Allied militias occupy Kachin churches
An International Christian Concern report details the military use of Baptist and Catholic temples and the displacement of Kachin families.
Two Kachin churches are in the hands of military forces: the SNA and the Burma army occupy the Nant Mun Baptist church and the St. Joseph Catholic complex, International Christian Concern reported.
A militia graduation inside the sanctuary
The U.S.-based Burma Research Institute (BRI) verified reports of a militia graduation ceremony at the Nant Mun Baptist church, in Mohnyin township. Sources close to the situation told BRI that the militiamen danced and drank alcohol inside the sanctuary during the event.
The ceremony was held in September by the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), an ally of the military junta. A building of the St. Joseph Catholic church served as a militia barracks, and troops looted another building in the same complex. The SNA also used the Baptist church as a training site: six groups of recruits were trained there.
«The persecuted church is not far away: it is the same family.»
The SNA represents the Shanni ethnic group, which is mostly Buddhist, and has fought against other armed organizations, including the Kachin Independence Army.
Only about 80 Kachin families remain in Nantmun
Joint forces of the SNA and the Burmese army entered Nantmun in late 2024 and hundreds of Christian households fled. Today about 80 Kachin Christian families remain in the village, according to residents; many cannot move because of a lack of money and movement restrictions.
Kachin is the state in Burma with the largest Christian presence, and the Kachin community is mostly Christian. The fighting has displaced much of the local population. On June 9, moreover, the military-controlled Supreme Court revoked the licenses of three Baptist pastors to officiate Christian marriages.
Kachin leaders call for a response from Washington
Kachin leaders in the United States condemned the occupation. Zo Tum Hmung, president and executive director of BRI, said: "I condemn, in the strongest terms, the continuing and grave violations of religious freedom committed by the Burmese military in Burma" (Sígueme translation).
Hmung extended his prayer and solidarity to the Nant Mun Baptist church and the Kachin Baptist Convention.
Reverend La Seng Labya, president of the Kachin American Baptist Association, called for protecting Christians in Burma. Reverend Lakang Dau Qae, general secretary of Kachin Baptist Churches USA, asked the White House to redesignate Burma as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), the label for governments with grave violations of religious freedom.
Burma held that designation from 1999 to 2023 and has not regained it. In its 2026 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the State Department restore it. That label can open the way to diplomatic and economic measures, including targeted sanctions.
Hkalam Samson, former director of the Kachin Baptist Convention, met with Trump at the White House in July 2019 to talk about the persecution of Christians. He was later arrested and a regime court sentenced him to six years in prison, according to USCIRF. He is now free.
Kachin believers are not a distant statistic: they are brothers and sisters who lost their church and keep worshiping without it. Pray for the families who stayed in Nantmun, for the pastors whose license to officiate weddings was taken away, and for those who cannot return home.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10, ESV).
This week you can pray for them by name and tell your small group what is happening in Kachin. The persecuted church is not far away: it is the same family.
