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A former Burmese child monk asks God how he can help his people.
Tun Lin Nuang trained from infancy to be a Buddhist monk in his homeland of Burma (now Myanmar). He discovered a better way of life, however, when his family relocated to Australia. Introduced to Christianity in high school, he and his friends formed a Christian group called Rabbit Hole, taken from “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Although Alice didn’t know where she was going, she kept going and discovering along the way,” Tun Lin said. “We saw that as a leap of faith in Christianity and living changed lives.”
In late 2007, 16-year-old Tun Lin watched in disbelief as television news reported the massacre of Burmese monks as they silently protested one of Burma’s extreme injustices. For the first time he felt a strong bond with his people. His friends repeatedly asked him, “Do you care?” So he began asking God how to put his faith into action to help his people.
While taking a business class at the university, he volunteered at The Salvation Army’s Streetlevel Mission in Sydney, soon landing a job in its finance department.
One day he came across a “Gifts That Keep On Giving” pamphlet. This particular brochure asked for donations to help build a water tank in Burma, with a gift of $600 to build one tank. Tun Lin had visited his dying grandmother when he was 8 years old and remembered how hard it was to get water. “I knew right at that moment I was called to give to that cause,” he said.
For his 22nd birthday, he requested his friends and family not buy him presents, but instead donate toward his contribution to the well. And they did.
Through Tun Lin’s example, his mother became willing to listen to him talk about Christianity. She is impressed with the Army’s commitment to build wells in her native country and is proud of her son for being a part of it.
Tun Lin said, “God showed me that I may not be able to change a whole country, but I can help one individual, one village, and trust God to do the rest.”
From Pipeline
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