For Jesus sake in SE Asia…
Bethany and I had the privilege of spending two and a half weeks in southeast Asia with Rich and Nicole Moore in early November 2025. We began our trip in Myanmar. The day after arriving in Yangon, Myanmar, we flew almost a thousand miles north to a region called Putao. The Putao region is a collection of villages in a beautiful river valley surrounded by the majestic Himalayan Mountains. Due to the country being in the midst of a civil war, this area is very isolated; the only way to get there is by air. The only road accessing the rest of the country is closed due to the ongoing civil war. Shortages, high cost of goods, and isolation from the rest of the country and the world is the norm in this place. 
What we encountered once we arrived in Putao was beyond our imagination. The people who live in this area have not seen a tourist, much less an American since some time before Covid. Their fascination with us and their excitement in having visitors was overwhelming. Adults would go out of their way to try to help us, young people would come running wanting to take a picture and practice English with us, the children would lean out of home and school windows to shout and wave, then giggle and laugh as we responded. The friendliness and welcoming that we received from all the people was such a blessing and very much enjoyed. 
To our surprise, Christianity has a great presence in Putao. This area was evangelized in the 1950’s by an American family named Morse, who had the goal of training native pastors in what at that time was a small Christian presence. Today, seventy years later, churches and believers abound throughout the valley. The believers here think very highly of what this family accomplished by God’s grace. The churches and Christian schools sing from an American hymnbook brought and translated by this family, and the people eat and sell the grapefruit by the bushel that the Morse’s taught them to grow. 
Our first day in Putao was a Sunday. We went to a local church for services that morning and another that afternoon, with Rich teaching in the morning and I in the afternoon. That was followed by the next three days of conferences at yet another local church. Each day there were two teaching sessions in the morning, lunch together, then another two sessions in the afternoon. This conference was very well attended with about sixty men and twenty women. The rest of the week was spent touring and visiting in a number of different homes, churches and families. 
One of the highlights of the visiting was in the home of a Tibetan family. This family were practicing Buddhists, were poor beyond description, yet welcomed us with great hospitality, smiles, and refreshments. One of the refreshments was the opportunity to try a small piece of Caterpillar Fungi. This Tibetan man hunts for these fungi, often spending weeks away from home in the forest hunting for them. In China, Caterpillar Fungi sells for more than fifty thousand dollars per pound. To experience the warm friendliness of this family yet realizing that they are without hope in Christ is heartbreaking. Many of the local believers are very intent on reaching the Tibetan people with the good news of Jesus Christ, and my prayer is that this dear family will give their hearts to the Lord of all hope. The hunger for teaching and encouragement is overwhelming. One of the older pastors shared that this conference was the answer to many years of his prayers. Pleading for us and others to come back was a continual request with everyone we met. We hope their prayers for more to come will be answered soon, and sincerely hope that we too will get the opportunity to return to this beautiful valley, filled with warm, friendly, and excited brothers and sisters.
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We concluded our time in Myanmar back in Yangon with a Sunday morning service and lunch at Pastor Toe’s church. This man, his family, and his church have such an infectious joy in Christ, it is truly humbling to realize the hardship and poverty surrounding their lives. Again, this is a place and a group of people that we hope to meet again someday, if not in Myanmar, then in the presence of Jesus Christ in Heaven. 
We then traveled to Phenom Phen, Cambodia where we had a two-day conference in the home/coffee shop of a Mennonite couple who live and teach there, then another one-day conference at a local church out in a village about three hours away. At both conferences we experienced believers, pastors, and teachers who were anxious to learn, asking many questions. It is difficult in this area of Cambodia for believers. Phenom Phen is a large busy city with lots of distractions and busyness for people to occupy themselves with. Cambodia is about 95% Buddhist, so there is lots of pressure to conform to the historical and familial religion, regardless of its hopelessness. Between the lingering effects of a society still trying to recover from the effects of Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime in the late seventies, the utter hopelessness of Buddhism, and some of the false teachings labeled as Christian, these brothers and sisters desperately need encouragement and instruction, and again pleaded for any who might return to do so. 
This trip was such a blessing for Bethany and I. To experience such different cultures, food, and lifestyles was fantastic. Rich and Nicole are wonderful leaders and make such a trip a real lifetime experience. Most importantly, to spend time with fellow brothers and sisters, recognizing we have so much in common in Jesus Christ was both humbling and encouraging. My prayer is that others would feel the call to go, to share and teach, and learn from these dear ones who live in a different world both literally and figurately. Thank you Lord, for this opportunity to go, thank you Lord for what Rich and Nicole, MTM and others are doing for believers all over the globe, and thank you Lord for these dear believers in Myanmar and Cambodia. – Chris & Bethany Miller The above article was written by Chris Miller of the Modesto German Baptist Brethren. Thank you, Chris and Bethany for giving of your time, talents and treasure for the meaningful work of pastoral teaching in SE Asia. We also extend deep gratitude to all those that help fund this work and send us by prayer and go with us in prayer. God is not unrighteous to forget your labor! – Rich & Nicole MooreP.S. You are welcome to reply directly to this email with words of encouragement for Rich and Nicole.
