Immense Challenges and Greater Joys (Myanmar 2025, part 2)

By KC, a missionary and international music consultant

The torrential rain pounded on the metal roof above our heads. My Burmese interpreter tried shouting into the microphone, to no avail. We would just have to wait for a break in the rain before continuing the class.

Teaching and serving in Myanmar had its challenges, but the joys far outweighed the difficulties. The students apparently found the music practices challenging as well, declaring, “We had no idea music was so much work!” I knew that they were capable of making great progress in a short time if they applied themselves, and I was not disappointed. The school’s president told me at the end of the week, “I had no idea our students had these talents!”

Choir practice

Virtually all their Burmese worship songs are Western in style, and everyone sings in unison. I could tell they had excellent ears for harmony, so I attempted teaching them to sing in four parts. Three parts would have been more realistic, but with 50 men and 25 women, I needed to split the men into tenors and basses if I hoped to achieve any kind of balance.

“Ready, tenors? Listen as I sing your part on ‘la.’ La la la la la,” I warbled at the beginning of the first rehearsal, then gulped and looked to my interpreter. I had no idea if he could even carry a tune, much less put the right lyrics with the right notes! To my great relief, he nodded and repeated the phrase in Burmese in a strong tenor voice. We continued this process throughout the afternoon, teaching each vocal part separately. My plan for day 2 was to review verse 1 and begin learning verse 2 together, but I was in a for a surprise: they gave me a new interpreter! Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about: he was just as musically gifted and courageous as my first interpreter.

Never have I worked with such an enthusiastic choir. They sang every note fortissimo – as loudly as possible. As we moved from learning notes and rhythms to learning musical phrasing, I ventured a suggestion. “How about you try singing this part more softly?” They nodded and then sang so inaudibly that I burst out laughing.

The final performance had its sketchy moments. A good number of basses and tenors got swallowed up by the melody, the “quiet” sections were very robust, and the sound of the final “Amen” fluttered around the target pitches like a butterfly. But oh, the delight on their faces as they presented their musical offering to the King!

The Worship Song Grid

Many of these students are eager to write new worship songs for their people groups. They needed a practical tool to help them evaluate important aspects of theology, poetry, and music. The “Worship Song Grid”[1] by a trio of American authors was just the ticket, but I knew that such a detailed document would take a long time to explain through an interpreter. I needed to adapt it for this oral context by connecting it to something concrete. What’s more, I had to find a way to let them test it out immediately by analyzing a few of their favorite songs. How could this be done efficiently with such a large class?

I chose Hebrews 13.15 as a key verse, highlighting the analogy of fruit: “Let us offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” While musical and lyrical elements vary widely from culture to culture, fruit is universal! Next, I connected certain characteristics of fruit with our goals for theology, music, and poetry. Finally, I assigned a kind of fruit common in Myanmar to each of the 15 categories and split the students into 15 small groups, one per category. I also charged my Burmese interpreter with the task of leading their analysis of poetry. The class participated whole-heartedly, giving high marks to a song written by their own Pastor SP. They gave me very positive feedback about this exercise.

Choric speaking

“Watch me closely, everyone,” I urged. “When I take a breath and raise my arms like this, breathe with me and shout, ‘Hallelujah!’ all together. Ready?” I took a big, exaggerated breath, but nothing happened. They just sat there quizzically as I flailed about. Choric speaking is a powerful, exciting way of internalizing and reciting Scripture or another text as a group. Both the art form and the idea of following a director’s cues were new for these students, so our first practices were quite comical.

My initial plan was for Pastor SP to lead them in this recitation of Isaiah 61.10-11 and Revelation 5.9-10 at the closing worship service. As a Burmese speaker, he could mouth them the text and help them with intonation and diction. When I showed him the script, he exclaimed, “Just reading this gives me chills!” But since neither he nor my interpreters could attend each practice, I had no choice but to lead them myself. I tried learning the first few Burmese syllables of each section for cues. My babblings inspired many chuckles, but the students stuck with it and pulled off a marvelous final performance.

Sparking artistic creativity to the glory of God

“Our worship theme will be ‘Worthy is the Lamb,’” I explained on the first day of class. “You can participate in any number of ways: preaching, singing, writing and reciting poetry, doing artwork, sharing testimonies, or doing dramatic interpretations of key Bible passages.” When I asked for a show of hands to indicate their interest in each category, I got mostly blank faces, except for one young man in the very back who wanted to do everything. Apparently, most of these students had never seen this kind of program before.

Despite the slow start, they did get on board. A week later, a young preacher, poets, singers, actors, artists, and the full choir collaborated joyfully to worship the Lord. The drama group repurposed a curtain from the men’s bathhouse, designed their own props and costumes, and even added background music to their interpretations of the sacrifice of Isaac, the first Passover, and the Lord’s Supper. When the Passover lamb was slain, he crumpled to the ground with a loud “Baaaa,” sparking quiet laughter throughout the auditorium. How we rejoiced as we meditated together on the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

This kind of teaching adventure is much like casting one’s bread upon the waters. We seek to be a catalyst for creative artistic expressions full of Scripture. Some of our ideas won’t stick. Most will need major cultural adaptation. In the future, I hope to do more extensive research about traditional art forms, and to encourage the Burmese believers to weave together threads from their local culture with their current artistic expressions to create brand-new art forms. I look forward to hearing how they develop and improve on these experiences for the glory of God and the spread of the Gospel in their country.

[1] Constance M. Cherry, Mary M. Brown and Christopher T. Bounds, Selecting Worship Songs: A Guide for Leaders (Marion, Indiana: Triangle Publishing/Wesleyan Publishing House, 2011), p. 54-55.

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