It All Started with a Book
It is only fitting that the story of a publisher should begin with a book. Many years ago in the jungle-cloaked mountains of a lush, green nation called Myanmar, a young man named Zen Za began reading a book named Pilgrim's Progress. The book was written by a man called John Bunyan, who was a prisoner for his faith in Jesus Christ. Through his reading, Zen Za trusted Jesus as His Savior. He went on to marry a young Christian woman and establish a Christian home. When his son, Jacob, was born, Zen Za raised him to love books and, more importantly, to love Jesus.
Zen Za's story was an unusual one, for few Christian books are available in the languages of Myanmar. Once known as Burma, Myanmar is the largest nation on the Southeast Asian peninsula of Indochina, nestled between Thailand, Bangladesh, and the Bay of Bengal. Between 80-90% of its 50 million people are devout Buddhist. Despite rich agricultural and mineral resources, Myanmar is currently one of the world's poorest nations. Few books have been translated into regional languages of the people and even fewer into the majority language, Burmese.
Jacob Mung and family
When Zen Za's son, Jacob, became an adult, he desired to give others in his country the opportunity to meet Jesus as his parents and Jacob in turn had many years before. Following several years of study in India and an internship with an India literature ministry, Jacob established a Burmese Christian publishing house in 1991. God has greatly blessed Jacob's step of faith. Eighteen years later, over 100 Christian books have been translated and published in Burmese—no small accomplishment! God has also allowed Jacob to see lives being changed as people encounter Jesus through the written word.
One such changed life was Sandar. A successful, highly educated professional, Sandar was also a devout Buddhist who was earnestly seeking truth. She shares, "I had been longing to get peace that is long lasting. But the peace I got wasn't lasting. It just came and passed over me. The more I got to know the world, the more I was confused."
Sandar was introduced to the personal God of the Bible through a piece of literature published by Jacob. She began to seek the God she read about. Little by little, God revealed Himself to her. She shares, "By the grace of God, after seven months of searching, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. This day was the most joyous day in my life. I became a follower of Jesus and a new person in Christ. All my thoughts were changed and I got the peace that had been long missing in my life."
Sandar's story doesn't end there. Several years later she and Jacob were married, and Sandar joined Jacob in the ministry. As the literature ministry grew, so did the number of new believers and churches established. Since the beginning, these churches understood God's heart for children and sought to share the love of Jesus with children around them. Jacob tells of one little four-year-old boy who began attending the church's Bible club. His mother was very young and his father was often drunk, but week after week he would come home singing about Jesus and sharing Bible verses with his family. His parents watched him fall in love with Jesus and soon became curious themselves. They came together to ask the pastor what their son was learning. Eventually, they too trusted Jesus as Savior and were baptized.
To Jacob it was clear that ministry to children was close to God's heart, but little curriculum was available to help those wanting to teach children about God. When Jacob saw a copy of BCM's Bible teaching curriculum Footsteps of Faith, he was convinced it could meet a real need in Myanmar. Recognizing its strong Bible content and emphasis on discipleship, Jacob committed to translating and publishing seven volumes of Footsteps of Faith in Burmese. A grant from Tyndale House Foundation made that commitment a reality.
The road has not been an easy one, and there have been great challenges along the way. The cyclone Nargis demolished large portions of southern Myanmar in May, 2008. Work on Footsteps of Faith halted temporarily as the publishing staff scrambled to provide whatever aid they could to the hundreds of thousands left destitute in the wake of the cyclone. Jacob and Sandar themselves have encountered significant health problems that unexpectedly delayed work. The reality of daily life in Yangon has also slowed progress. Just getting a steady supply of electricity to complete computer layout work has been difficult.
Despite the many challenges, two volumes are published and already being used by teachers to share God's Word with children. Another four volumes are rolling off the press this fall, and the final volume is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.
Jacob's story started with one life that was changed through one book. Pray that these seven teaching volumes of BCM's Footsteps of Faith in Burmese will be used by God to change many lives of children and families in the country of Myanmar.
