Ji Bu: from Myanmar to Chicago to become a theologian

Only a few months into her studies at LSTC, Ji Bu was eager to share gratitude for the chance to be here. Bu was born and brought up in the Mungbaw Village along the China hill border in Myanmar, the eighth child of a Kachin Baptist minister. 

Her village was in a politically sensitive border zone where she often heard gunshots. She was a bright student and her village schooling could not meet her demands for learning. Her parents wanted her to excel in her studies to support the family, but her father and his life and ministries inspired her to choose fulltime ministry.

Bu carried with her a love for her Kachin community and their social and spiritual development. As an undergraduate theological student, she developed a desire for advanced theological academia and went to India to further her theological studies.

She wants to reach the Burmese churches with theological education, so she was advised to come to the United States to pursue her theological education. She had no clue where to go and how to proceed, but her friend Seng Tsin Nan, a PhD student at LSTC, suggested she apply to LSTC.

Bu was admitted to the masters of arts (MA) at LSTC with a full tuition scholarship.

“I could not imagine my life here in the U.S. without this scholarship,” she said. “Without this scholarship, I could not have come to the U.S.A. and be exposed to the world best academia.” 

She hopes to be a PhD student as well with the scholarship support. She expressed gratitude to the unknown donors who contributed towards the scholarship for students like her from the global south churches, saying, “You are investing your prayerful resources on the churches and Christians in Myanmar, thus helping us to grow spiritually and academically.” 

She hopes to return to Myanmar as a theological educator to strengthen the churches. 

 

(Published in the Fall 2021 Epistle magazine; written by Christopher Rajkumar)