A THIRD of your generous donations to this year’s Bishop’s Lent Appeal will help to pluck communities in Myanmar out of poverty.

Bishop Jonathan has decided that donations to his Lent Appeals in 2026, 2027 and 2028 will go to the same three charities as the ones we supported in 2025 – global mission agency USPG, development charity Tearfund, and local church charity Vista. The funds raised will be split three-ways.

USPG is the Anglican mission agency that partners with churches and communities worldwide. Their staff led a Bishop’s Study Day for us a year ago. And their Lent Appeal for 2026 is to help families in Myanmar.

Escalating conflict since 2021 has plunged Myanmar into a devastating humanitarian crisis. Today over a third of the population lives in extreme poverty. The 7.7 magnitude earthquake in March 2025 caused catastrophic devastation, killing thousands and destroying infrastructure across the country.

Poverty, malnutrition and displacement are at a critical high. Vital services are disrupted and communities are left feeling vulnerable and under threat of violence under the militia. After years of conflict, nearly four million children remain unable to access education.

Education opens a world of possibilities, which means the Integrated Education Programme from the Church of the Province of Myanmar has become a vital lifeline operating across all nine dioceses of the country. It enables families in Myanmar to hope for the future.

The programme answers the need for the education of the whole community, from training teachers and village health workers, to teaching school children and funding university students. The programme aims to achieve sustained growth by teaching young people how to care for their community, inspire future generations and gain skills to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

Carol Miller, USPG’s church engagement manager, said: “We partner with brothers and sisters in Anglican dioceses and provinces to be the heartbeat of Jesus in their communities. This will make such a difference to them. The key thing we ask is what do they want to do to make people flourish in their area. And then we ask how we can help them. In the case of Myanmar, education is definitely the key.”

The Anglican presence in Myanmar can be traced back to 1825, when Anglican chaplains exercised their ministry under British rule. The Church of the Province of Myanmar was formed in 1970, nine years after the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion and four years after all foreign missionaries were forced to leave the country.

Today the church serves about 70,000 Anglicans in the country. It carries out its ministry in the midst of political instability and natural disasters. Since the military coup in 2021, Christians in Myanmar have faced rising violence and tighter restrictions. Yet the church has been resilient in its witness. The primary focus of the Church’s mission has been on evangelism, clergy training, and education.