God’s timing is amazing. Myanmar in the last year has gone from oppressive Military Dictatorship to newly formed Democracy. A couple of years ago YouthHOPE decided to put a lot of emphasis on Myanmar as there were some very exciting youth ministry opportunities.
As we were training youth pastors and creating resources for them, we came to understand some of the major needs that youth have in Myanmar. We did a survey a little over two years ago at a youth meeting and we heard their overwhelming cry for help. On the survey these young people told us that the greatest need in Myanmar was professional education and job creation. We did further research and decided that we couldn’t do youth work in Myanmar without trying to address these issues. Since we made that decision a few years ago we now have the foundation within the country that is necessary to make a positive impact in this area. God’s timing is amazing.
Education and Job’s: A broken System
In the 1920’s and 30’s Myanmar (also known as Burma) was the economic and education center of Asia. People would go to Burma to study at quality universities. Burma was the rice bowl of Asia as they produced a large majority of the rice for the region. During World War II Burma’s leadership took the opportunity to gain independence from Britain. Their new found independence soon turned into another kind of oppression. Over the past 60 years Myanmar has moved from Socialist dictatorship to military dictatorship. In 1989 there was an attempt to move to a democracy but the vote was overturned and the military took over. To suppress those who would protest, the military government shut down all the universities. Over the past 20 years the education system continued to deteriorate and university degrees became a stepping stone to get out of the country to get a real degree.
Youth in Myanmar desire to leave their country to pursue a better life elsewhere. They believe there are no opportunities in their country. We want to help fix part of this system so that youth in Myanmar will know that God cares about them and He cares about their economic situation.
Opportunities NOW Entrepreneurship School
We will be opening the Opportunities Now Entrepreneurship School this coming May. This school will be a combination of entrepreneurial skills training, business management, a small business internship, and an opportunity to apply for a micro-loan. Young people who are economically disadvantaged will now have an opportunity to start a small business.
We covet your prayers over this endeavor.
About Ryan
