Challenges in Twenty-First Century
In 1835, British officials in India invited Rev. and Mrs. Brown and Mr. O. T. Cutter, a printer from Moulmain, to begin Baptist missionary work in Assam, in Sadiya under the name “Mission to the Shan.” The mission began in 1836. This is the earliest mission to the Shan people. The first printing in “Shan” was done in Assam on January 1, 1838. There are still Shan-speaking people in Assam who are descendants of the Shan migrants who established the Ahom Kingdom in the 13th century.
On his trip North from Ava in 1837, Kincaid met a party of Shan. He talked to them in Burmese and gave out tracts. Five million Shan are now living in the Shan States and other parts of Burma. Shan are traditionally Buddhists. Shan have adopted Buddhism since AD 71.
The Baptist mission among the Shan in Burma was started by the American Baptist Missionary Union of the United States of America in 1861. The first Missionary to the Shan was Rev. & Mrs. Moses Homan Bixby. He started his mission work among Shan refugees in Toungoo. Up until 1986 (124 years), only 0.12% (6,000 out of 5 million Shan in Burma) of the total Shan population believed in Jesus Christ and professed as Christians in 26 Shan Churches. The growth rate is 48 believers per year, 4 per month, 0.13 per day among 5 million Shan. American Missionaries had brought the gospel to us. They had planted Churches among us. What do we have to do today? Who is going to tell the Good News to Shan people now? There are many reasons why the Shan Churches should engage in missions and Shan Christians should go out and preach the gospel to their people. The paramount reason is the “command” of Christ. (Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:20) We engaged in evangelism today not because we want to or because we choose to or because we like to, but because we have been told to.
Shan have their own cultures, which seemed to be mixed up with Buddhist practices, for, understandably, the Shan are Buddhists for almost two thousand years. They have their language and literature. Shan are classified as an un-reached people group by the Joshua AD 2000 project. They live in 10/40 windows.
How many Shan have heard about Jesus?
How many preachers or evangelists, or missionaries are working among the Shan today?
Only about 10% of the five million people would have heard about Jesus. Most of them are from radio broadcast. There are only a handful of evangelists going out preaching gospel to Buddhist Shan. Most of the Seminary and Bible School graduates are serving in well-established Churches, neither as evangelists nor missionaries. Most of the Shan pastors are also confined to Church work in the Church only.
Are the Shan very resistant to the gospel? By looking at the early missions among the Shan, we have seen that the Shan, including SaoPha and monks, were tolerant, flexible, helpful, co-operative, interested, and neither militant nor aggressive to Christianity. However, there are several reasons for not being able to convert many Shan to Christianity, like other hill tribes. Their deep-rooted culture and old tradition of Buddhism are some of the main factors influencing the success of missions among the Shan. Shan people used to say, “Shan are Buddhists and Buddhism is Shan’s religion.” If any Shan is not Buddhist, he/she is not considered a Shan.
How can we reach the Shan with the gospel of Jesus?
Should we wait for another century to have another 6,000 Shan to the Lord?
How can we make them Shan Christians?
Do they have to abandon their culture so that they can become Christian?
Can Shan become a Christian without abandoning their culture?
How can we accept their culture in Christianity?
These questions are very important for people who work among the Shan.
Christianity segments among the Shan Christians are: Anglican 5%, Independent 5%, Protestant (Mainly Baptist) 75%, Roman Catholic 15%
Who are responsible to make disciples of Shan?
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Shan are included in a great multitude in heaven
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
Who are willing to be sent to Shan people?
Romans 10:13-15 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”