Myanmar Mission Church Founded

 

Myanmar Mission Church was founded with a handful of Burmese people in 2003 as a faith based Non-Profit Organization. The Church is exempt from Federal Income tax under section 501(C )(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. During the beginning stages of the Church, a building (1019 N 24th Ave, Hollywood, Florida 33020) had been rented to use as worship service until the Church had purchased the property at 1010-1016 NW 9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 in 2020 for exclusive usage as a house of worship.

 

The purpose of the formation of Myanmar Mission Church is to have worship service together in one accord for the glory of God and to reach out to the Burmese community with the gospel of Jesus Christ in South Florida and beyond. The congregation of Myanmar Mission Church is comprised of ethic Zomi Language speaking people who are living in South Florida. We, the Zomi people, are the minority people who reside in the Chin State in Myanmar (Burma). Most of the Myanmar (Burmese) who live in South Florida are refugees and are finding jobs at their own capability to meet survival needs and cover daily living expenses. These Zomi refugees are minority Christians in Burma who had been oppressed and tortured by the Burmese military government because of their religious faith.

 

We, the family of the Church, had planned and prayed to have our own space (to use as a place of worship) after multiple year of renting property. In order to purchase a suitable accommodation for us, we started funding – dependent on each and every one’s ability of giving and generosity – and collecting faith promises and donations from our Church members every year.

 

In 2020, we, the Church’s family, decided to purchase a property at 1010-1016 NW 9th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 for a place of worship after the Church’s loan had been approved by TD Bank.

 

We found out that the entire building property needed to be fully renovated since this property was used as a retail store. As a result, a full renovation of the building was required for it to be properly used as a place of worship. The Church had received a permit from the city and started remodeling (e.g. removing a wall for a place of worship). In the midst of the world pandemic (Covid-19), the renovation of the building property was finally completed in 2022. Following the completion, we had received a certificate of occupancy (CO) from City of Fort Lauderdale to be used a place of worship on June 10, 2022. On June 19, 2022, we began with our initial worship service Sunday night.

 

To provide some background to our congregation, our Burmese Church members do not live altogether in one immediate area since they live next to their workplace as opposed to living next each other. For instance, some live in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. As a result, there needed to be a location for our Church that served to be convenient for all of our members. In addition to finding a location, there also needed to be an agreed time that worked for all members to participate in Church service. This is due to the strict jobs our members are working under as their jobs are quite demanding and provide little to no flexibility regarding their work schedule. Thus, in order to survive and meet their family’s living expenses, they are required to work seven days a week, leaving Sunday night to be the best viable option to have church service.