After about a month of imprisonment, Rev. William who led his congregation for more than 25 years in eastern Myanmar, was murdered by the military junta, along with Nam Ceu, another follower of Christ who was arrested.
The Burma Research Institute confirmed that the Baptist pastor and Ceu were executed June 4, and a funeral was held Aug. 26. He is survived by his wife and five children.
William, who has no surname, was arrested May 16, about one mile outside his village and about 15 miles outside the state capital. William and Ceu were detained for allegedly supporting an anti-junta resistance group called Hakha Chinland Defense Force (CDF). The church he pastored, Chungcung Baptist Church, is located in the Chin state. His church made numerous attempts to discover the pastor’s location but never succeeded.
The Rev. Dr. Robin Stoops, Burma Research Institute (BRI) board chairman and former associate general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, responded to the killings in a statement.
“We grieve with his family, his congregation, and our Chin brothers and sisters everywhere. This was an extrajudicial killing, carried out without due process or trial,” Stoops said. “But grief demands action. We call on the international community, and especially the United States, to hold those responsible accountable.”
BRI’s president and CEO, Zo Tum Hmung, has asked the White House to “protect the persecuted Christians” in the nation.
Since 2021, when the military coup in Myanmar occurred, Christian residents in the Chungcung village have faced burnings, lootings and killings. Sixteen villagers have been killed and homes have been burned since the coup. In October 2021, the Chungcung Baptist Church itself was looted and burned, and the 300 houses in the surrounding village have been under constant raids.
Myanmar ranks as the 14th most dangerous country to be a Christian, according to the Christian watchdog organization Open Doors.
“The vulnerability of Christians in Myanmar goes back years, rooted in the belief that to be Burmese is to be Buddhist—and that means other faiths are often seen as foreign and a threat to national unity,” Open Doors explained.
Open Doors reports that Christians face various forms of discrimination in their daily lives, such as being unable to change their ID cards to state that they are Christians and not Buddhists and facing denial of basic services such as water. In some cases, Christians are forced to participate in Buddhist rituals. The nation has a state-support plan centered on converting Christians and other religious minorities to Buddhism, with a specific focus in remote areas.
“And in the Christian-majority Chin State, attacks on churches persist,” Open Doors said. “Overall, Christians have faced worsening violence, displacement and systematic targeting, with the earthquakes deepening the suffering of man.”
Most of Myanmar’s population consists of ethnic Burmese Buddhists, though Christianity is the majority religion in Chin and Kachin states.
From decades of persecution, many Christians have fled to India and Thailand. Others have fled to the U.S. and Australia.
