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25-527: Myitkyina has been an important trading town between China and Myanmar since ancient times. American Baptist missionary George J. Geis and his wife arrived in Myitkyina in the late 1890s and in 1900 they requested permission to build a mansion in the town. The building was named Geis Memorial Church . It is one of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) churches in Myitkyina. Japanese forces captured

50-724: A former soldier who had fought in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War . Roberts obtained grudging permission from the Burmese king, Thibaw Min , to build a school and educate the Kachins. Although his wife soon died from malaria , Roberts was to carry out his mission for 34 years. Ola Hanson , an accomplished linguist of Swedish origin, arrived in Katchinland in 1890 and was to remain for 38 years. He formulated an alphabet for

75-494: A long and fruitful life he was an evangelist, pastor, and teacher. The Geises were transferred to the Philippines in 1918, where they worked for four years. In 1922 they were able to return to their "first love" in Myitkyina, to work again among the hill tribes of Upper Burma. In the late 1920s, George Geis was planning to start a small bible school in the hills east of Bhamo to train additional workers to those who had completed

100-515: A supreme being. He appealed for other missionaries to come to preach to these people, but with no immediate result. However, in 1877 a Christian named Bogalay, from Bassein , began to learn the Jinghpaw language of the Kachins. In 1878, the first overseas Baptist missionary to the Kachins, Albert Lyon, arrived in Bhamo, but died of consumption within a month. Lyon was succeeded by William Henry Roberts ,

125-665: Is a remote mountainous town in the Kachin State , Myanmar . It lies on the China-Myanmar border , with Nabang, Yingjiang County located across the border. Laiza is the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organisation since 2005. Laiza was just a village prior to 1994. It became an important town in Kachin State after the Kachin Independence Organization signed a ceasefire agreement with

150-434: Is a winter dry season from November to April and a summer wet season from May to October. The city residents dispose of the majority of their waste by burning it in small piles by the roadside. Most waste is disposed in this way, including plastics. Almost every block in the city has one small fire every evening. Burning usually starts late-afternoon, and by 6.00pm the city air is often quite smoky. Burning can start earlier at

175-727: Is best known for his work in Myitkyina in Kachin State, but in the 1930s he established a mission in Kutkai in Shan State, and at the time of his death in 1936 was working there at the Kachin Bible Training School. The American Baptist Eugenio Kincaid visited Burma in 1837. While distributing religious tracts and New Testaments among the villages north of Ava , Kincaid heard of a people named "Hka Khyens", who were said to believe in

200-531: Is the business center of Kachin State, with many natural resources like jade , gold , amber and teak , as well as wood and agricultural products. As per government data, almost US$ 2 billion in jade were exported yearly in 2010 and 2011. Now, due to fighting between Kachin Independence Army rebels and the government, most businesses in the region have gone down. Myitkyina Airport is the main airport serving

225-622: The Ledo Road , was constructed by the British. The city is home to Myitkyina University, a Christian theological seminary , a college for teachers, a training school for nurses, a college for the study of computers and other rare type of colleges affiliated with several seminaries in the United States and Asia, notably Kachin Theological College and Seminary(KTCS)-Nawng Nang. It is also home to

250-577: The Jinghpaw language using the Latin script , prepared educational materials in the language as well as a grammar and a Jinghpaw-English dictionary, translated over 200 hymns into Jinghpaw and wrote a book on Katchins: Their Customs and Traditions (1913). Hanson also began work on a Jinghpaw translation of the Bible, translating St. John's Gospel within two years of his arrival. When Geis arrived with his wife in 1892 he

275-613: The Kachins, and became part of the Manhkring Kachin Baptist Church, although they held some services in their own tongue. On December 15, 1901, the first ordination council convened in the Kachin Hills. The candidates were Damau Naw, who had come as a school boy almost twenty years earlier, and after being educated in Rangoon had helped Hanson in his literary work since 1893; Ning Grawng, who had accompanied Geis since 1894 in

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300-598: The Karen Bible Seminary. He was the only Western missionary to visit the Lisu people in their mountain villages until 1910. In October 1902 he baptized his first Lisu converts, a couple named Ngwa Tar and Gu Na Du, and this was followed by further conversions. In 1906 the first Lisu church was built in Manhkring , a Kachin village located in the valley between Namhkam and Bhamo . The Lisu established their own village beside

325-636: The Lisu and Kachin languages. He made great efforts to adapt to the Liu lifestyle, but realized that "a tribe having no literature cannot be improved much in education, social activities, and also in spiritual aspects." Ba Thaw visited Lisu villages in China, where he collaborated with James O. Fraser of the China Inland Mission to develop a Lisu alphabet using Romanized letters and translate central Christian texts. During

