The Church in Burma

Twenty-Five Years of Isolation

by Maung Maung

Less than three years after the end of World War II, in January 1948, my country, Burma (recently renamed the Union of Myanmar), became independent. But almost from the beginning there were troubles. There were various insurgency movements—Communist and others—fighting the new government. And in the late 50s the ruling party was torn by internal struggles. Our last democratic election was in 1960. U Nu received the vote, but he was unable to control the strife among his own supporters. Then in March 1962 General Ne Win led a military coup and established his revolutionary program, the Burmese Way to Socialism. Under this program the military government, which was very suspicious of all outside influences, cut Burma off from the outside world. This has affected all of life in Burma, and in the Church also, to this day.

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