Well, good morning, everyone. Welcome to Wheat Among the Tares, our live broadcast here every Wednesday morning, nine o'clock Eastern Time. We're glad that we can bring this live broadcast and subsequent podcast to you. And we appreciate you joining us here this morning. Pastor Williamson, it is good to have you back in the studio. Yes, sir, my brother. Amen. Good morning to you. Amen. It is a blessing to have you back. I know we've still got a little bit of fighting some coughs and colds and whatnot, so we are thankful to be back behind the microphones here this morning. I appreciate the fact that we can again bring these programs to you. We do have a guest with us this morning, Brother Tim Falk. He'll be with us here in just a moment. He is with REACH International Ministries. I do want to bring just something to our attention, and if you've been watching the news at all, you know of the recent natural disaster that happened up in the mid-portion, the central portion of the United States, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and just the Pastor, the absolute devastation that has been there, and I wanted us just to remember these folks that, number one, have lost through the result of these storms, that they've lost loved ones, and just a lot of destruction there. And I just wanted to ask you, our Wheat Among the Tares family of listeners, that you would remember these folks in prayer. that you would pray for our country and certainly the things that have been going on here. And we trust that the Lord will bless those. I know there's a lot of folks that have been mobilized for the purpose of assisting there. And again, we ask you to please pray for those folks there. Pastor, I certainly know that this has been such a devastating thing there for sure. Yes, sir. Yeah, I couldn't imagine what those folks are going through, especially this time of year as well. Yes. And, you know, the loss of not only loved ones, but, man, some of them lost everything. Everything. Yeah. And it is really detrimental, but we ask again to remember to pray for those. We want to go to our guest this morning, Brother Tim Falk. Brother Tim is not a stranger to Weed Among the Tares, and Brother Tim Falk, welcome to the program this morning. Thank you, Brother Blake, and thank you, Pastor Williamson, for having me again. Brother, it's a blessing to have you. The reason that we wanted to do this program this morning, Brother Tim, as you well know, Myanmar has been right in the center of the news pretty much since February of this year, and as a result of a military junta or a coup that happened there, and the military has now taken over the government there and ousted those that were in power. And as a result of that, it has brought about broad persecution, specifically against, of course, just folks, you know, the population as a whole, but particularly the churches there. And I wanted to bring you in because you, as being with a veteran missionary in not only the Philippines, but also you have been in Myanmar in most recent times, and I know that you can bring some expertise when it comes to what is going on there. First of all, Brother Tim, let me just ask you a little bit of background as far as what you know currently is going on there. Can you bring us up with regard to your knowledge of what's going on? Yes, sir. Just to recap, February 1st, the military did overthrow the duly elected government of Diao-Hsuan Suu Kyi. We're about to still questionable. Folks really can't keep up with where she is. The military has made that almost impossible for the apocalypse to figure out. Since that time, there's been 1,323 protesters that have been killed by the military. These are December 9th figures. There's been 10,815 unlawful arrests. and uh... they're still currently close to two thousand one thousand nine hundred sixty three awful warrants alcohol on uh... the protesters uh... the people have uh... mobilized to around the civil disobedience movement uh... on the local level they form malicious called uh... people's defense forces to protect the groups have those and uh... they're you know actively protesting the military however things have stabilized to the point to where just two weeks ago our church was able to meet in reaching the school where it started for the first time since really last March of 2020. So things are somewhat stabilized, but the military and its government has publicly outlined their strategy, and they call it the strategy of four cuts, that is to to cut food, to cut funds, to cut information, to cut recruitment, to their opposition, which is totally the whole country opposes what they're doing, but they're in, you know, got that strategy going. Well, our folks, led by our national leader, Brother James Lova, who is really just doing an exemplary job of navigating our church, Hope Baptist Church, the church planters, 21 of them sent from that church. He's done an excellent job navigating through these cuts, through all the trials and tribulations that come his way and our way as a result of the military takeover. So he's instituted four cures instead of four cuts, and that is to comfort the believers, to encourage the believers. to visit home to home, house to house believers, and then to distribute what goods and resources come our way, and which God's people have rose to the cause and have given above extra so that our folks can really survive there. And it hasn't, of course, been without trials and tribulations, not only as the military, are actively pursuing those who oppose their position, but primarily Christians because they're not Buddhist and Burma or