Our Story

The Story Begins

Palal (Dr. Nehkholal) and his wife Kikim (Vahneikim) are part of a tribal group known as the Kuki. The Kuki people are part of the larger Chin ethnic group. Most of the Kuki people live in the northwest parts of Myanmar and in northeast India.

In Myanmar they lived under an oppressive military dictatorship. Like Moses of old, Palal saw the way his people were oppressed by extreme poverty, hunger, fear, and the brutal military leaders. He hoped that God had a plan to free the Kuki people from their hopelessness.

He and Kikim prayed and sacrificed daily as they continually sought ways to help their people survive. They realized early on that he needed as much education as possible in order to have any influence among the Burmese Buddhist military regime, so he and Kikim spent years struggling to survive while doing ministry and obtaining more education. (He eventually went on to obtain two undergraduate and four graduate degrees from both secular and religious schools.)

It was while Palal was working toward a Master of Divinity degree at Trulock Theological Seminary in Imphal, India, that Dr. T. Lunkim, (founder and president of Trulock), recognized his great potential. Dr. Lunkim decided to do what he could to help Palal get to America and obtain a Doctor of Ministry degree. God’s plan to help the Kuki people was coming together.

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, God had been working in the hearts of Chuck and MaryAnn Cherry. For years they had been interested in missions and in the plight of the persecuted church worldwide. Their hearts were tuned in to what God was doing among the nations, and they sensed that God was calling them to do more. They just were not sure what that might be.

In December 2006 Dr. Lunkim was speaking to a large group of believers at West Side Christian Church in Springfield, Illinois, the home church of Chuck and MaryAnn. He shared many dramatic stories of the miracles that had occurred during his recent kidnapping by a para-military group and his subsequent sixty-one days of captivity in the mountains of northeast India.

Chuck and MaryAnn were moved to tears by his stories, and afterward they rushed forward to meet this old saint.

After giving Dr. Lunkim a big hug they asked him, “What can we do to help you?”

After pausing for just a moment (he seemed a bit in shock over the hug), Dr. Lunkim looked at them and said, “Please pray for a young man from Yangon, Myanmar. He has a scholarship offer from Cincinnati Christian University, but he has been unable to find a family who will sponsor him.”

Without thinking, Chuck blurted out, “Lincoln Christian College is starting a new doctoral program in January. If he can get the same scholarship offer from Lincoln, just up the road from here, we will sponsor him! He can come and live with us!”

“Are you sure?” asked Dr. Lunkim with a surprised look.

“Um…are we sure?” Chuck asked MaryAnn as he sheepishly turned toward her.

“Of course!” MaryAnn said without hesitation.

And so, after several years of preparation, God finally brought Palal (and later Kikim and Solomon) together with Chuck and MaryAnn. The plan was on track.

The Journey Begins

Initially, Chuck and MaryAnn thought they were just sponsoring a doctoral student in their home for about two years. They were excited to meet and host this Myanmar Christian, to learn more about his family and culture, and of course, to learn more about the Church in Myanmar, which they knew was living under an oppressive military dictatorship.

It was not long, however, before they began pulling out of Palal what life was really like for the Christians in Myanmar, and especially in the northwest where he was from. The stories pierced their hearts, and they would find themselves in tears thinking about and discussing what more they could do to help their brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe.

Finally, and to make a long story short, after much discussion, many tears, and lots of prayer, they decided that a new organization was needed.

And so, in May of 2007, Myanmar Hope Christian Mission was born. The plan was now a reality!

Over the next couple of months, we did all of the research and paperwork required to form a new non-profit corporation with tax exempt 501(c)(3) status. We then applied for a NGO (Non-governmental Organization) license so that we could legally send funds to Myanmar.

Myanmar was, at that time, still under the Burma Sanctions Program which had been implemented by the Clinton Administration. Because of the economic sanctions, it was illegal to send money to Burma (Myanmar) without a special humanitarian exemption, which was only granted by the US Department of Treasury. We were awarded a license, which was in effect until the Burma Sanctions Program was cancelled under the Obama administration in 2017.

As the months and years past, more and more people became aware of our work with Palal and Kikim Khongsai, and many of these people came to share our love and passion for the poor and needy of Myanmar. Many of those first donor/partners are still with us to this day!

Since founding Myanmar Hope Christian Mission, an uncountable number of families and individuals have been impacted in a positive way. The ministry and work has expanded in ways that we never could have imagined in 2007. If we had known then what we know now, we might have been too frightened to begin! We might have thought it was too big for us to handle. But God has been faithful all along the way, and His grace has sustained us on this journey.

Looking Ahead

We have said all along that we want to “work ourselves out of a job” when it comes to Myanmar Hope. Even though working for MyHope is not our “job” (we are all volunteers with actual paying jobs elsewhere), we mean that it is our desire that the reason for MyHope’s existence will someday disappear.

We want the people of Myanmar, and especially the Kuki/Chin people of northwest Myanmar, to be able to stand on their own, without the need for foreign aid or foreign intervention. More than that, we want them to become a sending and giving people, who are so blessed with material and financial resources that they, too, have the means with which to bless others in need, both in their own country and beyond.

How can we get from here to there? Right now poverty, especially in the rural areas, is still rampant. The local church is still weak from long years of theological and doctrinal fights and divisions. A good education is still just a dream for most children. Sickness and death from easily preventable diseases is still much too common. And on and on the list goes.

However, there is good news! Over the past decade we have seen truly fundamental changes for the better in Myanmar, at the national as well as the local levels. Also, the work of Myanmar Hope and other organizations, both religious and secular, have made great strides in helping thousands of people improve their lives in very tangible ways. We think the future is bright for the Kuki/Chin people of Myanmar.

When we started in 2007, we felt we were being realistic about how much change we could bring about, and how fast that change might occur. We truly believed that it might be twenty to thirty years before we really started to see any demonstrable fruit from our efforts. We believed that we were planting acorns, which would eventually grow into oak trees, tall and strong. But oak trees grow very slowly.

However, over the past decade we have been astounded at not only the rate of change and growth, but the amount of fruit that has already developed out of our work, thanks to the grace of God and the good will of His people. We can only imagine what changes the next decade will bring!

If you have read this far, thank you! We hope that you are inspired by the vision of MyHope and are excited about what God is doing in the country of Myanmar. If you are not already a partner with us in this incredible adventure, won’t you join us now?

Your prayers, your financial love gifts, your personal expertise and experience, and sometimes even your physical presence with us when we travel to Myanmar will bring wonderfully fulfilling, and very mutual, blessings to you, to us, and to all of the people of Myanmar!