On February 1, 2021, the political events in Myanmar caught the world’s attention, causing many people to refocus on the situation of this country.
In the past, Myanmar might have been known only because of the name Golden Triangle. As is known to all, the Golden Triangle is located in the junction of Burma, Laos and Thailand, which has been rich in opium and other drugs for a long time. It is the world’s main drug-producing area, and that is why the Golden Triangle is also famous in the world.
In such a drug-infested environment, many people in Myanmar are exposed to drugs at a very young age, and it may be difficult for them to escape the cycle of drugs throughout their lives. Pastor Duan, a Chinese pastor born and raised in Myanmar, shared that he had more than 30 friends who passed away due to drugs. He himself got into drugs when he was a teenager and even lost hope of survival on the streets in Taiwan.
When he cried out to God: “Is there a true God in the heaven? God, please help me. I want to be a good man”, God sent his angels to help with his detoxification, life and learning, and let him have the opportunity to do an internship in a Gospel Detoxification Center. Then he used the methods he had learned and the Gospel of Christ to help the people of Burma who were suffering from the scourge of drugs.
Now, this pastor has been serving in a Gospel Detoxification Center in Myanmar for 25 years. “There are about 11 Gospel Detoxification Centers run by Chinese in Myanmar,” he shared. “There are thousands of drug addicts who have been baptized and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior in the Gospel Detoxification Centers.”
The following is the Pastor’s own testimony:
My grandfather became a believer when he came to Burma. His parents and him were all deacons in the church. My family members have been Christians for five generations now. I was addicted to drugs when I was a teenager because of the drug abuse in Myanmar. It has been more than 20 years since I came back to Myanmar as a missionary after I went to Taiwan for further education, drug rehabilitation and theology study.
At that time, I suffered a lot in Taiwan. When I was studying and working in Taiwan, I was forced to live on the streets. I even had no job and slept on the roadside. Thank God for giving me the opportunity to change through a pastor who introduced me to the Gospel Detoxification Center. Then I was moved to know that this was the true and living God that my grandfather and my parents believed in. Before that, I worshipped idols, practiced abstinence from meat, practiced Taoism, and did fortune-telling. Everything.
After I was born again and saved, I wept and repented, willing to serve God. I went to a drug rehabilitation center in Thailand for an internship, to learn to serve people who are recovering from drug addiction; I also went to Burma and other churches to witness. In order to better serve, I went to a seminary in Taiwan to improve myself. I was sent to Burma in 1996 and have been serving there for almost 25 years now. My wife is also a preacher. She works in an orphanage. Our workplaces are about 30 kilometers apart.
Since I was born and brought up in Myanmar, I would like to bring the spirit of Gospel Drug Rehabilitation to Myanmar, so that it can be carried forward and help more people in need. Because Myanmar is the second largest drug base in the world, a lot of people take drugs here, and a lot of people also die because of drugs. I alone have more than 30 friends that have died of drugs. I would love to give back to society and help them.
There are about 20 brothers at the Gospel Detoxification Center where I work, and there are about 10 acres of land in a very quiet part of the country. My job is to help people get rid of drugs, get back to life, and use my experience to help drug addicts, and I have helped thousands of drug addicts, one of whom was just baptized the day before yesterday. There are now about 11 Gospel Detoxification Centers in the area run by Chinese.
The Gospel Detoxification Center I’m in is both a training center and a small church, and there are many lecturers who come here to preach. We have two church meetings in the morning. After that, it’s work time. We have Bible reading and recitation in the afternoon, worship and evening prayer in the evening, and Sunday worship and so on.
We help addicts to have a second chance through our faith, confidence and love. We have been there, and we do all these with love in our hearts. These addicts will live here for a year and receive the Gospel physically and spiritually. Now there is a new drug addict having the recurrence of drug addiction, and we are taking care of him in his room. We will massage him, shower him, and take care of him 24 hours a day. In a week or ten days he would be well enough to be moved to the big room to live with other brothers.
