Sacrifice and Commitment

February 12th, 2013
Yangon, Myanmar
Song of the Day: A Different Moonlight by Young Mozart
Mood: Determined

Sacrifice

Education is highly valued in this culture and students make tremendous sacrifices in order to learn.

Myanmar Institute of Theology (M.I.T.) is Myanmar's top seminary and where we work

Two of the Professor's M. Div students

The Peacemaking Photographer (not pictured) is in his last year of the M.Div program. He is passionate about photography, but sold his only camera so he could raise money to pay for tuition. Once at M.I.T, he earned a scholarship and the donors also bought him a camera. He was able to use that camera at his father's memorial service. Without it, no one would have been able to record the event. Most students have no margin and give everything for the chance to learn.

Like many of his classmates, the Peacemaking Photographer couldn't afford to bring his family with him to live in Yangon. He has had to be separated from his wife and children for three years, except for major holidays. Another of my father's students is studying in Yangon while her husband is pursuing his Ph.D. in Hong Kong. Since they are both studying, she has to leave her three year old son with the boy's grandmother, who lives six hours away. As a result, the mother can only see her son a couple times per year and her husband even more infrequently. Like her Th.M. classmates, she will most likely go into teaching and coming to M.I.T is how she can best develop her ability and serve her people.

The Labyrinth Lady laughing with an Old Testament lecturer

One lecturer gained admission to a good U.S. doctoral program in '09, but couldn't go because the U.S. school had to rescind its scholarship offer due to the recession. The school invited him to reapply this year and he will go if he is admitted with a full scholarship. However, since he doesn't any extra money, his wife (and soon to be born child) can't join him in America and they will be separated for five years. The lecturer will seize the chance to get a Ph.D. from an American school because his department needs professors with more training and this is his act of service to the school and people of Myanmar. For his family, the opportunity is worth the sacrifice and separation they will have to endure.

The Professor is following up one-on-one with a student 

Commitment

Reppin' my MN Club "Minnesota nice" shirt (Venice, 2010)

In the U.S., some people are very proud of their home state (e.g., those from TX, CA, the best state - MN). Even if people identify with a particular geography, they maintain a deep sense of individuality. When my classmates and I graduated, we typically moved to wherever had the best grad program, most prestigious job, or best opportunity to serve. Little regard was given to where immediate family lived and people rarely feel a compulsion to return to "their people".

Not so in Myanmar. As a top seminary, M.I.T. attracts top students from all over Myanmar. When I ask students if they plan to return to their home state, they almost always respond without missing a beat, "Of course!" 

One reason is interdependence. Most students cannot afford the tuition payments and their home church or region sponsors them with the expectation that they will serve their home congregations after they graduate. They don't receive a pension as pastors and so they will need to rely on their children and community to support them in their retirement. It is much less secure than their American way, but it fosters a deep sense of mutual reliance, and accountability.

A second reason is ethnic pride. There are eight main ethnic groups in Myanmar and they are mostly self-segregated into different regions in the country.

My new shirt shows the 8 main ethnic groups and their respective states

The students organized a special choir with students from different ethnic groups.
Each student wore his or her people's traditional attire.

The student in the middle is Karen. He helps the Professor with
 his ministry to at-risk youth (Click for pictures of the at-risk youth)

Some of my Kachin friends invited me over for fellowship and generously treated me to a tour of their dorm (6 people per room!) and a trip to tea shop:

 

Many students come from an area currently embroiled in armed conflict. They will willingly return to dangerous places to serve their people and work for a just and sustainable peace. In classes, these students ask pointed questions about how to practically minister because Jesus' command to "love your enemy" takes on new meaning after attending many funerals. Their congregations will not be satisfied with pat answers and will look to the pastors as leaders and guides on how to act amid the conflict. I have tremendous respect for these students and they ask for our continued prayers for peace.

I am inspired by them because they understand the reality of the situations they are preparing to enter and it causes them to invest everything they can in order to be equipped to serve others. 

Practical application

Coming from the American culture, my natural tendency is to think about what I want to get out of business school. Yet, the sacrifice and commitment of the students and professors here challenge me to view business school as the privilege and opportunity that it is. I don't want to view my two years as time for myself, or even worse, as a vacation, but as a time where I can minister to others and prepare to serve my society. Our world is full of tremendous need and I want to be a leader that uses my knowledge, relationships, and opportunities to advance the kingdom of God however the Holy Spirit leads.

I officially chose Wharton and will start school in early August