LONGWOOD, FL-In 1966, a mass transformation of the Burmese people from animism to faith in Christ occurred the results of which are still being felt today. In Robert G. Johnson's On the Back Road to Mandalay (paperback, 978-1-60034-735-1), the author tells the story of how he and his wife reared their three children in an isolated Baptist mission station in the mountains of Burma and, before deportation, helped to turn a whole people group to Christ. The rapid growth of Christianity in war-devastated Burma is conveyed through Johnson's book. Although foreign missionaries were expelled from Burma in 1966, the work there has prospered through native Christian pastors and leaders.
"It is true that we left Burma in 1966, so our story is not of recent date," says Johnson. "However, thousands of people, especially older people, are vitally interested in missions and will profit by reading this account. Younger people may well be interested in the more adventurous stories we tell. Burma, now called Myanmar, is occasionally in the news in a negative light. Our book counteracts that by telling a positive story of evangelism and church planting."
Following mission service in Burma, Johnson wrote a two-volume, 1320-page history of the American Baptist Chin Mission, which told of events from 1889 to 1966, using files of the mission offices in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. It is the only history of this particular mission field.
Bob and Betty Lue Johnson entered a devastated Burma at the end of World War II, making their home in a remote village of the Chin Hills. To advance the Christian faith, they led an adventurous life running schools, training men and women for ministry, translating the Bible, building churches, producing Christian literature, and promoting health and education.
Xulon Press, a part of Salem Communications Corporation, is the world's largest Christian publisher, with more than 3,900 titles published to date. Retailers may order On the Back Road to Mandalay through Ingram Book Company and/or Spring Arbor Book Distributors. Salem Communications is the country's leading Christian communications company with interests in radio, Internet, and magazine publishing.
|
2007