The brothers can work in the garden to grow their own vegetables, raise chickens, pigs, ducks, dogs and white rabbits. We sing two thank-you songs before eating in the dining room. We also have a pitcher pump, which is used to generate electricity and pump water.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
2021年2月1日，缅甸事件举世关注，也让不少人开始重新关注起这个国家的情况。
过去，人们对缅甸的了解，可能仅限于“金三角”。众所周知，“金三角”位于东南亚地区缅甸、老挝、泰国的交界地带，长期盛产鸦片等毒品，是世界上主要的毒品产地，“金三角”也因此闻名于世。
在这样的毒品泛滥的环境下，缅甸的百姓很多在很小的时候就沾染上毒品，这一生可能都很难摆脱毒品的控制。有一位在缅甸出生、成长的华人牧师段牧师分享说，自己有三十几个朋友都是因为毒品都已经不在人世了，自己也在青少年时期就染上毒品，在台湾流落街头连生存的指望都没有了。
当他向上帝呼求：“天上有没有真神，上帝啊，帮助我，我想做一个好人”的时候，上帝派天使帮助他戒毒、生活和学习，并让他有机会到福音戒毒中心实习，然后用自己学到的方法和基督的福音，帮助那些深受毒品荼毒的缅甸人们的身上。
现在这位牧师在缅甸的一所福音戒毒中心服事，已经服事了有25年之久了，他分享说：“全缅甸华人开办的福音戒毒中心差不多有11所，已经帮助了好几千吸毒的人了，也有在福音戒毒中心受洗接受耶稣基督为救主的人。”
以下是段牧师的自述见证：
我祖父到缅甸之后就信主了，他和爸爸、妈妈都是教会的执事。我们家都是基督徒，到现在已经是五代了。因为缅甸毒品泛滥，我青少年时期就染上毒品。我到台湾去升学、戒毒、读神学，之后从台湾回到缅甸来做传道，已经差不多20多年了。
我那时在台湾吃了很多苦，在台湾求学打工时曾沦落街头，甚至没有工作、睡在路边，面对种种困难，我就望着天祷告：“天上有没有真神，上帝啊，帮助我，我想做一个好人。”感谢上帝给了我一个机会，借着一个牧师把我介绍到福音戒毒中心去接受改变。那我就很感动，才知道这位神就是我祖父、爸爸和妈妈所相信的，是又真又活的神。在那之前我也曾是拜偶像，吃斋、吃素、修行、算命种种我都做过。
当我重生得救以后，我就流泪、悔改，愿意来事奉神。我就去了泰国的一个戒毒所去做实习，去学习事奉那些戒毒的人；也去缅甸和各地各教会作见证。为了更好的服事，我又去了台湾的神学院去装备自己。1996年，我被派到缅甸，一直服事到现在已经差不多有25年。那我的太太也是传道人，她是做孤儿院工作。我们分开做，相隔了差不多有30多公里。
因为我是在缅甸土生土长的，所以愿意把福音戒毒的精神带到缅甸去，让福音戒毒的发扬光大，帮助更多有需要的人。因为缅甸是世界上第二大的毒品大本营，很多人在这里吸毒，不少人也因为毒品失去生命，我就有三十几个朋友都吸毒死掉了。我很愿意来回馈和帮助他们。
我所在的福音戒毒中心大概有20个弟兄，这里有差不多有十亩地左右，是在乡村里面很僻静的地方。我的工作就是帮助别人戒毒，重得生命，用以往的经验来帮助吸毒的人，也已经帮助到几千吸毒的人了，前天才帮他们中的一个人受洗。现在这片华人办的福音戒毒所差不多有11个。
我在的福音戒毒中心既是一个培训中心，也是一个小教会和戒毒所，有很多的讲员会到这里来讲道。我们每天早晨有两堂聚会，之后有工作的时间，中午可以抄圣经、背圣经，晚上有敬拜和晚祷，主日还有主日崇拜等等。
我们是凭着信仰、信心和爱心，帮助有毒瘾的人得到一个重生的机会。我们也是过来人，能帮助是完全凭着爱心。他们要在这里生活一年，要身心灵的接受福音。现在有一个新人的毒瘾在发作，同工在新人房照顾他。我们会帮他按摩带他冲凉，每天照顾他24小时。大概一个礼拜到十天后他就会康复，才可以把他转移到大房间跟弟兄们一起生活。
平时弟兄们工作会在菜园自己种小菜、养鸡、养猪、养鸭，还会养小狗和白兔。我们在餐厅吃饭前要唱两首谢饭歌。我们还有摇井，是用来发电和抽水的。
On February 1, 2021, the political events in Myanmar caught the world’s attention, causing many people to refocus on the situation of this country.
