Special honor to the children and fathers

June 14, was Children’s Sunday and PBBC held a special service led by our children. Since they are the future leaders of the world as well as for the PBBC, we have to nurture and teach them to know the Word of God, and participate in the worship service. Our Sunday school teachers do their best with the knowledge and skills they possess to achieve these objectives.

More than 40 children took part in the service: ushering, singing songs, reciting scripture verses, collecting offerings, etc. As a church with ethnic diversity, it was very heartening to see children from different ethnic groups such as Chins, Kachins, and Karens from Philadelphia and its suburbs and those from Trenton, New Jersey, worship together in one spirit.

Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that children must always be given a special place because our Lord Jesus said, “I tell the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me.” (Matt. 18:3-5)

June 21, the following Sunday was Father’s Day. As it was done on Mother’s Day, fathers were also honored with special remembrance of Dr. Batunkyi, our patron, who passed away in May. There were tributes paid to him by some of the church members. Saw Myat Oo spoke about the precious time given by Dr. Batunkyi to the church and community, Tablu Moo expressed how he worked tirelessly for all refugees from Burma regardless of their ethnicities and promised to help these people as much as she can, Saw Noah remembered him as a person who showed concern for his people through the conversations they had whenever they met. Emerald Cribb shared his love of God, his patience, support and advice given to the church elders in establishing PBBC. The message for this special day was given by Saya Thomas Cung Bik spotlighting on the life of Dr. Batunkyi.

On this occasion, the church not only honored fathers who were present with us but also fathers who had entered into glory. The memory of Uncle Spencer Zan and Dr. Batunkyi who were the founding fathers and pillars of PBBC were honored by a presentation of certificates of recognition accepted by their beloved spouses. Proverbs 10:7 says, “The memory of the righteous is a blessing.”

These two fathers will always be remembered by other founding members of the Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church, and their good deeds will be kept alive for generations to come.

PCCF at PBBC

On Sunday, May 24, 2009, members of PCCF (Philadelphia Chin Christian Fellowship) led the worship service at PBBC. More than 70 people attended the service. The photos in the slideshow are from the service.

PBBC Youth & Kids to DC

lThe weekend of May 16th/17th was an enjoyable one for the youth of Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church. They left Philadelphia early on the morning of Saturday May 16 and touched in at Virginia Beach where they had their morning snacks and went sightseeing. It was a pleasant morning and all of them enjoyed the outdoor country surroundings and the ocean breeze.

From there they continued to Washington DC. In the evening they participated in the Food Fair event of Calvary Burmese Church selling sticky rice in packets and bamboos. All proceeds were donated to the host church since it was solely a trip to promote friendship and fellowship with members of that church. They spent the night at the residence of Saw Kapi and Naw Show Ei Tun, all twenty or so of them. It was really a fun night all of them sleeping under the same roof.

On Sunday 17th morning, they went sightseeing in Washington DC, visiting Lincoln Memorial, Independence Monument and the vicinity of the White House. It was an exciting experience for them to visit and see all the historical and world famous sights in person. Later in the afternoon, they were joined by some of the elders of Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church in the service at Calvary Burmese Church. PBBC youth led the service with testimonies given by San San Tin and Beston Min, special songs by Ka Mwee Paw and the Sunday School children. Choir in Karen and Burmese were also rendered by PBBC. The message was given by Chan Nyein Aung. The scripture text was taken from the book of 1 Kings:24, and the topic was on the choices made by Prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, and their obedience. Elijah when asked by God to go to Zarephath made the right choice by obeying God and thus saved from starving. The widow also chose to obey Elijah when he told her to make him a cake with the little flour left. By doing so she and her household had food for many days. Like them we as Christians when faced with hardship and problems, we should choose to follow the bidding of God in order to live a fulfilled life.

The service program included a special message from Saya Saw Si Hai of Vision Trust (Burma Chapter) whose headquarters is in Colorado Springs, CO. USA. He spoke about the cyclone Nargis victims, especially children, in Burma and how we can help them. He also emphasized on how we should nurture the children so that they become good leaders in the future.

The service was closed with benediction pronounced by Rev. Marang Yaw.

Everyone who attended the service, hosts as well as guests, went home happy and spiritually refreshed after an enjoyable fellowship.

Mothers' Day at PBBC

Mothers' Day Held at PBBC

As in the US, where Mothers’ Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, churches in Burma also celebrate it on the same day. The Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church as a Burmese speaking Church in the US also celebrated Mothers’ Day on May 10th which falls on the second Sunday in May.

To honor mothers young and old, lay men members of the Church led the service with message given by Saw Noah, testimony in tribute of his mother by Saw Beston Min, and songs sung by young members honoring the mothers.


