Myanmar Baptist Convention

Note about the membership:
650,293 baptized; 618,588 non-baptized

The first Christian mission to arrive in present-day Myanmar was the Roman Catholic Barnabite Mission in 1722. In 1807 the English Baptists opened a mission but the first permanent Baptist Evangelists and mission came in 1813 from America, under Adoniram Judson. During his life time, only the Burman, Mon and Karen ethnic groups responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. At his death in 1850, there were 74 churches and 7904 baptized members. Gradually the Baptist mission spread out to all the peoples in Myanmar. In 1865, the Baptist churches in Burma organized themselves under the name “Burma Baptist Missionary Convention”. In 1954, the name was changed to Burma Baptist Convention. Today, the Myanmar Baptist Convention represents all Baptists in the country. Its beliefs and practices are according to the Baptist principles and polity in general. The main purposes of the MBC are: a) to preach and propagate the good news of Jesus Christ in Myanmar and throughout the whole world; b) to abide in Baptist faith and practice; c) to educate its members for Christian maturity and discipleship; d) to be united with other Christians in Christ for mission and service; and e) to be good citizens of the country.

Myanmar (Burma) has a population of over 50 million. Buddhism is the majority religion, Christians form a minority. The Baptists are the largest protestant denomination in the country. All the Baptist churches aim to be self-supporting and holistic in development, and the members are called to identify themselves as Christians and good citizens. The MBC has undertaken the “Golden Myanmar Baptist Mission” which aims at evangelizing the majority of people of the country for the transformation and betterment of the society. The MBC has taken an active part in the Myanmar Council of Churches from the beginning. Politically Myanmar is heading towards a democratic government and to a market economy and it is one of the ASEAN countries.