Myanmar is a primarily Buddhist country. But they've also been fighting COVID and the strands of it. We've lost some church planters, namely one of our church planters with us, Sean Baum, lost his wife on August 31st to COVID. The inflation rate, we hear about inflation here in the U.S. where the chat to the dollar there is really escalated. It's really an inflation measurement tool there. It's now it's 1,780 chat and that's K-Y-A-T-S, 1,780 chat to the dollar. And probably before the coup, it was about 1,200 or 1,100 to the dollar. And now it's almost doubled in a year. And so that's some kind of indicator of what their inflation rate is like also. So things are looking dire there, both governmentally and church-wise. But folks are waking up. One of the things I think the Lord is using as the rank and file Burmese Buddhist is looking around at these military leaders who claim to be staunch Buddhists, and they're wondering, Why in the world are they taking this position? Isn't Buddhism a religion of peace, which all religions claim to be? And they're seeing the opposite. So we've had some folks very interested in Christianity, and as a rule in the past, we have used the Christmas season to organize outreaches. Usually we do 20 to 25, and by the grace of God, we're able to do 10 this year. They were scaling back not only because of lack of funds, but also because we don't want to bring more attention than necessary to our efforts. But in the past, we've preached the gospel to thousands through the Christmas outreach. And when I say Christmas outreach, that is going into these small villages and barrios organizing like a meal and then preaching to those who come. Others usually party and games and then we get to preach the gospel and we've had hundreds of people come to the saving knowledge of Christ that way and we we're certainly praying forward next week those Christmas outreaches will begin. We're certainly praying forward this year that thousands will hear and hundreds will receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. Brother Tim, I have some facts and figures here before me that I've done a little research last night before we came on the air this morning. There are three principal areas from what I understand, and help me with location-wise, with regard to the ministry by the James and others, but three areas particularly, and Pastor, you and I were talking about this just prior going on the air. Number one is the Chin State, C-H-I-N, has been predominantly targeted by the military. And then there are two other areas, the Kachin, K-A-C-H-I-N, and the Karen tribes. And these are three different areas, locale-wise, that I looked on the map, and several of them up north somewhere, one is to the southeast. But I had some figures here that I thought were very interesting. In the Chin State, approximately 85% of the population there name the name of Christ, as far as being at least Christian in name. The Kachin state, approximately a third are known as Christians, and in the Karen tribe, there is a large contingency of Baptists that are associated, and this goes back, and I find this a very interesting fact, Brother Tim, In 1828, one of the first recorded converts was a name, a gentleman by the name of Ty Bew, I believe it is B-Y-U, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly. You are, yes. But he was baptized, he received the Lord Jesus Christ and was baptized by the Reverend George Bortman. who was an associate of Adoniram Judson. And this occurred in 1828, so we're going back, you know, hundreds of years plus with regard to this. And I found an interesting point, too. The Karen Baptist Convention was started in 1913. So there was a heavy contingency of Baptists in that particular tribe and in that area. And, Brother Tim, it obviously, it goes back in my mind to, and Pastor, the sowing of the seeds by Adoniram Judson and George Boardman, and many of these who laid their life aside to go to a people that had never heard the truth before. Brother Tim, the Karen tribe specifically, I know you're familiar with them. Give us a little more on that particular entity. Okay, the Karen were the first, of course, to be evangelized. Really, Brother George Boardman and his wife, Sarah, went there south of where we are. And Brother George died a year after he won Utugwu to the Lord. who taboo did was he evangelized the Koran people and folks say that there was like a hundred thousand Koran that came to the Lord under his ministry. George Mormon died a year later of TB and his wife, Sarah, eventually became Miss Iram Judson because Ann Judson had died four years prior. And so they married each other and the Koran had been a force for Christianity there since that time. The folks, and of course there was some Karen in our church there in Yangon that are still carrying the banner, really standing on the shoulders of folks like George Boardman and Adam Judson. The folks that I'm most familiar with are there at Chin State, and the reason they've been targeted is because of that population of Christianity up there, 85% would profess to be Christian, Now, we'll say that most of them are Christians because they're not Buddhists. They're nominal Christians, and many of them need to be evangelized. But the government has targeted them because of their Christianity, and besides that, they had a vice president from there that was associated with the government that they overthrew. So the opposition to them, to the military, has been great there. in Chin State. So, Brother James Lova, and a lot of the guys that we work with, church planters, have Chin as their roots. They've