Myanmar: The Myanmar district celebrated an important milestone as they successfully hosted their first pastors and spouses retreat from May 15-18, 2017.

The event was held at the Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar in Pynn Oo Lwin, which is 2 hours away from Mandalay. 46 participants came from Tahan, Karen, Mon, and the Yangon areas. There was a real spirit of joy as participants came together as a family of God.

The retreat had the privilege of having for their main speaker  Dr. Min Gyoo Shin, senior pastor of Sangamdong Church of the Nazarene in South Korea. He shared the history of the church planting movement in the early Korean church, and urged pastors to continue discipling people and planting churches in Myanmar. On the second day, he shared his 17 years of ministry experience in Sangamdong church. It was an encouraging time to hear his insight and to learn from his experiences!

On the last night of the retreat, Myanmar District Superintendent (DS) Dr. Bill Kwon, preached about the 5 stones in David’s hand from 1 Sam 17:45-51. He challenged Myanmar pastors to hold the stones in their ministry and put them into practice daily.

The event was the first pastors and spouses retreat in the 33 years of district history. Because of its success, the Myanmar district has committed to hosting more pastors and spouses retreats in the years to come. The participants also promised to invite more pastors (with their spouses) next year, with the goal of bringing 200 pastors by the year 2020.

-Submitted by: Dr. Bill Kwon