In 2019, Royal Harrison, Greater Los Angeles Region (GLAR) director, established an initiative to take the region from “Greater to Global.” Harrison wanted GLAR to reach the world through missionary efforts in Thailand. “There is a world of need out there,” Harrison said, “and I wanted our churches in the GLAR to be a part of the global mission field.”
The initiative was well received by pastors and church members throughout the region. So moved, Delaware church has made an impact globally by working with Bottles 4 Life (B4L) Inc., a nonprofit organization started by one of their members, with whom Pastor Harrison has partnered to help GLAR go global, and the Naung Bo Den (NBD) Learning Center in Myanmar. Roger Frazier, pastor of Delaware church, and Delaware church members, jumped in and followed Harrison’s lead. Upon hearing the students at the school were taking showers outside in the open or walking to a local river to bathe, the congregation took on a project at NBD Learning Center to provide students with shower rooms. “God calls us to be His hands and His feet,” explained Frazier, “and once we heard the need, we knew we had to help.”
In their January 31 board meeting, Delaware Avenue church voted to donate funds to have the shower rooms built, not knowing the next day the Myanmar military would launch a coup against the National League for Democracy, the country’s ruling political party. Waking up to this new reality and suddenly worried about their families, the students, who are all from Myanmar, were in need of good news. The good news came later that day via the announcement of the shower rooms building project.
“The kids woke up to sad news that morning that Myanmar was under a military coup again,” said Socky Johnny, principal of NBD Learning Center, “and here comes Jesus sending a glimmer of hope with the announcement of Delaware church donating the shower rooms. It brought a sense of excitement and took the students’ minds off the bad news for a moment.”
B4L staff were in amazement at God’s work; most could only say “you can’t make this stuff up; the way God works continues to amaze us.” The shower rooms were completed at the end of February. The building has five separate shower rooms each for girls and for boys.
Harrison was more than thrilled to hear about the shower rooms project. “I’m praising God that the work still continues within the region on the global front,” he said. “I knew when I flew to Thailand and B4L had me take an 18-hour plane ride to Taiwan, followed by a five- hour plane ride to Bangkok, and then an eight-hour drive to Mae Sot, that they were about the mission.” The shower rooms are another step in the health initiatives of B4L to emphasize personal hygiene and cleanliness. This project truly is showers of blessings for the students at NBD.
NBD Learning Center has been operating since June 2017. The school building was built by the young adults from the San Luis Obispo church in Central California Conference. The learning center has been expanding ever since with help from various groups and organizations in the Pacific Union Conference.
“When one of your members is doing a great work, you want to support and push that work,” Harrison said of the partnership. “It was great to have B4L established in Mae Sot to be a launching point for our work globally.”
