Frequently Asked Questions

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar's military overthrew the country's elected government in a coup. Aung San Suu Kyi — the leader of the National League for Democracy, which had won two landslide elections — was arrested before dawn. The military declared a state of emergency and has ruled by force ever since.

The people of Myanmar refused to accept it. Millions took to the streets. A Civil Disobedience Movement shut down the economy. When the military opened fire on protesters, many young people joined armed resistance movements. What began as a protest became a civil war. More than 100,000 people have been killed. Over 3.5 million are displaced. The country is in the middle of one of the worst humanitarian crises in Asia.

Both names refer to the same country. "Burma" is the older English name, used since British colonial times. In 1989, the military junta renamed the country "Myanmar." Because the name change was made by an unelected government, some people — particularly democracy advocates — continued to use "Burma" as a form of political protest.

Today, both names are widely used and widely understood. We use "Myanmar" on this site, which is the name used by the United Nations and most international organizations.

That is a fair and painful question. Myanmar rarely makes international headlines, even as the death toll climbs past 100,000. Several factors contribute: the military has cut internet access in many areas, making it harder for journalists and activists to document what is happening. Myanmar's geography is remote and difficult to access. And the country does not sit at the center of major geopolitical interests for the world's most powerful nations.

ASEAN — the regional bloc of Southeast Asian nations — has struggled to respond effectively. Western nations have imposed sanctions and issued statements, but no international military support has come. The people of Myanmar are largely facing this alone. That is part of what makes their perseverance so remarkable — and why those of us who do know what is happening have a responsibility to say so.

Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested on the morning of the coup and has remained in military detention since. She has been convicted on multiple charges by military-controlled courts — including corruption and violations of secrecy laws — and sentenced to a total of 27 years in prison. Human rights organizations have universally condemned the charges as politically motivated.

She is now 81 years old. Her health and exact whereabouts are largely unknown to the outside world.

They are related but different. In 2017, Myanmar's military launched a brutal campaign against the Rohingya — a Muslim ethnic minority in Rakhine State — that the United Nations has described as bearing "the hallmarks of genocide." More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, where over a million still live in displacement camps today.

The 2021 coup is a different but connected crisis. It represents the military turning its violence against the entire country — not just one ethnic group. Many of the same military commanders who carried out the 2017 campaign are responsible for the current conflict. Understanding both crises is part of understanding Myanmar.

Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist — about 88% of the population. But Christianity has been present in Myanmar for over two hundred years, rooted in the extraordinary work of missionaries like Adoniram Judson, who arrived in 1812 and spent forty years translating the Bible into Burmese.

The Christian population is concentrated primarily among ethnic minority groups — the Karen, Chin, Kachin, and Karenni people in particular. In some of these communities, Christianity is not a minority faith at all; it is the heartbeat of the culture. The church has survived colonization, military dictatorship, and now civil war. It is one of the most resilient institutions in the country.

The church in Myanmar has responded the way it always has — by showing up. Churches and Christian communities have opened their doors to the displaced, organized food distribution, supported makeshift schools, and provided pastoral care to people who have lost everything.

This is not new behavior for the church in Myanmar. It has served through every crisis the country has faced. The coup did not change what the church is — it just revealed, again, how essential it is.

Christians are among those affected by the violence — particularly ethnic minority communities where Christianity is most prevalent, such as the Chin, Karen, and Kachin states, which have experienced some of the heaviest military bombardment. Churches have been bombed and burned. Christian leaders have been arrested.

The military's violence is not exclusively directed at Christians, but Christian communities are on the front lines of the conflict in many areas. The overlap between ethnic minority identity and Christian identity means the two cannot always be separated.

We take this question seriously. SGM works directly with indigenous leaders who are already embedded in the communities they serve — there is no long chain of intermediaries between your gift and the people it is meant to reach. We have relationships built over two decades with partners we know personally and trust deeply.

We are a small organization, which means lower overhead and more direct impact. We are glad to talk through how funds are used with anyone who wants to know more. Contact us anytime.

Not at this time. Myanmar is in the middle of an active civil war. The US State Department advises against all travel to Myanmar. Beyond the personal safety risk, bringing outside visitors into partner communities could compromise the security of local leaders and the people they serve.

The most meaningful thing you can do right now — from wherever you are — is pray, give, and tell the story. Those three things are not small. They are exactly what our partners have asked for.

Large organizations do important work. We are not against them. But size has trade-offs: larger organizations often work through national governments or large implementing partners, which in Myanmar's current environment can mean funds don't reach the most vulnerable communities — particularly those in conflict zones far from major cities.

SGM's model is different. We work through relationships with indigenous leaders who are already in those communities — people who were there before the crisis and will be there long after. We don't build programs and ask them to run them. We support the work they are already leading. That is a fundamentally different approach, and in a context as complex as Myanmar's, we believe it is the right one.

Pray — specifically and consistently. The prayer page in this series gives you concrete things to bring before God.

Tell the story. Share this page. Talk about Myanmar at your church. Write about it. Post about it. The military's strategy of isolation depends on silence. Every person who learns what is happening and refuses to stay quiet breaks that silence a little more.

Stay informed. The news page in this series links to reliable sources covering Myanmar. Following the story matters — and it makes your prayers and your conversations more grounded.

Our connection to Myanmar began in 2005, when a team traveled to Thailand for relief work following the Indian Ocean Tsunami and encountered Burmese Christian leaders already quietly serving their own displaced communities. That encounter became the foundation of a partnership that has continued ever since. Strategic Global Missions was formally founded in 2011, and Myanmar has been central to our work from the beginning.

We raise funds, build awareness, and connect donors to the work happening on the ground. The financial support we provide makes some of that work possible — and we take that responsibility seriously.

For security reasons, we do not publish details about specific programs, partner locations, or the names of local leaders. This is not a hedge — it is a commitment to protect the people doing the most vulnerable work in the most dangerous places. What we can say is that the work is led entirely by indigenous Christian leaders who know their communities, speak their languages, and have chosen to stay.

We would love to hear from you. Reach out through the contact form on our website and we will get back to you personally. No question is too basic — if you are asking, someone else probably is too.