Myanmar has faced near-constant conflicts since 1948, when it achieved independence from Great Britain. The country has alternated between civilian and military rule, with the most recent coup in 2021 cementing the current regime’s control. Christians, along with other religious minorities, face discrimination, while ethnic groups like the Rohingya continue to suffer violent persecution.

Since violence escalated in the past four years, displacement in Myanmar as soared—more than 3 million people are now displaced across the country. Internally displaced people (those forced to flee their homes but remain within the country’s borders) are seeking shelter wherever they can find it.

Most of them are children.

In church buildings across the country, congregations have opened their doors, becoming homes for children who have been forced to flee. Some arrive with family members. Others arrive alone.

In one church, two girls, ages 13 and 8, and a boy, age 12, shared part of their story:

“Our father left many years ago, to another country to work. But he stopped sending money after a little while. My mother was caring for us, but there were too many days when fights and war broke out near us. So she made a plan to bring us [here]. But she became sick too and died not long after we arrived.”

Now orphans, they live with nine other children at the church.

“These children, and dozens more, are being given shelter, food, trauma care, education support, and a model of faithfulness,” said a church leader, Ram Thein. “Faithfulness is rooted in love. With a heart that loves Jesus, we offer many prayers together with our very lives.”

In March 2025, Myanmar experienced a 7.7 magnitude earthquake—the second deadliest in its modern history, killing over 5,300 people. Nazarene leaders quickly mobilized, despite the risk of military checkpoints. They brought food, water, and spiritual care, and made plans to provide trauma support to children in local schools.

“The headmaster welcomed this initiative, sharing that while many groups had provided food, clothes, and medicine, no one had yet focused on the emotional needs of the children,” said Jasmin Eugenio, SEA Field NCM coordinator.

Even in conflict. Even in disaster. The focus remains clear: children, healing, hope.

These crowded church homes for displaced children and the trauma care offered in schools are signs of God’s faithful work in Myanmar—making all things new, mending what is broken, and restoring what has been destroyed.

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This article is adapted from the latest issue of NCM Magazine. Click here to read the rest of the story and learn more about how the churches in Myanmar are responding with courage and faith to ever-present conflict, displacement, and disaster.