This was an awesome experience: the piety, enthusiasm, and Christian charity of the several hundred Burmese worshipers were palpable. One of the few English people in the congregation, Liz Shepherd, took me around to the Vicarage for tea hour, then to the British Embassy Social Club for luncheon. In the course of the following week, I got to know the Cathedral staff well, also calling on some of the orphanages the cathedral is supporting.
Though I might have experienced the unbounded kindnesses of the Burmese people even without my impaired foot, I was struck at how genuinely helpful all were - stopping cars so I could cross the street, offering to carry me to the summit of Buddhist temples, clearing a seat for me wherever I went. I must be clear: the Burmese people are in monetary terms impoverished, workers earning as little as thirty cents per day. Now here's the curiosity: they who had nothing gave me everything. I did not go as a great authority to teach them; rather, the people of the Cathedral brought me to a perception of simple, profound Christian love. You cannot know what a privilege it was to join the people of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in worship.
I finally realized that for the first time in my life I had to return to a place I had visited, this conviction being underlined when the Vicar invited me to preach and serve as Deacon of the Mass when I returned. Thus, this past December, I came back, somewhat anxious about the adage that you can't go back where you've been. How resoundingly true! When I returned, the owner of my Guest House in Rangoon said I was no longer a guest, but now a member of the family. The horse cart driver who had shepherded me through Bagan the year before was waiting at the airplane for me, took me to his home to dine (having first asked whether I minded his neighbors coming to look at me, as they had never seen a white person!). A custom in Burma is to give special visitors to one's home a new longyi (the skirt worn by all men) - I came home with nine of them.
When I returned to the Cathedral this year, Fr. Oak - the vicar - announced to his congregation that, now that Deacon David was back from Boston, the Archbishop is allowing Fr. Oak to take his first vacation in six years; he left for my month in Rangoon. Happily, his assistant Fr. Chri He (meaning Christ Comes in Burmese, as Fr. Chri He was born on Advent Sunday!) was there to oversee my work . The Cathedral interior had been beautifully re-plastered. About the same size, shape, and age as the Advent, it was gloriously resplendent with its new sparkling interior. When, however, I noticed the streaking on the interior of the roof from the previous summer's monsoons, I asked why the roof had not been repaired, as this June the monsoons will destroy all the beautiful interior work. Fr. Chri He replied that, as is so characteristic of human nature, the people funded the renovations they could see first, would get to the roof when the money came in. I asked what the repair would cost - two million kyat or $7,000.00 (remember that labor is all but free in Burma).
Well, I got to thinking, these valiant Christians, thriving and converting pagans daily, bravely proclaiming their faith while the Church in Burma is enduring unspeakable conditions (I'll elaborate on this to you in person, as I wish to return to Burma this winter), these people coming with hearts open and feet bared (as in every sanctuary and private home in Burma) to greet Deacon David, these people who gave me an new awareness of what the Faith is all about - could I not try to help them! Had I not been there myself, I would not believe what I witnessed. In some of the provinces, no more than two people are allowed to congregate together, making community worship impossible. Even in Rangoon - with rather free worship permitted - there are occasions when all people arriving at the Cathedral are photographed. The Vicar of the Cathedral earns $40/month, of which $25 goes to buy rice for his family of four.
What kind of life do the above conditions produce? The most vibrant, alive, and growing members of the Body of Christ I have ever been privileged to witness. Yes, the people worshiping have nothing; of that, they share everything. It is a rare week when new members of the Body are not baptized, or ratified in Confirmation.
Further, the dean of the Anglican seminary asked if I would preach and teach there next year, noting that his library is 1,000 volumes short of the required 6,000 titles. Back in Boston, I spoke with Fr. Warren about the funds needed for the Cathedral roof and with Betty Morris about the need for books. Both responded magnificently; I called Liz in Holy Week to tell her the Rector is committing half the money needed for the roof, and that we already have half the volumes required for the seminary.
Just this week I've received e-mail from Rangoon that the roof repairs have already started, with a sure confidence that the rest of the funds will come; overtures are being made to the American Embassy there about facilitating the books getting to the seminary. A few Advent parishioners, having heard my story about my second home in Rangoon and about the valiant faith of the people there, have already pledged to help with the purse for the roof. Please speak with Deacon David if you would like to join in this endeavor.
You might be interested to read the sermon I preached at the Cathedral on Epiphany II
http://web.mit.edu/davidh/www/sermon16Jan00Rangoon.html