We pried our way through the Burmese the immigration process and flew into Yangon shortly after Cyclone Nargis had devastated the Irrawaddy delta - the former rice basket of Burma. The country was a mess.

John, a young man from Burma, had been training for ministry in our Bible college in Thailand. When Nargis struck, he took the first flight back into Burma to find his family and save lives. But the more starving people he tried to save, the more impossible the task became, until he chose one certain Bamar village to become a home base and model for rebuilding.

And on Sunday the people gather here to worship the Jesus that John has told them about. These are Bamar people: the people who from the time of Adoniram Judson until now have hard-heartedly refused the gospel.

Walking down the new dirt road with John and stopping at various houses to meet people who have experienced miracles from God, we were overwhelmed, not so much by the physical state of the village, but by the love and honor these people have for John. Now they call on him to name each newborn baby and follow his advice in the greatest decisions of life. And he is able to attract people like doctors and dentists and a famous Burmese Pop singer to come and give their time and resources to help this village.

But as the houses went up, John knew he needed to expand the vision to include more delta villages, and indeed, all of Burma - he needed a plan to help his new congregation overcome poverty at home and mobilize them to take the gospel to the next villages.

In prayer, God gave John a practical plan - he would start a pig farm.

Not knowing where to begin, John went to see the General Manager of CPP, Asia’s biggest meat producer to ask for advice. This meat magnate was so taken with John's vision to help the poor that he handed him a copy of CPP's manual for feeding and breeding pigs, provided three weeks of free training for the new pig farm manager, inspected construction of the new pig barn, and guaranteed the selling price of the pigs.

The first 100 pigs are about ready for market, and very soon, the pig farm will be the economic lifeblood of this Bamar village. Now the men have a sense of pride in this grande enterprise, built with their own hands, and the women have lost the sense of despair they once carried. Jesus has come to their village and into their hearts.

We walk back down the road, wishing we could stay, but Burma is run by a military government who do not welcome us here, so we play our part from behind the scenes, connecting partners who supply the resources to mobilize men like John into the Great Commission. So far, Canadian partners have given over $40,000 to make this miracle happen.

By Kris Pagan