Ba Nyein (1914–1996)

By Do Hen Pau

Ba Nyein, teacher, evangelist, and church administrator, was born on October 12, 1914, and brought up in a Buddhist family at Aung Hlaing Gyi Village, Wakema Township, Irrawaddy Region, Myanmar (formerly Burma), to U Saung Tha and Daw Lun. They were farmers by birth and lived at Aung Hlaing Gyi Village. The couple had two children, Ma Pan Ni and Ba Nyein, who spent their childhood at Aung Naing Gyi Village.1

Ba Nyein attended Meiktila Adventist Technical High School from primary to Sub High School and was baptized on January 19, 1929, at age 15. In 1939, Ba Nyein married Nant Thein Nu at Weichaung Village, Wakema Township, Delta-Irrawaddy Region. The couple had a son, Kenneth Nyein. Nant Thein Nu died on July 19, 1946.2

On January 19, 1947, Ba Nyein remarried to Naw Peh at Yangon (formerly Rangon).3 Naw Peh was born in 1918 at Yeebu Village, Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State, Myanmar, and was baptized in 1935. They had two boys and one girl named Billy Nyein, Donald Nyein, and Pearly White.

Ba Nyein was first employed as a school teacher from 1937-1948 at Inma and Myaungmya. He was an evangelist in Bassein from 1948-1949 and a Bible teacher at Myaungmya Seventh-day Adventist High School from 1949-1950. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in January 1952.4 Pastor Nyein was an evangelist at Myaungmya for seven years (1950-1957).5 He was then appointed president for five years (1957-1960 and 1964-1966) in Ayeyarwaddy Mission, Myaungmya.6 He was a church pastor for four years (1960-1964) in Mandalay (the then-second capital city of Myanmar).7 Finally, Pastor Ba Nyein was nominated as union departmental secretary from 1966-1972 for the sabbath school and lay activities department.8

Pastor Ba Nyein was a first-generation Adventist. He was a devoted, hard-working, God-fearing leader in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Myanmar. Pastor Ba Nyein served the Seventh-day Adventist Church in various capacities for 35 years. He retired on October 1, 1972.9 Both husband and wife settled down permanently at the Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary campus in Myaungmya. On August 13, 1996, Pastor Ba Nyein died at age 82, and his wife, Naw Peh, died on December 13, 2002, at age 84.10

Sources

Burma Union Committee Minutes. Myanmar Union Mission Archives, Dagon, Myanmar.

“Far Eastern Division.” Action No. 72 – 1245. Southern-Asia Pacific Division Archives, Cavite, Philippines.

“Ba Nyein Workers Service Records.” Employing Organization file. Myanmar Union Mission Archives, Dagon, Myanmar.

Notes

  1. Billy Nyein, interview by author, October 2017.↩
  2. Kenneth Nyein, interview by author, October 2017.↩
  3. “Ba Nyein Workers Service Records,” Employing Organization file, Myanmar Union Mission archives.↩
  4. Burma Union Committee Minutes, Action No. 52 – 3628. Myanmar Union Mission archives.↩
  5. Ibid.; Kenneth Nyein, interview by author, October 2017.↩
  6. Burma Union Committee Minutes, Action No. 64-47, 65 – 7, Myanmar Union Mission archives.↩
  7. “Ba Nyein Workers Service Records,”↩
  8. Burma Union Committee Minutes, Action No. 67 – 6; 68 – 260; 70 – 278. Myanmar Union Mission archives.↩
  9. “Far Eastern Division,” Action No. 72 – 1245, Southern-Asia Pacific Division archives.↩
  10. Ibid.; Billy Nyein, interview by author, October 2017.↩
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