350-589: The Myitkyina area; and Shwe So, a Karen missionary who had served since 1884. By 1911, there were more than 300 communicants of the Kachin Baptist Church, many of whom had been educated at the mission schools. More pastors were ordained in 1911, although foreign missionaries remained the leaders of the church for many years. Ba Thaw (1891–1967), who had studied for his bachelor of arts in Calcutta , India , worked with Geis from 1911 and quickly became fluent in

375-562: The branch I.L.B.C. (International Language Business Center) a chain of private schools for English learners in the Myanmar. It has also many non-government institutions such as Naushawng development institute, Pinnya Tagar, Ningshawng and Kachinland School of Arts & Sciences, which has a University vision in 2024. 25°23′N 97°24′E  /  25.383°N 97.400°E  / 25.383; 97.400 George J. Geis The Reverend George J. Geis (c. 1860 – October 28, 1936)

400-535: The city. It connects the cities of Putao , Mandalay , Yangon and also Lashio on Mondays. It takes almost 24 hours to travel between Mandalay and Myitkyina by train. Mandalay–Myitkyina Railway has been used for 100 years. This railway is a major means of transportation for both farmers and traders to deliver goods (before 2021 military coup). It also connects Laiza , Bhamo , China , and Sumprabum by car and can go to Mandalay, Yangon, Lashio, and Magwe By Bus Station. The Myitkyina-Tanai- India road, also known as

425-778: The course at the Burmese Seminary at Insein. This area had shown increasing interest in the Baptist message, not only among the lowland Shan people , but also with the Lahus and Was in mountain villages east of Kengtung . There was a severe shortage of trained teachers. In the 1930s Geis established a mission in Kutkai, and he was working there at the Kachin Bible Training School when he died in his seventies on 28 October 1936. Laiza Laiza ( Burmese : လိုင်ဇာ , romanized :  Laingza , Chinese : 拉咱 ; pinyin : Lāzá )

450-414: The first out-station in the mountains and the substantial and convenient site that the government had granted for the new mission compound. However, his report was written in the United States, to which he had been forced to temporarily return due to his wife's severe illness. Geis's work was not confined to Kachins. He first visited a Lisu village is 1898. He was accompanied by Karen missionaries from

475-460: The past year we have had many tokens of the Lord's blessings resting upon our work. Never have more Kachins come to us, and never have they shown a greater interest in the gospel message. Hundreds from the distant north as they came down to Myitkyina on bamboo rafts have for the first time heard the story of Jesus". He reported on his extensive travels, growing friendship with the local people, the opening of

500-659: The state. The city has a population of approximately 150,000, with a mix of Kachin , Shan , Bamar , Burmese Gorkha and some Chinese and Indians . The Kachin language is the common language among the Kachin . Some people can speak English and Nepali while the town's people mostly speak in Burmese which is the national language of Myanmar. Foreigners are now free to visit Myitkyina without prior government permission. Major religions are Theravada Buddhism , Christianity (Roman Catholic and Baptist are major denominations), and other religions such as animism and Islam . Myitkyina

525-590: The town and nearby airbase during World War II in 1942. In August 1944, Myitkyina was recaptured by the Allied forces under General Joseph Stilwell after a prolonged siege and heavy fighting between Nationalist Chinese divisions, the Chindits , and Merrill's Marauders of the Northern Combat Area Command and the besieged elements of the 33rd Imperial Japanese Army under General Masaki Honda . The town

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550-420: The weekend. The air quality in Myitkyina in the evenings can be poor, which can make being outside unpleasant. Sometimes, due to atmospheric pressure, the air will still be smoky in the morning. The only time of year that this does not happen is during the monsoon season, when it is reported that the air is fresh. As the capital of the state, it has government offices, and a greater population than other cities in

575-478: Was an American Baptist minister and anthropologist of German descent, best known for his missionary work in northeastern Burma . He promoted Christianity amongst the Kachin people , a group which he also studied, collecting general ethnographical data about them. He arrived in Burma with his wife in 1892, and spent most of the rest of his life there, establishing missions throughout Kachin State and Shan State . Geis

600-449: Was strategically important not only because of its rail and water links to the rest of Burma, but also because it was on the planned route of the Ledo Road . Myitkyina has a borderline tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen Am ) bordering upon both a tropical savanna climate ( Aw ) and a humid subtropical climate ( Cwa ). Temperatures are very warm throughout the year, although the winter months from December to February are milder. There

625-594: Was the third Baptist missionary in the area. Gies made the difficult journey up the Irrawaddy River in the rainy season, and decided to establish a mission at Myitkyina . This was planned to become the headquarters of the Kachin District and the northern terminus of the Burma Railway. The first buildings of Geis' new mission were built by Christian converts from Bhamo . By 1894 Geis was able to report: "During

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