A Letter From Pastor Mark - July



Dear Friends,
I have some exciting news to share with you.  As most of you know, the south side of  Indianapolis, particularly in the general vicinity of the church, has a large Myanmar (Burmese, Chin) population.  A large percentage of these individuals are Christian, and many have fled their home country due to religious persecution.  Many of the Myanmar residents came with intact Christian communities.  Some of this is due to the many dialects of their language.  They often group together according to their dialect and then form Christian communities or churches around that commonality.
At Southport United Methodist Church we have often asked this question, “How can we serve this growing segment of our community?”  To be quite honest, that question has been difficult to answer.We certainly didn’t want to make the mistake of offering ministry that was what we thought the Myanmar community needed rather than what would truly be helpful.
Recently, God answered the question of how we could minister to a segment of the Myanmar residents.  We were put in contact with the leaders of a small Myanmar church. They are a small church, but they do have 50 plus people on a weekly basis.  They have been meeting in an apartment.  Can you imagine that size of group meeting in the living room of an apartment!
Jason Young and I met with the leaders of this Myanmar church.  Their request to us was to be able to use our building for their weekly worship services.  Being able to meet at Southport UMC would give them plenty of room and then their group would have room to grow.  We   explored the possibility of sharing our facility with them.  After considering a number of logistic issues, we decided that there was really no compelling reason not to offer this group the hospitality of our building.
Starting in May the American Myanmar Christian Church has been meeting at Southport UMC at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoons.  Jason Young has been hosting them, and things have gone quite well.  We have been very pleased with this arrangement so far.  The Myanmar group is incredibly grateful and has been very respectful of the building.
So, I am excited to say that now and for the foreseeable future we will not only be the home of Southport United Methodist Church we are also the home and location of the American Myanmar Christian Church.  Some of you might be wondering if you could visit their service.  I am sure that you would be more than welcome.  However, just keep in mind that the service is conducted in their native language, and they tend not to have the time restrictions on their service that we often observe.
I am excited about this development and I hope you are as well.
In Christ’s Abundant Love,
Pastor Mark


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