Day at 3:00 PM. This new ministry is called Bible Presbyterian Fellowship and has the following activities. On Sunday afternoons we have worship services, presently attended by about 90 people. On the first Sunday of the month we partake together of the Lord’s Supper. About sixteen children attend Sunday School in four graded classes. Our motto is “Preaching Christ for His Glory and His Kingdom,” and our theme for the year is “Thirsting for God,” based on Psalm 42:1-2a, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” After the worship service we have a time of fellowship and refreshments, which is a most blessed Continued on page 2

Miriam’s Ladies’ Group: Cleaning up Messes

Miriam’s work in Asia continues to be varied, challenging, and fruitful. She is continuing her Church History studies every week, the translation project is progressing, and personal contacts that have promise for future leadership in Asia continue to be developed. Her weekly ladies group study is also going well, and will give you an idea of the kind of labor with which Miriam is involved. She writes: “A couple of the ladies in our group were originally reached by a teacher from the American House Church movement. He really confused them, passed them on to us, and then left. They’re relatively new to the group. They weren’t too confused about the basics of Jesus Christ, but he did leave them confused about the Church. He worked hard to explain to them that it’s nothing more than a man-made institution that displeases the Father, and that all the stuff the Church people tell you are things they made up, “winds of doctrine” and “man-made rules” that aren’t what the Word actually teaches. So, with two of these ladies, we’ve been slowly having difficulties, and we’ve been slowly realizing the extent of this. Some of the other ladies have invited them repeatedly to their own churches, but of late these two ladies don’t want to go anymore. Their response when asked about it is that, first, they don’t understand why everyone thinks they should: isn’t it all just made up stuff Banner Photo above: Meet- by men? Second, they finally revealed that they were actually considering our study as being their church, because that’s what they were doing before with the other teacher. Just ing place for BP Fellowship, talking about it casually has not done much of anything, though Continued on page 2 Australia Presbyterian Missionary Union is a non-profit missions agency associated with the Bible Presbyterian Church. Our purpose is to advance the cause of missions that are biblically based and practiced and to stand against any compromise of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. PMU is directed by a Council of Christian leaders who volunteer their time to guide the ministry. To learn more about missions opportunities through PMU, or about the BPC, please contact us. The Missions Banner is published six times a year for interested individuals and churches. It seeks to promote the clear stand of the BPC by providing a biblical perspective on issues, fads, and theories in missions and church development. Our Editor is Len Pine, and our Publisher is Morris McDonald.

Bamboo Flowering Causes a Hunger Belt in Chin State, Burma Many reports still call it "folklore" or "superstition," but it is an historical and biological fact: the bamboo species Melocanna baccifera blossoms en masse approximately every 48 years. This particular type of bamboo grows throughout a large area of Northern India as well as regions of Burma (mainly Chin State) and Bangladesh. The blossoming bamboo produces fruit, then dies off. This cycle is called the mautam. The fruit has a large seed that is packed with nutrients. During the fruiting stage of the cycle, local species of forest rats feed on the bamboo fruits/seeds. The rats cease cannibalizing their young and begin to reproduce in an accelerated birth surge, producing a new rat generation as often as every three months. Once the burgeoning population of rats has stripped the forest of bamboo fruit/seeds, nocturnal rat swarms quietly invade farms and villages to devour crops and stored foods. The rodents often grow to particularly large sizes and can gnaw through wood floors and storage containers. This phenomenon has historically resulted in mass starvation among the indigenous peoples of the region where Melocanna baccifera bamboo grows. In a Telegraph UK report, "Plague of Rats Devastates Burma Villages," The Telegraph quoted Benny Manser, a British photographer who managed to visit the mautam-affected area of Chin State (despite extremely restricted access for foreigners): "We saw stick-thin children and old women who hardly had the strength left to dig up roots to eat. Villagers were telling of vast packs of rats, thousands strong, which would turn up overnight out of the bamboo thickets and eat everything in sight." According to The Times of India, "The last flowering in Mizoram, in 1958-59, caused a famine that killed between 10,000 and 15,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of livelihoods." The bamboo flowering and rat infestation cycle has in the past lasted for about three years, until the rats run out of food and their populations return to normal. This mautam began in India in 2006 and moved into Burma in January of last year. The Burmese government has done nothing to assist the indigenous peoples of the Chin State, and has actually hindered relief efforts. Our BP mission stations in the region are suffering along with all the rest of the population. While we are unable to effect widespread relief, we can assist our brethren in the Chin State. Through our missionary in Burma we can help sustain the seven pastors and their families that are seeking to minister to their people. PMU has committed to providing regular support of $25-30 a month for the next two years for each of the pastors’ families (enough to buy a month’s supply of rice) as funds are available. We need your help! While the amount is not great, the need is, and we can make a real difference in the lives of our pastors there, their families, and their congregations as well. More information is on our web site, with additional links for further and corroborative information. In the meantime, can you help us with this important project? Please mark your gifts “Burma Famine Relief.” Thank you! — Rev. Len Pine

I Have Set Before Thee an Open Door, cont. time. We are reminded of the words of the Psalmist, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). We praise and thank God for each and everyone who is serving the Lord faithfully at BiblePresbyterian Fellowship. On Wednesday evenings we go back to the home where our Family Worship began. About twenty people meet together to study the Book of Acts. After the Bible Study we give the opportunity to testify of the Lord’s blessings and mercies and to share answers to prayers. We then divide into three groups—ladies, men, and young people —to pray together. On Friday evenings we have fellowship meetings for children, young people and young working adults. About a dozen children meet together to sing praises to God, to learn God’s Word through Bible lessons and through memorizing Bible verses, and to have a time of art and crafts. The young people and young working adults have as their theme verse Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” They are presently studying the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). As the Lord continues to guide us and opens additional doors, we look forward to having seminars and workshops on various topics, Christian film shows, Bible conferences, and also a Bible school. Please continue to pray for the Lord’s leading for this new ministry. Proverbs 3:5 and 6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” May all glory and honour be to our great God and Lord Jesus Christ. — Rev. Ed Paauwe

Miriam’s Ladies’ Group, cont. we’ve tried that the last several weeks. So, we’re starting a 7 lesson series on what the Church is, what churches are, their purpose, what’s commanded about them, and what our responsibility is. Our plan is to do the best we can to make sure that these two ladies thoroughly understand this subject and their responsibility. Then, if they still refuse to make time for worship in the church, we’re disinviting them to our lessons and will explain to them that it is not a worship service, not a church, and they cannot be using it as a substitute without being in sin. “I’ve formatted the lessons by choosing 7 statements about the Church, one for each lesson, then showing from the Scripture how it is true, and then discussing our response to that truth. “I didn’t know how it would be received. They have been pretty stubborn on this point. So much so, that it makes me think others have been busier making sure they absorbed unique views on the Church than making sure they were actually well grounded in their understanding of Scripture. They are so convinced that the Church is just a group of men making up their own rules and ideas that they won’t listen to anything any pastor tells them, or read any books. When asked about it, they give some kind of garbled answer about how it’s all man-made ideas; and they were warned not to be tricked by it. But, at the end of the first lesson, one of the ladies was very grateful. She said she’d not really understood these things, and although a part of her didn’t like it, she thought she really needed to finish the series.” This sort of situation is pretty common on Miriam’s field, and highlights the need for better local leadership and better “visiting” leadership, too. Please keep Miriam in your prayers. Her account is in need of a few more supporters; can you help? Thank you! — Miriam, edited by Dr. Len Pine