On behalf of the Stand With Myanmar campaign, Sophia Russell, a Communication Specialist at Baptist World Aid Australia sat down with Tim Costello in August 2025.
In regional Myanmar, where there’s a strong Baptist presence, a church is more than a building. It’s a place of worship, a community’s pride and joy, and in recent times of civil war, a haven.
Today, 67 of the country’s churches lie in ruins, decimated by military airstrikes along with five Buddhist monasteries and 25 other religious buildings—leaving no shelter or meeting place for the communities they serve.
On his recent trip to the Thai Myanmar border, Tim Costello met with refugees from some of these churches who are sheltering in Thailand, including Baptist pastors from the Karenni, Kachin, Karen, Naga and Chin State where fighting is most intense.
‘They told me about their churches being systematically destroyed by aerial bombs. When the military arrives in an area, they also put land mines around the church, knowing that when they attack, that’s where people will run for safety. I visited a hospital in Chiang Mai where there are so many amputees who stepped on these landmines,’ Tim said.
‘In Myanmar, people who aren’t doctors are having to do life-saving surgery. Some are being carried for hours across the border into Thailand for treatment—they’re the lucky ones.’
These accounts shocked Tim to the core, but what struck him even more was how little we know about this crisis back home in Australia.
‘Our media has been focused on other conflicts, but Myanmar hasn’t cut through our consciousness,’ he said. ‘I had no idea of the scale of the humanitarian crisis, the level of malevolence and bombing, the lack of support for so many of our Baptist brothers and sisters in Myanmar.’
‘Until I went to the border, I hadn’t realised how personal it was for me, as a Baptist, to see what was going on.’
‘It feels like that moment in Gethsemane when Jesus says, ‘watch and pray’, and the disciples go to sleep. This is Myanmar’s Gethsemane, and we have fallen asleep.’
AID CUTS PUTS LIVES AT RISK
Since the military junta overthrew the government in 2021, the people of Myanmar have suffered violent attacks that have killed over 6,200 civilians and forced 3.5 million from their homes. Much of the violence is concentrated in states with a significant Christian presence such as Chin and Kachin, while Rohingya Muslim communities continue to face severe persecution at the hands of the military. For displaced families living in camps, humanitarian aid has been their lifeline. But with major donors such as USAID withdrawing or decreasing their support, that lifeline is fast unravelling.
In July, health clinics in nine displacement camps on the Thai-Myanmar border were shut down, while organisations providing food were forced to reduce rations for 80 per cent of families living in these camps. This means around 100,000 refugees (who aren’t permitted to work in Thailand) must go without essential healthcare and adequate amounts of food.
Baptist churches and organisations are amongst the main humanitarian agencies in Myanmar, providing essential supplies, education, trauma training and other forms of support to displaced families. As funding decreases, their support is more important than ever.
‘Christians are running medical clinics and training people to care for people’s needs in the midst of conflict, and teachers are providing education for children in displacement camps even when there’s no funding to pay them, people are rebuilding churches, even though they might be bombed again’ Tim said. ‘These are stories of faith, spirit and hope.’
UNITED IN LOVING ACTION
Christians in Myanmar are undergoing intense suffering, but they don’t have to be alone. As a pastor, Tim’s eager to remind the wider Baptist church that God commands us to love our neighbour, and—crucially—redefines who our ‘neighbour’ is to include strangers. ‘The Samaritan in Jesus’ parable simply sees a human on the side of the road, someone in the image of God. Christian love has always been that radical,’ Tim said.
In the same way, the Baptist church in Australia can stand in solidarity with people who they’ve never met though the Stand With Myanmar campaign, which seeks to advocate, pray for, and raise funds for the people of Myanmar.
We can give generously to help provide food and other essentials to displaced families. We can lobby our government to increase aid to Myanmar, especially since the withdrawal of USAID. And we can pray—on our own, in our churches, or alongside the 10,000 Myanmar Baptists living in Australia. ‘Visit some of the Myanmar churches here*, worship with them, hear their stories,’ Tim said. ‘Ask how we can help, because most of them are very aware of what’s going on,’ Tim said.
‘Our brothers and sisters in Myanmar are crying out the words of Revelations 6:10, “How long oh Lord?” They’re saying, “We do not want to be abandoned. Remember us”’ Tim added.
Across Australia, may we stand in solidarity with them, in their time of need.