Kachin Baptist Leaders Urge Trump to Act Over Church Desecration

U.S.-Based Kachin Baptist Leaders Urge Trump to Act After Burmese Military-Aligned Militia Holds Graduation Ceremony Inside Nant Mun Baptist Church in Kachin State, Burma

ON September 23, 2026, the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), a militia aligned with the Burmese military, conducted a graduation ceremony inside the worship sanctuary of Nant Mun Baptist Church, located in Nanmun Town, Indawgyi region, Mohnyin Township, Kachin State. The ceremony marked the completion of training for more than 400 militia members, referred to in Burmese as Pyithusit, of whom over 100 were women.

A source familiar with the church confirmed the ceremony to the Burma Research Institute (BRI). Another source with knowledge of the situation on the ground informed BRI that militia members danced and drank alcohol inside the sanctuary during the ceremony. The Kachin News Group also reported on the desecration, including the dancing inside the sanctuary. Since early 2024, most Kachin residents of the town and surrounding region have been displaced.

“I extend my prayers and solidarity to Nant Mun Baptist Church and the Kachin Baptist Convention. I also condemn, in the strongest terms, the Burmese military’s ongoing and severe violations of religious freedom in Burma,” said Zo Tum Hmung, President and CEO of BRI.

Although The Voice of Shan-Ni, a Burmese-language online news outlet, reported on the ceremony on September 26, its coverage did not disclose that the graduation was held inside the church’s sanctuary. The Burmese military’s militia deliberately chose to hold its graduation ceremony at Nant Mun Baptist Church. “I urge the Trump Administration to protect the persecuted Christians in Burma,” Rev. Dr. La Seng Labya, President of the Kachin American Baptist Association, said in a statement to BRI.

The SNA operates with the support of Major General Aung Zaw Htway, Commander of the Burmese military’s Northern Regional Command, which is headquartered in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. The ceremony was conducted under his supervision.

“Conducting a military graduation ceremony inside the church sanctuary is an insult to Kachin Christians and to the Kachin people as a whole. The SNA and Major General Aung Zaw Htway, Commander of the Northern Regional Command, know that the church is sacred. I respectfully request that the White House redesignate Burma as a Country of Particular Concern, or CPC,” Rev. Lakang Dau Qae (Ah Le), General Secretary of the Kachin Baptist Churches USA, said in a statement to BRI.

This act of desecration is part of a wider pattern of military assaults on Christian and ethnic minority communities in Burma. As BRI reported on September 24, 2026, the military controlled Supreme Court issued Order No. 254/2026 on June 9, 2026, signed by Tha Htay, revoking three Baptist pastors’ licenses to solemnize Christian marriages. Among those affected is Kachin Baptist pastor Rev. Dr. Zaw Taung (also known as Khaung Lwan) of Jerusalem Baptist Christian Church. The court ruled that marriages the pastors had performed violated the 2015 Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law.

A Kachin Christian leader who spoke out has faced well-documented persecution. On July 17, 2019, Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson, then head of the Kachin Baptist Convention, met President Donald Trump at the White House and told him that Burma’s military was persecuting Christians. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reports that he was later arrested and prosecuted, and a court under the military regime sentenced him to six years in prison. He has since been released.

Under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, Burma has been designated as a CPC for its severe violations of religious freedom from 1999 to 2023. Since then, Burma has not been redesignated. In its 2026 Annual Report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommends that the State Department redesignate Burma as a CPC. Redesignating Burma as a CPC would enable the U.S. government to take diplomatic and economic action against the Burmese military, including public condemnation, cancellation of official visits, targeted sanctions, and restrictions on assistance.

Courtesy: Burma Research Institute

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