B. A description of the Kachin State .

The Kachin economy is largely agricultural. Rice, teak, sugar cane.

But there is also mineral production: gold and jade. Unfortunately the Myanmar government cares little about the deteriorating environment in Kachin as it pluders the area to mine these resources. Erosion, flooding, and mudslides are common. Houses are destroyed each year.

Then there is China, again. One project with that nation, a 1,055 megawatt hydroelectric power plant, displaced 15,000 Kachin people. There is a systematic running over of these residents as though their worth is next to nothing. There has been little or no development in infrastructure, health care, and other basic necessities by this same government that is busy grabbing minerals from the land.

Burmese education is centered on the memorization of facts, and is located mainly in a handful of major cities. In Kachin State, with 1, 700,000 people, there are 41 high schools, 86 middle, and 1183 primary, with only 24,000 students. By comparison, in Chicago Public School system alone, there are 96 high schools. And that is one of many sysytems in the Chicagoland region.

Burma's health system nationwide is poor, but outside the main towns as in Kachin State, it is extremely poor. 1530 beds in 43 hospitals serve the population noted above (2002-2003). The government spends only 2 or 3 percent of the GDP on health care. This stat is among the lowest in the world. (215 Hospitals serve Chicago.)

Many traditions and ways have developed among the Kachins.

· Politcal authority was based on chieftains supported by their immediate families.

· though originally hunters, the Kachins have become strongly agricultural

· Kachin dwellings are 2 stories, and are built out of wood and bamboo. First floor is storage, 2nd floor for living.

· Clothing for women is wool skirts in bright colors. Men often wear turbans.

· Animism was the traditional religion, but we shall see how that particular tradition changed radically.

C. The salvation story of Kachin

The famous Adoniram Judson was not the first missionary to Burma, by several years. But he was certainly the first significant one. Two others had come and gone when Judson came in the first part of the 19th century. Judson stayed. People were converted. the Bible was translated.

But though Judson and later one Eugenio Kincaid met and talked with the Kachins of Burma during this time, no serious work was started there for at least 40 years. Several missionaries went to the far north, and one, Josiah Cushing, brought with him two tribesmen from the south of Burma, from the Karen people, who stayed the better part of a year evangelizing Kachins, then were replaced by others from the same tribe.

Eventually Albert Lyon of America, with his wife, was assigned to this territory and began an established work. But only began. Within a week he had caught a fever, and within a month he had passed away into eternity.

Still the Karen evangelists came, and Cushing's replacement, James Freiday, supervised them.

It was left to a resident of Illinois, William Roberts, along with Karen workers Maw Keh and Shwe Gyaw, to answer the call and build extensively on the work that had already begun. But more tragedy struck soon, as his wife died within 18 months. Though William had to return for a while to the States, he would return and pioneer the Kachin work for 40 years.

It was rough going for the Gospel in the early years. Freiday and the Karens continued to assist, in the face of attacks, robberies, fire, sickness. And in the beginnings, not one single inquirer, much less an active Christian convert.

Roberts was joined in 1881 with another appointed couple, the Kronkhites, and a new wife, a teacher in the Kemmendine School.

Finally in 1882, seven converts received baptism and the church was formed among the animist Kachin people. Add to the seven the four missionaries and four Karen evangelists, and a church of 15 emerges in the hills of Northern Burma.

Then it began to happen more rapidly. More baptisms, establishment of schools, translation of Scriptures, preparation of a hymnal, training of leaders, opening of new mission stations.

Ola Hanson is credited with being the scholar who brought the Word of God to the people in their own language. He was not encouraged much by the people or even the King of Burma, who even then despised the Kachin people, comparing them to dogs.

Nevertheless he persisted, motivated in part by mythology that was pervasive in those hills. The people had passed down myths for generations. Some of the myths seem to have been generated by truths long ago experienced. There was a creation myth, a resurrection myth, a flood myth. And then there was the "missing book" myth. The Kachins believed and taught that God gave every race a book. But the Kachins, hungry one night, ate their book. So much for the revelation to the Kachins.

The Karen tribe, though, had a prophecy saying that one day a foreigner would bring another copy of the book back to them!

It was an arduous complex task, but Mr. Hanson eventually fulfilled that prophecy! In 1911 the New Testament was completed. In 1926, the Old. His words:

"It is with heartfelt gratitude that I lay this work at the feet of my Master. I am conscious of the defects of my work. I have tried to master Kachin, and make a translation intelligible to all. Pray with us, that our Divine Master may bless this work to the salvation of the whole Kachin race, while we are still at work here."

More missionaries, more stations, more outreaches to Kachins and others wherever the doors opened. The church grows. By 1909, 150 Christians, 8 of whom became pastors.

Fast forward to World War II. All missionaries must go. Japanese invade. Church members scatter. Some apostasize, going back to animism. Some are persecuted. But new converts come, too. The church is able to be the church throughout the occupation.

In 1948, British rule of Burma ends. That rule had included two separate administrations for this multicultural land. One was considered "Burma Proper" and included the Burman people. The other was called the "Excluded (or frontier) Areas", simply the numerous ethnic minorities that needed separate consideration.

When the British leave, the two administrations become one. For a short time non-Burmans would be allowed to secede from Burma and were granted full autonomy. The leaders of this interim regime were soon assassinated. The next leader, nationalist U Nu, in 1948 officially ignored that pluralistic agreement, and informed all minorities that they were to be a part of Burma, period.

In 1961, to make things worse for Kachins in particular, Buddhism was officially made the state religion. Here then was created the dilemma. Kachins by and large were not Buddhist nor did they desire to become Buddhist. Fear of losing their freedom has caused them through the years to take a separate path from the rest of the nation. Most of the other ethnics have made some sort of compromise with the government and live in relative peace. The Kachins, not so. They have watched what compromise does to culture in group after group across the country and the thought of that happening to them is a horrific one. They refuse to give away their culture and their faith to a government that honors neither.

Sounds like the beginnings of the American nation, perhaps? An oppressed people escaping from oppression elsewhere and refusing to compromise its principals, willing to put together a group of fighters that will challenge the standing army of a mighty nation? More than that, a people trusting that God indeed was in their fight and would win the ultimate victory.

Anyway, the World War is over, the Japanese are gone, and so the return of the missionaries. Awful scenes of destruction greet them. Sixty years' worth of church buildings nearly all up in smoke. But the rebuilding begins and prospers and the church of Kachin State continues to this day.

Denominations of Christianity in the State include hundreds of Baptist churches, some Churches of Christ, and Anglican churches. Roman Catholicism is a relatively strong presence in the land also, second only to the Baptists, who report nearly half a million in membership, with perhaps 500 ordained ministers.

All in all, the coming of Christ and His Church to the Kachin people, "fermented a social, cultural, and economic transformation. Christianity gave many poor hill tribes, and the Kachins were one of them, a common creed instead of scattered beliefs in the power of spirits. With education came self-esteem and ethnic pride, and an entirely new national consciousness." (Bertil Lintner in the Revealer.)