In the past, Myanmar might have been known only because of the name Golden Triangle. As is known to all, the Golden Triangle is located in the junction of Burma, Laos and Thailand, which has been rich in opium and other drugs for a long time. It is the world’s main drug-producing area, and that is why the Golden Triangle is also famous in the world.
In such a drug-infested environment, many people in Myanmar are exposed to drugs at a very young age, and it may be difficult for them to escape the cycle of drugs throughout their lives. Pastor Duan, a Chinese pastor born and raised in Myanmar, shared that he had more than 30 friends who passed away due to drugs. He himself got into drugs when he was a teenager and even lost hope of survival on the streets in Taiwan.
When he cried out to God: “Is there a true God in the heaven? God, please help me. I want to be a good man”, God sent his angels to help with his detoxification, life and learning, and let him have the opportunity to do an internship in a Gospel Detoxification Center. Then he used the methods he had learned and the Gospel of Christ to help the people of Burma who were suffering from the scourge of drugs.
Now, this pastor has been serving in a Gospel Detoxification Center in Myanmar for 25 years. “There are about 11 Gospel Detoxification Centers run by Chinese in Myanmar,” he shared. “There are thousands of drug addicts who have been baptized and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior in the Gospel Detoxification Centers.”
The following is the Pastor’s own testimony:
My grandfather became a believer when he came to Burma. His parents and him were all deacons in the church. My family members have been Christians for five generations now. I was addicted to drugs when I was a teenager because of the drug abuse in Myanmar. It has been more than 20 years since I came back to Myanmar as a missionary after I went to Taiwan for further education, drug rehabilitation and theology study.
At that time, I suffered a lot in Taiwan. When I was studying and working in Taiwan, I was forced to live on the streets. I even had no job and slept on the roadside. Thank God for giving me the opportunity to change through a pastor who introduced me to the Gospel Detoxification Center. Then I was moved to know that this was the true and living God that my grandfather and my parents believed in. Before that, I worshipped idols, practiced abstinence from meat, practiced Taoism, and did fortune-telling. Everything.
After I was born again and saved, I wept and repented, willing to serve God. I went to a drug rehabilitation center in Thailand for an internship, to learn to serve people who are recovering from drug addiction; I also went to Burma and other churches to witness. In order to better serve, I went to a seminary in Taiwan to improve myself. I was sent to Burma in 1996 and have been serving there for almost 25 years now. My wife is also a preacher. She works in an orphanage. Our workplaces are about 30 kilometers apart.
Since I was born and brought up in Myanmar, I would like to bring the spirit of Gospel Drug Rehabilitation to Myanmar, so that it can be carried forward and help more people in need. Because Myanmar is the second largest drug base in the world, a lot of people take drugs here, and a lot of people also die because of drugs. I alone have more than 30 friends that have died of drugs. I would love to give back to society and help them.
There are about 20 brothers at the Gospel Detoxification Center where I work, and there are about 10 acres of land in a very quiet part of the country. My job is to help people get rid of drugs, get back to life, and use my experience to help drug addicts, and I have helped thousands of drug addicts, one of whom was just baptized the day before yesterday. There are now about 11 Gospel Detoxification Centers in the area run by Chinese.
The Gospel Detoxification Center I’m in is both a training center and a small church, and there are many lecturers who come here to preach. We have two church meetings in the morning. After that, it’s work time. We have Bible reading and recitation in the afternoon, worship and evening prayer in the evening, and Sunday worship and so on.
We help addicts to have a second chance through our faith, confidence and love. We have been there, and we do all these with love in our hearts. These addicts will live here for a year and receive the Gospel physically and spiritually. Now there is a new drug addict having the recurrence of drug addiction, and we are taking care of him in his room. We will massage him, shower him, and take care of him 24 hours a day. In a week or ten days he would be well enough to be moved to the big room to live with other brothers.
The brothers can work in the garden to grow their own vegetables, raise chickens, pigs, ducks, dogs and white rabbits. We sing two thank-you songs before eating in the dining room. We also have a pitcher pump, which is used to generate electricity and pump water.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Exclusive Interview: Chinese Pastor in Myanmar Says Gospel Detoxification Centers Have Helped Thousands to Get Rid of Drugs, Know Jesus
