Last weekend my wife and I took down the Christmas decorations and dragged the tree out to the street. We took down the ornaments with the special plates and cups and wrapped up all the lights. We packed them away in boxes and bins to be forgotten about for ten more months. But I do not think I will ever forget the special visitation of thirty-five Zo people singing Christmas carols in my living room this past Christmas.

The Zo, or Zomi are a Burmese people group. They are originally from Myanmar, India and Bangladesh, and now a few thousand call Nashville their home. Pastor Suan of the Zomi Evangelical Church wanted to make sure that we were going be home when his church came a caroling. We were a bit surprised and then delighted when his whole church filed their way into our living room and sang carols to us in English, Spanish and Zomi.

I was asked to preach on Christmas Eve. We met at one of their houses and I was soon seated to a great feast of Zomi food: whole chickens, cubed pork, Lo Mein and a rather tasty pink sour soup. I taught from the first chapter of Matthew, about the birth of a king. This long-awaited king, born in the humblest of circumstances was honored by the wisest from the East. This king would spend his first few years as a refugee in Egypt fleeing from a usurper to the throne.

· Pray for the Zomi church in Nashville, although small in number, they are great in their joy of the Lord.

· Pray for pastor Oscar Aguilar, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida. He suffered a stroke last month and is still in recovery.

· Pray for an Afghan Christian, who is fleeing persecution from his own family and is looking for a church to serve as an evangelist.

Do not hesitate to call or write to me about any of these prayer requests or a desire to serve the ethnic churches in the Nashville area.

Blessings,

Brett Boesch, International Ministry Strategist
bboesch@nashvillebaptists.com