Burmese Pastor Silas Thiang Shepherds 40 Refugees in San Diego: His Vision Is a Church in Every Village in Myanmar Without One
A Burmese pastor in San Diego, San Diego County, California, is shepherding a congregation of about 40 refugees that meets in his own apartment, and his stated vision is to see a church started in every village in Myanmar where there is no Christian believer and no church, Baptist Press reported on November 2. Silas Thiang pastors Agape Myanmar Mission, which meets in the central San Diego apartment he shares with his wife, three sons and his brother.
Thiang also ministers to the immigrants and refugees in his San Diego neighborhood, which is home to people from eight or more nations, and he wants to raise up the next generation of ethnic Christian leaders in America. Since its first community outreach at Easter 2016, Agape Myanmar Mission has held community outreach events three times a year, drawing an average of about 200 immigrants at each event, and Thiang trains church members weekly by example to share their faith and pray for others.
His ministry extends overseas as well. Twice a year he travels to Thailand to train Burmese pastors and church planters, with about 70 Burmese leaders attending each four-day training, and he then ministers for two weeks along the Thai-Myanmar border, bringing rice and medicine to camps for people displaced by war.
Thiang was born in 1982 into a Christian family in Myanmar. After high school he went to India and studied at a Baptist theological seminary, then moved to Malaysia to plant a church among Myanmar migrant workers and help refugee families. He moved to San Diego in 2014 to start a church for Burmese refugees. Steve Jussenhoven, associate pastor of Pathways Church in Santee, said his church has helped support Thiang since about 2022 because of the pastor's genuine burden for the lost and his commitment to the Great Commission. Mark Dalton, missions director at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, said they have known Thiang for about 10 years and were drawn to his integrity and his love and care for his people.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 圣迭戈 Balboa 公园倒影池（资料图）。Rufustelestrat 摄，CC BY 2.5，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The reflecting pond at Balboa Park in San Diego (file photo). Photo by Rufustelestrat, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
