Missiological Missteps and the Need for Theological Education in Myanmar

Abstract

In the history of missions in Myanmar, a number of missiological practices and stratagems have failed to promote unity between different groups of converts and, in fact, have fostered or encouraged disunity among a people already predisposed toward isolationism. Tribal exclusivism, Western individualism, and denominational separatism have all served to extend and expand that gulf of identity, which already separates many people in Myanmar. Furthermore, a lack of proper theological education hinders unity, as a host of conflicting doctrinal systems collide among the local churches, resulting in congregants looking ever-increasingly inward for fellowship, seeking only those most similar to themselves.