come from Chin State, migrated down to try to reach the Burmese in our area. But Brother James' family is up there in their village. This was just last month. They had wives in the field ready to be picked, But they had to totally evacuate two large villages there and migrate to Missouri State there in India, which they're not allowed to go into Missouri State right now. They're at the border right now. Thousands of refugees are trying to get into India for safety. But they had to leave crops in the field because the military came in and just aerated the place. And they've been burning villages, you've probably read. and research some of the things, some of the atrocities that's been happening up there, but primarily because they're focused on their Christianity. And they know that the Bible teaches freedom and liberty and those great things that they oppose. And so they've targeted both the Koran and the Kachin. Now, the Kachin are the most heavily armed opposition that the military has right now. The Kachin had an independent army prior to the coup because they never trusted the military. And even before the military overthrew the civil government there, they did have 51% of the power and the civil government only 49. So the Kachin never trusted that aspect of the government anyway. So they had their own army, the Kachin independent army. And so they're the most well-funded, probably the best-trained, probably the most well-equipped to fight. So a lot of the fighting that the military is doing is not with the Kachin because they know they're well-trained and equipped. So they're really just trying to terrorize Chin State and some elements of Korean State now. Brother, there's a particular aspect of this I did want to let our folks know. And by the way, if you're just joining us, we're talking with Brother Tim Falk, who is with REACH International Ministries. He's a veteran missionary of both the Philippines and the nation of Myanmar, and that's what we're talking about right now, or the nation of Burma, if you still want to call it by the old name there. But there was a recent story that came out just yesterday. of a pastor there in the Chin State who was taken by the military, and he, 26 years old, and pastor, they tortured him. And as a result of that, murdered this young man. And there were also several stories that were verified, I checked these out last night myself, of villagers literally being burned alive, having been carried, those stories have been carried by major news outlets. Again, the military, Brother Tim, as you have already alluded to, has gone in there because, again, of political reasons, number one, but number two, and Pastor, I see this as, again, we go back to the seeds of being sown 100-plus years ago, and Satan is doing his dead-level best to try to absolutely stomp out the gospel witness there. And we certainly need to be in prayer for those folks there. Brother Tim, in the last couple of minutes, we still have some time. I wanted you to be able to update us with regard to Brother James specifically. and the ministry there that is going on with the church planters. You mentioned them earlier in the broadcast, and I wanted you to be able to take some time to elaborate on that aspect of things. And then what we can do, not just from a prayer standpoint, and that's the most important, but also from a helps standpoint of helping the brethren there and carrying on that ministry. Oh, well, I sure appreciate the opportunity to do that. Brother James Lopa, who is based in North Lagoon there, in the Yangon area. Yangon is the most heavily populated area of the country, 8.5 million people in that area. And Brother James and the church planters have, I think, really capitalized on the, you know, the fear that has come with the military takeover and the COVID and been able to give them the gospel of peace. And we get reports almost daily, I would certainly say weekly, from our church planners, whether it's, say, a boiling. He recently baptized 10 new believers, which prior to this tragedy would be unheard of. That would be 10 in a year, but this is like on a weekly basis where folks are turning to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then again, with the Christmas outreaches, all of these things take funds, and we've been able to use our funds to you know, create these outreaches in the past, and I think that be able to do more so in the future. And in order to give toward that, you know, every, oh, let me say this about the funding. Earlier when I was on, we had a challenge really getting the funds to our people there. And now that situation has been resolved. We've figured out a way to do that. We've been able to be 100% efficient in doing so. And every penny that does come in designated for InsideMemoir goes to that call. And all these things that we talk about, whether it's encouraging the brethren, distributing goods, or creating these outreaches, all of them have a price tag. And some would be compelled to give. If you can do so by going to our website. ReachMyWorld.com will tell you how to do that. Our address, if you were to send a gift, is Reach International Ministries, P.O. Box 1212, Midland, Michigan, 48642. That is also on our website. So, Brother, I did want to ask you, I remember as you just mentioned in a previous broadcast here some months ago, how that you were having difficulty in getting funds in, but thankfully that has been cleared up and able to do so. We thank God for that. We made that a specific matter of prayer, and God obviously certainly has answered that prayer to be able to get funds to Brother James and the other