Heaven's Family Magazine
April 2012 Issue

Cang Ai’s Renaissance

The Village Development Fund at Work in Myanmar

David Servant, Unreached People Groups Ministry

village-office

Ni Kung in his office (at left) with Ni Lang, whose life he saved twice last summer, treating him for both malaria and typhoid

Things didn’t go so well during the first 22 years.

Due to seasonal water shortages in their village, Ni Kung, his wife and children, along with 14 other families, decided to relocate. So they moved from the mountains of Chin State in 1984 to a lower elevation in order to pioneer a new village, which they named Cang Ai. There they cleared land, built simple bamboo homes, planted small vegetable gardens, and raised a few chickens and pigs. The stream from which they watered their gardens was half a mile away, but it flowed year round. Still, life was not easy, and when I first visited Cang Ai in 2006, only seven families remained in the village.

To reach those seven families, I had to follow an ox-cart path on a motor scooter, and upon my arrival, I remember being shaken by their dire poverty. It seemed they were just clinging to survival. I also remember, however, their spiritual vibrancy. Their love for Jesus showed.

I asked them what their greatest need was and, as a result, through gifts to the Village Development Fund, Heaven’s Family provided mosquito netting and several miles of 1-inch water pipe. The villagers buried that piping, linking a water source in the foothills with their village. When I returned the following year, I rejoiced with them to see several community faucets delivering water just outside their simple homes. With abundant water readily available, the villagers had planted larger gardens.

That was the beginning of Cang Ai’s renaissance. And founder Ni Kung was leading the way.

After taking four months of coursework at a distant hospital, Ni Kung had become certified to treat common rural sicknesses—but he had no medicines or tools. So Heaven’s Family funded the construction of a simple doctor’s office for him, which included a well-stocked pharmacy, a microscope for examining blood samples, and a blood pressure cuff. When I visited him this past December, Ni Kung told me that the most common disease he treats is malaria, and he has saved the lives of numerous people in Cang Ai and in the surrounding region. He also treats typhoid fever, influenza, dysentery, and vitamin deficiencies, all too common in rural Myanmar. By charging small, affordable fees for his services, his medical clinic is now self-sustaining.

Two years ago, Heaven’s Family also funded an irrigation project that required several miles of 6-inch water pipe and a concrete reservoir. As a result, significant quantities of water are now pouring into 25 acres the villagers have cleared for rice paddies. Their recent rice harvest—the first in 26 years—yielded over 15 tons of rice. Our irrigation project will facilitate twice-yearly harvests, and with a few adjustments in the hydro-engineering, the next harvest should be double the last one!

village-family

A mother and her children at Cang Ai Village

Because of these and other advancements over the past 6 years, people from the surrounding area have started relocating to Cang Ai Village. Today, 26 families—120 souls—call it home.

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

Jesus’ sobering words, “I was hungry…thirsty…naked…and sick,” are all addressed within Heaven’s Family’s Village Development Fund, which is currently helping the residents of several remote Christian villages in Myanmar’s poorest state lift themselves out of poverty. 100% of all gifts to the Village Development Fund directly benefit hard-working Christian villagers by supplying them with opportunities they would not otherwise have.

Help developing villages

$

This Month's Articles

Parting Shot: Pen Pals

In an ongoing effort to help the many orphanages that we assist to become more self-sufficient, we’ve been offering some of their directors loans to help them start small, self-sustaining businesses. This photo, which seemed to beg for a funny caption, was sent to us by one of our orphanage directors in Myanmar who has begun raising pigs for profit.

Pin It on Pinterest