ABHMS supports production of resources documenting Burmese American Christians’ lives
VALLEY FORGE, PA (05/29/2026)—Burmese American Christians are a growing yet often overlooked segment of American Christianity. For many, their story of faith in the United States is tinged with displacement and trauma, but the community is extraordinarily resilient. The project “Amplifying the Stories of Burmese American Christians” draws from this strength as it collect and share the histories of Burmese American Christians.
Supported by ABHMS, the initiative is led by a consortium of organizations: , the Asian American Christian History Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Center for Asian American Christianity at Princeton Seminary. Dr. Timothy Tseng, director of the Asian American Christian History, is the project director, with scholars Rev. Joseph Cheah, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and theology at St. Joseph University, and Dr. David Moe, research scholar in Southeast Asian studies at Yale, serving as project coordinators and knowledge leaders. Cheah and Moe are working on a book provisionally titled “A Minority within Minorities: Recovering the Untold Stories of Burmese Americans in Asian American Theology.”
As the project continues, the stories are being preserved and shared in multiple formats: podcasts, audio and video interviews, published stories, and digital resources for churches, scholars, teachers, and community leaders. An online course on the Burmese American Christian diaspora will be developed to expand outreach.
The 14 planned podcast episodes for Pearl Dive, a Fuller Seminary Substack, present the history of Burmese Christianity from Catholic missions in the early 16th century through the work of Adoniram Judson to reflections from today’s Burmese leaders, including Fr. Stephen Mahn Thapwa, John Lee, Liz Law, and Naw Eh Phaw. The final episode is scheduled to air on July 23, 2026. Articles by Dr. Florence Li and Cheah are also among the project’s outputs.
“Every first generation tends to preserve the culture as the culture [from] back home. But the thing is, I think, that there’s a balance between maintaining the richness of the cultural traditions while adapting to the new cultural context. Like or not, Americanization is, to some degree, unavoidable,” explained Cheah in an interview on Pearl Dive. “And maintaining this balance involved not only preserving one cultural heritage but also confronting the challenges of marginality and in-betweenness that all Asians in the United States face.”
ABHMS fulfills its mission to heal and transform communities by supporting projects like this one. For communities like the Burmese American Christians, storytelling is a path to healing because it makes them visible and honors their experience and faith within the Christian community. Stories preserved by the project serve as resources for future generations; they are a renewed witness. The project will be celebrated at the Burma Christian Diaspora Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana: “Celebrating Our Stories, Embracing Our Challenges” (August 7–8, 2026).
To support projects that will help the wider church better understand and learn from Burmese American Christians, give here.
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and editor of The Christian Citizen
