Last December I made a promise – a promise to send a teacher to a remote village in southern Burma called Putaikgyi.  This teacher would be a special one — he would teach young women how to sew.   No one in the village knows to sew.  I was told there were three sewing machines in the village, and perhaps one still works.

But the teacher became too busy to go to such a remote area.

Keeping a promise is a big deal to me, especially when it came to this village.  One mother stepped up to thank me for the promise of an opportunity for her daughter to learn a skill that could help her make a living.  Otherwise, this girl would be just one more unskilled day laborer.

Working with a treadle sewing machine gives great control.

Working with a treadle sewing machine gives great control.

I was at a lost to know what to do.  But as usual, the Asian Children’s Mission leaders in Myanmar had a solution.  After school is out in March, we will bring the girls to Yangon and teach them how to sew.  Their host will be the leader of a Christian children’s home.

This will accomplish much more than my original plan.  It will allow them to travel to see more of their own country.  They will make new friends.  And they will live in a Christian environment.

Not too long ago, one of the children said to his Christian school teacher, “We believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  We pray to him.  We try to live the way he wants us to live.  Is there something more we should do?”  There are a number of children who are ready to be baptized, but have not been because they do not want to upset their Buddhist parents.

In Yangon they can be baptized if they choose, and celebrate their new life in Christ.  And yes, they will learn how to sew, and return home with a new skill to go along with their new life.