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Myanmar Christians Mourn Pastor Reportedly Killed By Military
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
YANGON, MYANMAR (Worthy News) – Christians in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have held a memorial service for a veteran Baptist pastor and an associate reportedly killed by government troops amid an ongoing military crackdown, Worthy News learned Sunday.
Reverend William, senior pastor of Chungcung Baptist Church in Chungcung, a village in western Myanmar’s Chin State, and Nam Ceu were detained by troops on May 16 before being killed in early June, said advocacy group Burma Research Institute (BRI), citing church officials and other sources.
A memorial service for William was held Wednesday, August 26, in Chungcung, and was reportedly attended by residents and pastors from nearby Hakha, the Chin State capital.
William, who used no surname, had led the congregation for 25 years and leaves behind his wife and five children.
“We grieve with his family, his congregation, and our Chin brothers and sisters everywhere,” said Reverend Robin Stoops, BRI board chairman and former associate general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA.
PASTOR DETAINED BY TROOPS
Stoops described William’s death as an “extrajudicial killing” and urged the international community, particularly the United States, to hold those responsible accountable.
BRI said William and Nam Ceu were detained by Myanmar’s 77th Light Infantry Division at a farm shelter about one mile (1.6 kilometers) from Chungcung. Three others reportedly escaped, while William remained because he believed his identification as a pastor would protect him.
Two sources from Hakha, who spoke anonymously for security reasons, told BRI that the men were subsequently held by Colonel Hluan Moe Naing. Church members and relatives later concluded that the two had been killed after efforts to obtain information about them from military authorities failed.
BRI said William was accused of supporting the Hakha Chinland Defense Force (CDF), one of several armed groups resisting Myanmar’s military rulers.
His death comes amid broader violence in Chin State, a predominantly Christian region that has experienced fierce fighting since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
CHRISTIANS FACE EXTREME PERSECUTION
Chungcung, a village of about 300 homes roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Hakha, has suffered repeated attacks since the coup. BRI said troops have burned or destroyed 118 houses there, killed 16 civilians and wounded five others.
The violence is part of a broader pattern as Christian advocacy group Open Doors ranks Myanmar 14th among 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution in its 2026 World Watch List, with a score of 81 out of 100.
Open Doors estimates there are about 4.6 million Christians in Myanmar, representing roughly 8.4 percent of the nation’s estimated 55.3 million people. Buddhism is the dominant religion.
Open Doors describes Myanmar’s government as a “military regime” and identifies dictatorial paranoia, Buddhist religious nationalism and ethno-religious hostility as major sources of persecution.
It says Christians are targeted and discriminated against by the “ruling military junta,” with believers particularly vulnerable in Chin, Kachin, Shan and Kayah states as well as the Sagaing region.
CHURCHES UNDER PRESSURE
Open Doors says Christians have faced worsening violence and displacement, with believers killed, churches bombed and villages destroyed amid the country’s continuing conflict.
Chungcung Baptist Church itself was occupied by military forces in October 2021, when troops allegedly looted and damaged church property, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
The United States has also designated Myanmar as a “Country of Particular Concern” over particularly severe violations of religious freedom, a designation first imposed in 1999.
BRI President and CEO Zo Tum Hmung urged U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration to increase pressure on Myanmar’s military rulers following William’s reported killing. “We call on the Trump administration to protect the persecuted Christians in Burma,” Hmung said.
Yet those political demands did little to ease the pain for the late pastor’s congregation, which mourned a man who had served the church for a quarter of a century.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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Christians in Myanmar, also known as Burma, have held a memorial service for a veteran Baptist pastor and an associate reportedly killed by government troops amid an ongoing military crackdown, Worthy News learned Sunday.
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