IN THE KNOW With Bill and Lisa Walker February 2026
News from the Myanmar Global Conference is often either troubling, highlighting the impacts of civil war on pastors and congregations, or encouraging, showcasing new conversions. Despite challenges like families seeking safety abroad and declining church attendance due to violence, domestic missions are thriving, with 193 baptisms reported in the Myanmar EMC Global Conference in 2025! They’ve baptized 32 so far this year! You may recall reading that these baptism groups are often complete families. For example, just a few weeks ago, I wrote in the weekly EMC Missions Prayer List that there was a family of five that was baptized. When I think of how things go here in the US and Western countries in general, group conversions seem unusual. Although Lisa and I are accustomed to hearing reports like this, it occurred to me that most people in the EMC USA might not realize why whole families are often baptized together. Most of us can quote Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” But Paul adds a phrase that we might easily omit: “…you and your household.” What does he mean? Here in the United States, we rarely, if ever, see an entire family converted at once. It is very common for an individual to get saved and be the only Christian in the family for a long time.