Pastor is first Burmese-American elected to Indianapolis-area school board | Baptist Press

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (BP) – In his new function on the Perry Township Faculties Board, Southern Baptist pastor Hre Mang hopes to assist present high quality schooling to the group’s numerous inhabitants.

Mang, senior pastor of Falam Christian Church in Indianapolis, was elected to one of many college board’s three positions throughout final week’s midterm elections. He’ll serve a four-year time period.

He obtained the best proportion of votes of any of the seven candidates with 18.46 p.c, and turns into the first-ever Burmese-American to be elected within the historical past of the Perry Township Faculties Board, based on native media experiences.

Based on native Indianapolis information station WTHR, central Indiana has the most important focus of Burmese People within the nation with round 25,000 folks.

“I’m actually enthusiastic about studying, college and schooling,” Mang advised Baptist Press. “I’m actually passionate for the youthful era and a various group calls for numerous management.

“We are able to now not hold the insurance policies contemplating the various wants of the scholar physique. There are specific issues we have to change, and I need to provoke any change that we have now to do to provide high quality college students after they graduate.”

Since coming to the US, Mang spent greater than 10 years incomes a number of levels at varied faculties. He hopes good schooling can open doorways of alternative for the following era the identical approach it did for him.

“I don’t need to see immigrants or youngsters born within the states grow to be public dependents, and I don’t assume that’s God’s design,” Mang stated.

“I believe God’s design is everyone seems to be able to earning money for his or her livelihood. I see high quality schooling is a method that individuals can grow to be self-reliant, develop as much as take duty for themselves and their household. That is for the glory of God and for the great of society.”

Even earlier than his election to the varsity board, Mang had lived within the Indianapolis space since 2002 and pastored Falam Christian Church since 2009.

Falam is a congregation made up of the Chin folks group, and companies are held within the Burmese language.

Among the major priorities for the church embrace partaking the following era and increasing its attain past the local people.

“We do a whole lot of engagement with the youthful era, and our No. 1 goal is turning into a missional church and making disciples by reaching our group in addition to the extending to the nationwide and world stage,” Mang stated.

“Jesus stated you’re the mild of the world, not the sunshine of the church constructing. We aren’t the sunshine of world, so we must always interact with it.” 

Mang himself is serving the Southern Baptist Conference on each the state and nationwide ranges. He’s each a board member of the State Conference of Baptists in Indiana and the vice chairman of his native affiliation (Crossroads Baptist Affiliation).

Moreover, Mang is serving the broader SBC as chair of transitional management for the newly shaped Myanmar Baptist Church buildings U.S.A.

The group was shaped by Peter Yanes, government director of Asian American relations and mobilization for the SBC Govt Committee, as a approach to higher join Burmese-speaking church buildings within the conference.

There are presently 128 church buildings concerned with the group, and Mang is ready to be offered and affirmed as its government director on the group’s first annual assembly, which is able to coincide with the 2023 SBC Annual Assembly in New Orleans.

“Many of those church buildings will not be engaged with the SBC at a nationwide stage,” Mang stated.

“These native church buildings need assistance, and we need to come alongside them. Along with serving to make them away of the necessary of the Cooperative Program, we need to make them conscious of the sources, alternatives, and networking that’s out there.

“We need to present them there are immigrants coming together with the Southern Baptist Conference to perform the Nice Fee.”

Mang stated Southern Baptists ought to worth civic engagement as a approach to be a light-weight for Christ.

“I believe biblically the Bible teaches to serve the group and society,” Mang stated.

“I believe serving means giving godly knowledge and interesting with folks in authorities and faculty programs. I don’t anticipate or consider that everybody is known as to serve on the varsity board or authorities system, however a method that everybody is civically accountable is to interact past the church constructing. Each has divine presents and callings they need to use for sharing the Gospel and Kingdom enlargement.”