FightLife Myanmar | Newsletter #11

6.2026

Hello!

It’s been a while since we sent an update. We received one-year visa extensions and have been busy setting up the new ministries. In the previous newsletter, we explained how God had adjusted our direction. We moved from Htaukkyant to Yangon in March, rented two houses (one for us and one for the ministries), and have started setting everything up. Here are some of the highlights:

• New School

  • Salvation Sports School

  • Small Homeschool/ Christian School for Friends and Ministry Partners

  • Future School for Rescued Children

• Street/ Slum Ministry

  • Educational, Medical, and Essential Needs

  • Teaching and Evangelism

  • New Believers/ Baptisms Coming

• Sports Ministry | FightLife Myanmar

  • Focus on Sports Ministry as a Platform for Discipleship and Rescue of Children

  • Bible Study

  • Baptisms Soon/ New Believers

• FightLife Myanmar TV Show

  • Myanmar’s Largest TV Channel

  • Helps Fund the Fight Team Ministry

• Battle Against Discouragement

  • Deuteronomy 31:6

• Prayer Points

  • School, Compound with Buildings

  • Sports Ministry

    
    

  • Reality TV Show

  • Poor Community Kids

    

New School

In May, we started another school located at the second home we rented. Initially, this school was primarily for our ministry team’s children. We decided to hire two women from the last town where we lived. One already knows how to supervise, and the other lady is being trained. We are using the ACE curriculum and currently have 9 students, but this may change soon.

At the beginning of the year, we met a young man through MMA training. Over the course of the year, we have realized he is pretty amazing. He has been coming to our practices and Bible studies. Then we learned that he is somewhat of a master of music, and he has been teaching our kids the guitar as well as singing. Also, he graduated with the highest score in Myanmar under the British education system (GCSE), 90th in the world. He is the representative for the British education system in Myanmar and has started his own college system with the British government to focus on vocational learning (V Levels). He wants to start a Christian high school, college, gym, and various other projects that will all be interconnected. After hearing about our goal to rescue kids from trafficking and to educate and disciple them, as well as doing sports ministry, he wants to partner with us. This could be God’s plan for us to do ministry with him. Please pray about this for us! Please pray for a plot of land and buildings where we can care for, educate, train, and disciple the children.

Street/ Slum Ministry

Children from extreme poverty, displaced children, and those without good parental care are among the most vulnerable to being trafficked. This is exactly what we see in the many slums in Yangon. Since we came to Myanmar, we noticed there are children at every traffic light begging or trying to sell tissues and water. These kids should be in school, but instead, they are trying to survive. We've also learned that some (or many) of these kids are actually trafficked there by handers to beg at street lights. We’ve wanted to start a street ministry for these children, so when we found that our small local church’s pastor was meeting with a community who lives in a slum near the church, we jumped on board. The living conditions and hardships of this community are extreme. In addition, these families were all Buddhist and Hindu, and most of the kids do not have a father in their l

ives.

This has been a fruitful ministry from the beginning. I have been bringing guys from the gym, including one young man who just graduated from Bible college, who asked if I would coach him and if he could do sports ministry with m

e. His name is “Salai” Samuel Cung (in the picture below with glasses). He has helped a lot and is very good with children. When we are with the kids, we love on the them, give medicine for infections (see picture on the left), feed them breakfast, give snacks, play games, sing songs, memorize Bible verses, and tell them Bible stories to share the gospel. We listen to  their hardships, and they really can see that we love them. Yesterday, one mom just told me that it’s okay if it costs too much to feed them, and they are all just thankful that we come and play with them.

Recently after we shared the gospel with them, the pastor asked who believed in Jesus and wanted to be baptized. They all raised their hands and then the pastor clarified that this meant they could not go to the Buddhist temples and bow down to the statues and do the Buddhist rituals anymore. They all put their hands down, except a few kids including one young girl (next to Caiah in the tan shirt and pants) who has been really attached to my daughters and me. Her mom is also considering converting. Then on Father’s Day, we took about 50 kids to a teashop and fed them (pictured above). They were all stuffed and had leftovers to take back. Afterward I told them about our Heavenly Father through faith in Jesus. One mom and her 2 daughters said they wanted to be baptized (you can see the little girl next to Ezzy in the red and white dress).

