First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City

Chin Church at FBCOKC	Chin congregation to commission OKC First Baptist mission team for Malaysia trip
	Members of the Chin Baptist Church will commission a local missions team bound for Malaysia in a service to be held January 31. The team, composed mostly of members of First Baptist Church of Oklahoma City (FBCOKC), will work with Chin refugees in Kuala Lumpur Feb. 3-13. The Chin are one of a number of Burmese people groups being persecuted by the ruling military junta in Myanmar, also known as Burma. In 2008, groups from Burma represented the largest refugee population from a single nation arriving in the United States. At least 70 percent of the Chin people are Christian and are actively persecuted for following their faith. Most Chin Christians are Baptist, making FBCOKC a natural home for them. The Chin Church, which meets at FBCOKC, now numbers 100-120 members. The missions team, led by chaplain and former missionary Beth Ogburn, will work with Chin refugees in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, helping the refugees adjust to life in a new country and prepare for eventual relocation to the U.S. Team members include medical, educational, media and counseling specialists. “Many of the Chin people have never had a physical, so they have no medical records,” Ogburn said. “Often they need counseling because of the stress they face from being forced to move to a new country. We will help improve their medical services, as well as offer assistance to their schools. Life in the U.S. will be very different from their lives in Myanmar, and we want to help bridge relationships between Southeast Asia and Oklahoma.” Ogburn and her husband, FBCOKC senior pastor Dr. Tom Ogburn, spent six years as missionaries in Southeast Asia. The Jan. 31 service will be held in the sanctuary at 10:30 a.m. 1201 North Robinson in downtown Oklahoma City. For more information or to learn how to support the mission team, call Tom Ogburn or Kristin Rogers at 405-232-4255.