It’s been a while so I thought I would send an update. Thank you for your partnership in prayers and support through Exodus Global Ministries. Below is an outline of what is highlighted in this newsletter:
Sepsis
Deadly infection, hospital visits and IV antibiotic treatments
Life is frail. Live for Jesus!
Bombs
Hmaw Bi Air Force Base
Army Military Base
Baptisms and Evangelism
2 more EIA students baptized
13 of us went out to share the gospel
School is Discipleship
Read paper
Download PDF
One-Year Visas
We were told we have 1 day to move out from Hmawbi where we live!
God opened the door for one-year visas.
Learning Burmese and Other Challenges
Please pray for us to learn the language and for wisdom
Sepsis
Tessa got sick in May. She ended up going to the local hospital and she started feeling better but then by mid-July, she was sick again. She was sick to the point of staying in bed and not eating for 7 days. At that point, we decided to go to Victoria International Hospital where we were taken in immediately. Tessa was put on two IV and one oral antibiotics. They ran all kinds of tests: blood, urine, chest x-ray, and ultrasound (they couldn’t do stool since she hadn’t eaten for a week). When they realized she had sepsis from a bacterial infection, they said she would stay on the oral and both IV antibiotics for a week. They were sympathetic with our situation and allowed us to go back to our home and they showed me how to administer the IV antibiotics, which I had to do five times daily. Tessa showed improvement after a couple days and after about a week, we went back for a check up. Then in October, we went to an international clinic because Tessa was having other abdominal issues (liver and kidney). She still had some inflammation on her liver, and they found salmonella and put her on more antibiotics. Now in the end of November, she finally feels recovered but it took a lot out of her. Her immune system was overworked for quite a while.
The crazy thing is that when she was sick for 7 days in bed, we kept just thinking it would go away after a few days, but there came a point where Tessa realized that she was dying. When we realized the seriousness, we trusted God and neither of us became fearful. We went to the hospital knowing God is good and sovereign. Praise God for healing my wife!!! After reading about Adoniram Judson’s wives all dying from Myanmar sicknesses, I know that it is a blessing to have Tessa here with us! Tessa talked about how this experience made her realize the frailty of life. Our lives are all so precious, yet our bodies and circumstances can change in an instant. When we are faced with death, the gospel of Jesus becomes so clear and we realize what really matters in life. This was just another reminder for us to live for eternity and not for temporal things like houses, cars, or careers!!!
Bombs
About 3 weeks ago around 2 in the morning, we heard several big explosions. Because we live about a mile and a half south of the Hmaw Bi Air Base, and about a half mile west of the army base, we are used to hearing gun shots and small explosions during the day. These were much bigger, and at a different time of day than usual. The next day we heard that the Air Base was attacked and the military had advised the locals, many of whom are family members of military personnel. The following week, we heard several smaller explosions around 9PM coming from the army base. Locals assume it was also an attack, but I have no confirmation of the second.
I know some people will be a little concerned over this, but there is no need to be. The situation is not bad at this point in this area like it is in other places in Myanmar. More than that, God sent us here and He is with us. Actually, Tessa thinks we can set up a ministry for military personnel at some point. I know they are seen as the enemy in this unjust war by the majority, but remember that our war is not against flesh and blood. I think of Louis Zamperini who, after eventually getting saved, went to serve the Japanese military in spite being tortured in their camps for years. If you want to read his book, it’s amazing! It’s called “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of “Sea Biscuit.”
School Is Discipleship
“Discipleship of children is a topic that my wife and I are very passionate about. One thing that many Christians do not understand is the spiritual significance of their children’s academic schooling. To put it briefly, all schooling is discipleship (public, government, private, or homeschool). The question is this: “Who is discipling your child Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM?”” I finally wrote about school and discipleship and you can read it by following this link: https://exodusglobalinfo.wixsite.com/exodus-global-minist/post/school-is-discipleship
Baptisms and Evangelism
Two more of our students were baptized last month when Allan Karr came. Allan became a mentor of mine in seminary in 2018 and also ordained me later that year. His ministry (Ethne Global Services) supports the children’s home where we stay and he has been in these children’s lives since they came to the home. I was happy to see him connect with May May and the children here. He also met the children from Zion Children’s Home who also attend our school.
A few weeks ago in our house church gathering, we did evangelism training. Then the following week, we went to a mall in Yangon (Terminal-M). We passed out Burmese gospel tracts that I found on LivingWaters.com. We had many meaningful conversations and exchanged phone numbers with young men and women around the mall. It was so cool to see how the young men and women in our groups were so excited to share their faith. It was the first time for all of them except our children. It was also amazing to see how God worked that day in directing us to the right people.
One-Year Visas
Two months ago, we were told we had to leave our house here in Hmawbi by the next night. Because we are getting our visas through Promise International Academy which is in the city of Insein, the city of Hmawbi Immigration said that we need to live in Insein. Then, the local village leader would not sign the paperwork for us to stay and told us we had to leave (yes, we need approval by 3 levels of government to stay here). The next day we went to Hmawbi Immigration to get the phone number. I happened to see a man named Moses whom I had just met two weeks earlier at the store. He said he had knew someone in immigration who could help us, and said to come back later that day. Then we visited Kaung Zan, the founder of Promise, along with his wife and May May. The conversation seemed fairly hopeless, as they all said we didn’t have the necessary documentation to get approval to stay. After receiving the phone number for a place to stay for the night, I mentioned how I felt like God arranged the encounter with Moses. “God will make the way for us,” Tess and I said. Kaung said we couldn’t talk to immigration without one of Promise’s representatives. He agreed to send Mai Su Su with us. She seemed full of faith in the car ride and explained how she previously got a visa miraculously. We went to immigration, talked with the officer and the office manager, and were approved for 2 months! But, they said unless the law changes, we would have to move after that…
We also applied for one-year visa extensions through Promise. Usually if approved, they approve for 6 months multiple times before approving a one-year visa. God’s favor made the way again for us and we were approved on our first try for one year! We have heard this was a “miracle.” Now, having a one-year visa as well as a Foreign Registration Certificate, we are approved to stay here in Hmawbi as well!! Thank you Jesus!! I remember when these issues first came up, I was confident that either God would make a way, or that it wasn’t God’s plan for us to run the school here. I figured He might have another location or plan for us. It was disappointing to think that all the work we had already done would not come to fruition, but I trusted His plan is better. Again, God is good and God is sovereign. We can trust Him when troubles come.
Learning Burmese and Other Challenges
There are so many opportunities here for ministry. I see the need for sports ministry, radio/ media ministry, orphanages, and recovery ministry. The biggest road block for us now is the language. Burmese is a very difficult language to learn, especially because we are leading an English-medium school. We have been diligent in our studies and have had a personal tutor come to the house twice a week for 90 minutes since April when we arrived. We have study time scheduled every day and we practice the lessons at least 5 or 6 days a week. Really, the difficult thing is that we must speak English only every day from 7:30AM to 2PM. We all laughed just the other night when we read in a C. T. Studd biography how he had prayed for the gift of languages and God didn’t give it to him. We are praying for this too, but either way we need His grace to learn and become fluent. Please pray for us for this! Also, we purchased mats for the gym, but they’re stuck in China. Please pray for this. We have other challenges but nothing worth mentioning. We just need wisdom and patience.
Thank you for your care for our ministry. May we walk by faith on the path that God has for us. May we aim to know Him and to please Him. May we live our lives for eternity. God bless you!!!
Love,
Nate Marquardt
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