Although I don't know as much as I would like about Myanmar, I tutor refugees from both Burma and Thailand and their stories make every evening worth it! I have loved building relationships with them over the years and hearing stories of their lives back in these countries and cannot wait to see all that they have told me as well as meet beautiful people and share the greatest story ever - the Gospel. 

Map:

Flag:

• This flag has been used since 2010, after a new constitution was ratified.

• The yellow represents national unity; the color green stands for peace, serenity, and flora; the color red illustrates bravery and firmness, and the white star represents the country’s union.

Language: Burmese

Religion: Buddhism is prevalent, with 89.2% of the population practicing. 6.2% are Christian, and 4.3% follow Islam

Population: 54.34 million

Unique Animals:

• The Lesser Mouse-deer is the world's smallest hoofed animal. As a mature adult, it weighs up to about 4.5lbs. Some scientist think it's an ancient ancestor with whales and dolphins because, when threatened, it can dive into the water and stay there for up to four minutes!

• Dugong; this gentle giant is a relative to manatees and similarly has distressed population numbers. But look at that precious face!

• The dhole is a wild dog found throughout Myanmar. They are pack animals and like to snack on deer. However, there are only about 2,000 known dhole left in the world

Special Foods:

• Lephet Thoke (tea leaf salad). Lephet are fermented tea leaves, usually eaten as a dessert. However, as a salad, the sour, slightly leaves are mixed with cabbage, tomatoes, deep fried beans, nuts and peas, with a splash of garlic or chili oil.

• Mohinga: often called Myanmar's national dish is round noodles in a hearty herbal, fish and shallot based broth.

Cool Geography:

• The Irrawaddy River system is a very important feature in Myanmar. The trip deltaic plains area vital to the country

• Geographically, it's divided into Lower and Upper Myanmar. Lower Myanmar is the coastal areas, while Upper Myanmar is the interior.

• To the far south is there's Mergui Archipelago, which comprises of over 800 islands.

Fun things to do:

• Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the many pagodas to see in Myanmar and is a Buddhist structure. There are also numerous monasteries and temples.

• Nyaung Oo Phee island. The crystal blue waters of this island are enough to attract anyone!

Prayer: Pray for peace in Myanmar as the Rohingya continue to be persecuted and the country's political harmony is strained. Pray for those affected by the genocide of the Rohingya. It is a country in transition, so please pray that our squad would be a guiding light in this time, directing people to the one who can reconcile all wrongs.