folks there. And by the way, folks, if you're not familiar with the term Yangon, that's the old town of Rangoon, if you look on, you know, on maybe an older map, and that's again, as Brother Tim alluded to, it's the most populated city in the nation of Myanmar. I do want us to—Brother Tim, I want to ask you a question. as is always our custom here, to pray with those that are on board with us. And we trust that our folks, as you're listening, have made some notes this morning with regard to what is going on in Myanmar. We've certainly tried to convey the ministry there that Reach International has, and Brother Tim, you in particular, I know you always have your ear to the ground when it comes to what is going on there, and If you would take just a minute, maybe just a couple of prayer requests that are foremost in your mind, and then Pastor Williamson is going to pray with us on the broadcast here, and then we will close things out. So, Brother Tim, a couple of things that maybe are foremost in your mind. Okay, well, two things, Brother. One is, one of the prayer requests that we had in the past, too, was for my daughter-in-law, LaVenda, who had breast cancer. She has subsequently completed her chemo. She did have successful surgery, and now she's just completed her radiation treatments, and everything is looking tremendously positive, and we count that as an answer to prayer. We thank you guys and your listening audience for praying for her for that, because we praise the Lord for that. A big prayer request that's on my heart this morning, Brother Blake, is for a young man. I can't use his real name, but we'll just call him Junior, and the Lord knows who he is. He was a young man in our church there in Yangon who I had the privilege to lead to the Lord and baptize. And he was a faithful young man. His family had a military background. So the military went and asked their allegiance. And of course, Junior was not able to give his allegiance to the military. So he fled. He's on a hit list from the military. He's on the border of Thailand now seeking refugee status. So if folks would diligently pray for Junior, the Lord would know who he is. That's the burden on my heart this morning. Brother, we will definitely, definitely pray for that in particular. And we're thankful for what we heard from about your daughter-in-law. We remember that again, that from our previous broadcast as well. And to the folks that did pray, certainly want to thank you for that. Pastor, are you in position that you can definitely pray for this, and particularly for this young man named Junior, and for the ministry of REACH International? Amen, let's pray. Father, we thank you for Brother Tim and the ministry that you've given him. the contact that he's been able to be here, Lord stateside to Lord help the folks there in Myanmar and the ministries. And we thank you, Lord, for his daughter-in-law. What a great report. And we thank you for hearing the prayers of the saints and of the family and those that Lord had prayed for her. And Lord, we pray for this ministry that you continue to bless. And I pray for this young believer, Lord, you know, this young man that we're calling Junior. I pray, Lord, for him, that you would help him. Lord, it could seem to be such a lonely place, but I'm thankful for the scripture that says, when mother and father have forsaken me, then the Lord will take me up. I thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness, and Lord, that there's no father like you, and we pray for him, that you would help him during this time, lead him, guide him. We pray for his protection. Lord, we pray for the ministry as it goes on in such a difficult time, Lord, in that country that you help the believers, help those that are preaching. Lord, help them to stay faithful. I pray that you'll provide for them. I pray that you'll protect them. We ask you to meet their needs. I pray that you'll keep them encouraged. I pray that you do great mighty things for them that they know not. Lord, may they see your hand doing great miracles Lord, just around them and in their life. And we thank you for, Lord, all that's being done there. And Lord, so many believers, I'm sure they're suffering physically, they're suffering monetarily, and we thank you that you've opened this door of getting the funds into that country. I pray you'll keep that door open, may it be an effectual door, and that you'll lay upon the people's hearts, the people of God, to be able to give, to help those brethren there and help the ministry there. In Jesus Christ's name we ask it, amen. Amen. Brother Tim Falk, it has been such a blessing to talk to you this morning about the nation of Myanmar and the brethren there. And we trust that God's richest blessings be upon you and the folks there. And if you get to talk to Brother James, certainly convey to him our love and our prayers for him as well. And we trust the Lord bless you and have a wonderful Merry Christmas. You do the same, Brother Blake and Pastor Williamson. I sure appreciate it. Thank you very, very much. God bless you, brother. Lord bless you, brother. Bye-bye. Well, for those of you who are listening from across the country, from California to Texas to the United Kingdom this morning, to Florida and to Delhi, India, thank you so much for joining us here for Wheat Among the Tares. It has been our privilege to bring to you this information. That's what we're here for, is to convey this information so that you can be informed of how to pray for our brethren across the world. God bless you, trust that you'll have a Merry Christmas, and again, have a wonderful day.