While Saw Eh Klay Klay was singing mothers attending the service were presented with gifts, and mothers over 60 years old were specially recognized. Saw Min Oo expressed his thanks to his mother with a very emotional song. Exceptionally touching was a song by our young Sunday school girl Hsaw Hsu Klay.

On behalf of the mothers, one of our patrons Daw Mie Mie Chit said a word of thanks and gave some advice to the young people.

After the service, as usual on special Sundays, there was potluck dinner with curries cooked by fathers, and fruit and ice cream desserts prepared by the young men. It must have been so delicious that everything was polished clean.

Perdue Farms Incorporated and PBBC

On April 18th, Saturday, Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church organized a meeting between Marta Velez, HR Representative of Perdue Farms Incorporated in Georgetown, DE, and the community of refugees from Burma. More than 15 showed up at the meeting and four refugees from Albany, NY, traveled to Philadelphia especially for this event.

The meeting went very well with Marta introducing herself and Perdue to the attendees and explaining, with the aid of audio visual, the nature of work applicants will be performing at the plant.

A lot of interest was demonstrated from the part of the refugees. After the explanation, questions and answers, they immediately filled up application forms. About 8 persons completed their applications which were submitted to Marta. There are still some more applications to be completed and sent later.

After the applications are processed, Perdue will arrange a trip for these applicants to visit Perdue plant, explore Georgetown, and have lunch there during the following week just to give the applicants a taste of what they will be experiencing if they take up the jobs offered.

If any applicant who is hired, decided to relocate to Georgetown, Perdue will help pay the expenses for relocation, they will be accommodated in a hotel for 30 days before finding their own place to live. They will also be given one meal a day at the plant. An allowance of $400 will be disbursed to each person hired for expenses to help them settle in. This will be deducted in small installments from their paychecks. The company will also help them find proper accommodation.

Even though we at the Philadelphia Burmese Baptist Church would like to see many of our members in our Church every week and to stay in Philadelphia, we have to consider their wellbeing and livelihood. Since there are no guarantees of promising jobs in the area, we had to take the opportunity extended by Perdue.

We hope that this will be the first group of people from Burma to start a community in Georgetown, Delaware.

God Sends Guests to PBBC

We had an unexpected blessing in the person of Rev. Pawlu from Sitarpu (Myitkyina), Kachin State, to share a very inspiring message that prepared us to celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday, March, 29. The scripture he chose was from 1 .Cor. 11: 25-26, and Matt. 26:29 , with the topic “In remembrance of Me”. At the last supper while observing the Passover with his disciples, Christ said to them to do this as often as they could in order to remember Him. To remember what he had done, His ministry, His crucifixion on the cross for us, who are sinners. Why did Jesus want us to do this? As human beings, we have the tendency to forget if we do not see each other often, or do things frequently. Therefore, so that we would not forget Him, Christ established this ordinance for us. He wanted us to obey Him and focus on Him. He sacrificed Himself in the place of animals to connect men with God; not only for forgiveness of sins but also for men to have a new and fulfilled life that nobody could take away. Christ did this through grace. Eucharist is celebrated in gratefulness to God for His grace. We are to do this till He comes again because it signifies our hope to see Christ in the future, which is our testimony to the world. It is important that we prepare ourselves during the week we decide to participate in the Holy Communion by examining ourselves, and thanking Him for freeing us from the curse of sin through enduring pain for us. He bore the pain to banish the pain we have. Participating in the Eucharist can also heal us spiritually as well as physically.

On the same Sunday, Rev. Maran Yaw, Pastor Emeritus of Calvary Burmese Baptist Church, Washington D.C. administered the Holy Communion. Our heartfelt thanks to both Sayagyis who traveled from Maryland to lead the Communion Service.

On March 5, Palm Sunday, Thra Samson, Rev. Than Than Htay, Thramu Lah Bwe Htoo, Sayama Cing Lum Piang, and Sayama Nar Law Bo from OMSC, Connecticut, visited our church and led the worship service.

Thra Samson gave a message on Palm Sunday, reminding us that the multitude that shouted “hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem were the same who shouted “crucify Him”. We, as human beings are fickle minded and tend to go with the flow according to what goes on around us. Unless we focus on Jesus who suffered for our sins, we are likely to stray from Him, and would be no better than those who crucified Him. In these hard times, instead of dwelling on our misfortunes, inconveniences, and difficulties to make ends meet, it is important to know that Jesus is with us because He is alive. We serve a living God.

PBBC has been blessed with other guest speakers. We had Saya Peter Zin from Boston visiting us in April, and from Burma, Rev. Dr. Hsar Mu Htaw and Dr. Gabriel on the first Sunday of May. Rev Dr. Hsa Mu Htaw led the meditation and Holy Communion, while Dr. Gabriel said a special prayer for us.

These guests came and had fellowship with us without prior arrangement showing that God loves us by sending guest Ministers to share His message.