Myanmar refugees at home with downtown church

A benefit garage sale is being planned to raise funds for several members of a congregation of Myanmar refugees.

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The sale is set for Sept. 12 at First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City, 1201 N Robinson, where the Chin Baptist Church has been holding services.
Brian McAtee, First Baptist’s minister with global peoples, said the downtown Oklahoma City church had been working with the refugees since July 2008 when a local refugee resettlement group indicated some refugees wanted to connect with a Baptist church in the Oklahoma City metro area. The refugees come from Chin, a state in western Myanmar.
"They had a strong Baptist heritage and were looking for a spiritual home,” McAtee said.
He said the Chin church members are among many refugees who came under persecution by the ruling military powers in Myanmar, also known as Burma. He said missionaries report that a large percentage of the Chin people are Christian. Many are Baptist, he said, due to the success of American Baptist missionaries more than a century ago.
"The Chin were one of the more successful outreaches for these missionaries,” McAtee said.
McAtee said the Chin church held its first church service in February at First Baptist. He said it has its own pastor and board of deacons, and members make up a hardworking, friendly congregation.
He said several members of the congregation were involved in a serious car accident in July, and a portion of the garage sale proceeds will help cover their medical bills. He said some of the accident victims had only been in Oklahoma a few weeks and did not have jobs.
Navigating the health care system has been difficult for the refugees because of language barriers, McAtee said. Also, he said the refugees do not understand how the health care system works.
McAtee said people who want to help can donate items to sell at the garage sale or just plan to attend the event and buy things.
He said the refugee congregation has had a positive effect on the First Baptist congregation, and the latter group wanted to raise funds to make things better for those involved in the accident.
"They’ve had a profound impact on our congregation — their faith, just their spirit of worship — because of their journey,” McAtee said.
"They’ve dealt directly with persecution. They’ve been run out of town. Their churches have been burned. It’s a very unique story for most of us Westerners, who don’t deal with that stuff all the time.”