Please pray for these kids and their families. Pray that they would see the light of the gospel and turn from worshipping lifeless statues and turn to worship the living God who is the Father to the fatherless, our Provider, and our Protector. Please pray that God would protect them against anyone who would exploit or endanger them.   

Sports Ministry | FightLife Myanmar

After we moved to the city, I was able to coach six days per week. I've been helping the fighters and developing a team. Through the fight team and the open Saturday grappling class, we have had a lot of influence and we have been able to share the gospel and invite many of the young men to our Saturday Bible study. Every Saturday we meet at our house at 5 PM for dinner and Bible study. So far, we have a couple guys who have given their life to the Lord and also want to be baptized.    

FightLife Myanmar TV Show

After thinking and praying about how to help fighters here, a big idea began to take shape. The fighters need financial support and the opportunity to train full-time as professionals. To achieve this, they need to participate in international fights and secure sponsors. Currently, the level of MMA in Myanmar is quite low, and I am the only experienced MMA coach I am aware of in the country. I realized that fighters need full-time training, which is not feasible here due to the lack of convenient transportation to the gym. This means they need housing near the gym and access to food, all of which require money, something they don’t have here. Fighters need to compete internationally to earn money, but their current level of skill makes it difficult for them to succeed without changes. They cannot attract sponsors without a fanbase, and they also require better management. Many agents here exploit fighters by arranging unfavorable fights, providing poor training advice, and taking unreasonable portions of their fight purses. I recognized the need for fighters to gain support from fans across the country, but MMA is not yet widely popular in Myanmar. I recalled how MMA gained popularity in America, largely due to a reality show created by the UFC. This led me to explore the possibility of making a reality show here. If we had a TV show, then the fighters could get a fan base. This would mean they would get sponsors. With sponsors they could also train like professionals full-time on a team. The show itself would generate income for the fighters, and once they were able to do this consistently for a period of time, they could fight internationally and make good money, and I could create an ethical management team to guide them.

We prayed about it more and reasoned that God must be behind it. I reached out to a couple people and met with a couple producers, and directors. After weeks of not hearing back, I thought maybe it wasn’t God’s plan. Then a fellow missionary from the local church said his boys did Karate with a lady whose husband does TV stuff. Benoit is the head producer of the company that owns the two largest Myanmar TV channels. We had dinner and he loved the idea! A week later we learned that the “big boss” of the company loved the idea and “gave the green light” to start working on it!! This is uncommon as they usually secure the funding for the series to cover the production costs before they start working on it. Apparently, the boss told Benoit that he had wanted an MMA show, and he wants to be the first in Myanmar.  To all of us, it has seemed like God’s timing. So we are in the process now of scripting the structure of the show. There are no contracts as of yet, so this could all change by the time you receive this update, but we are hopeful.   

Please pray that God opens doors and closes doors so that we only do His will for this idea. Pray that if the show happens, that it would honor Him. In a Buddhist country with government censorship, this seems impossible.

Battle Against Discouragement

Since we have moved to Myanmar, I’ve been on somewhat of a spiritual rollercoaster. We see the high points of success and seeing God move, and we see the low points of disappointment, frustration, and discouragement. I had been going through a bout of discouragement and seemed unable to get out of it. Then in my morning devotions, I read in James 2:23 about how Abraham was a “friend of God” because he offered up Isaac on the altar. As I meditated on this, I wondered why it make him a friend. Then I realized it is because friends trust friends. I realized my discouragement was ultimately from not trusting. I need to trust God, that He loves me (John 15:9; 17:23, 26) and is working all things for my good (Romans 8:28), that He is guiding me (Pro. 3:5-6), and that He will not abandon or forget me (Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalms 94:14; Joshua 1:9; Hebrews 13:5). God cured me from this discouragement through His word. I wanted to share this for anyone who is going through anything like this, that you can know that God is on your side, He will not leave you, and He will continue to fight for you and guide you. This will all work out for your ultimate good.

John 17:20, 23 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word… that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Hebrews 13:5 …For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Prayer Points

• Kids in the slums would turn to the living God from lifeless idols

• God would protect them from exploitation and abuse

• We want our own compound where we can care for, educate, train, and disciple the children

• Open and closed doors for the TV show and fight team, that it would all glorify God

• God would bring fighters who have hearts ready to receive the gospel

• Give us favor with the government to legally operate the schools

Thank you for your love and support. May God bless you and your family always.

Love,

Nate Marquardt and Family

ExodusGlobalMinistries.org