(AUTOBIOGRAPHY)
(1963-Present: October 15th 2021)
Early Life
Shwe Thet Oo was born on June 12, 1963, at Seventh-day Adventist Hospital (known as American Hospital), Signal Pagoda Road, Dagon Township, Yangon in Myanmar. His parents were Saw Ba Kyaw belonging to Sagaw Karen tribe and Nant Ah Kyi belongs to Pow Karen tribe. They were peasants and came from Traditional Buddhist background. He grew up in Ahsugyi village, Pantanaw Township, Maaubin District, Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar. His mother had depended to her uncle, Mahn Tun Kyaintg, who was a former Adventist school teacher, and because of that, she was converted to Adventist Church and got a job at Adventist Hospital in Yangon. His father also baptized in Seventh-day Adventist Church. So, he is a second generation for Adventist. He was baptized on December of 1975, at Myaungmya in the hands of Pastor Kyaw Sein Pe. He is the eldest son in the family. He has two brothers: Shwe Thet Oo, and David Kyaw who is currently working for International Child Care (ICC) in Myaungmya. Both of them got married and became Adventist faithful members.
Education and Marriage
Shwe Thet Oo started learning at Adventist Primary School in Ahsugyi which was led by Daw Sein May, an Adventist missionary teacher. Then he went to Ahsugyi Public School up to standard four and transferred to Myaungmya boarding hostel and attended at the No (3) State Middle School, Myaungmya up to seventh standard and transferred to Adventist Junior Bible Seminary in Myaungmya. He attended Mountain View Junior Bible Seminary in Taungu, Central Myanmar Mission for Grade 9 and sit the DHSC, Division Exam (Pre-II) in 1979-1981. Then, he passed the DCEC Exam (Plus-II) in 1984 at Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary (MUAS). He got a certificate of Ministerial Training Course (MTC) on March 9, 1986. He was upgraded to under graduate studies, and graduated on March 8, 1998 with BA in Religion. He continued his further study in Master of Ministry through Distance Learning Center of Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in the Philippines, offered in Myanmar Union Mission (MYUM) headquarters in Yangon and graduated Master of Ministry in 2004. While serving as district pastor in Twantay Circle of Yangon Attached District, he got an opportunity to attend to study in Philippines for Big-4 project (Buddhism) through the approval of the Myanmar Union Mission Executive Committee , and graduated Master of Arts in Ministry, MA(Min) in 2014.
He married to Naw Yin Yin who was a teacher in Ayeyarwady Adventist Seminary on the 17th day of 1989, at MUAS in Myaungmya. God blessed them with three girls. The first child, Nant Snowdrop was born in Myaungmya General Hospital on February 11, and expired with jaundice on 18th of February, 1991. The second daughter, Nant Hsu Mon Oo is currently serves as a school teacher at Southeast Myanmar Adventist Seminary (SEAS) was born on August 2, 1994 at South Okkalapa Women Hospital in Yangon. And the third daughter, Nant Yin Mon Kyaw is currently working in one of NGOs in Hpa-an, was born on September 24, 1997 at Pa-thein General Hospital in Ayeyarwady Division. Both of them are graduated from MUAS in BBA(Management).
Ministry
After graduation of MTC in 1986 summer, the graduated students including Shwe Thet Oo conducted a one-month evangelistic effort meeting for the requirement of certificate, at Pauk-kone village, Nyaung-done Township in Ayeyarwady Division, which was led by Pastor Yan Aye the principal of the MUAS, Pastor Herbert Sein a staff of the seminary, and Pastor Samuel Po the leader of the Union Evangelist Team (UET). More than twenty souls were baptized in the river of Ayeyarwady and they had organized them as a company, and now it is a growing church, and known as “Van Lal Tuala Memorial Church” in honoring Vanlaltuala who was one of a graduat student in the effort team and was drawn into the water while bathing at the Rivershore of Ayeyarwady at the end of the effort meeting. After that Shwe Thet Oo was sent to Shwetachaung, an Adventist Church in Ayeyarwady Mission (AYM) as a volunteer teacher-evangelist in 1986, and to Bondaungsu, a new penetrated place in AYM as a volunteer teacher-evangelist in 1988. After married to Naw Yin Yin who was a regular worker, he was regularized on October 17, 1989 with the approval of Ayeyarwady Mission Executive Committee and served as church pastor at Kyundeik, Mawlamyinegyun Township in Ayeyarwady Division.
Unfortunately, he was arrested on December 14, 1991 for suspected and misunderstood as a supporter to political revolution because he accepted a visitor who came along with a pastor from AYM, sentenced to imprisonment with hard labor in Myaungmya jail for three years. By the grace of God, he was reinvestigated and released early, on September 8,1993 and it lasted only a year and eight months. Within imprisonment, the Mission kindly arranged a work for his spouse as a teacher in AYAS. After that, he served as a part-time worker in AYAS for a year. Then he was transferred to Kanbe church as contract worker in 1994. Through the approval of Myanmar Union Mission Executive Committee Shwe Thet Oo was reemployed as regular worker on January 1, 1995. He went to MUAS for further study in1997, and was posting to North Dagon as a church pastor in 1998. Then posting back to Kanbe church for the second time as a church pastor in 1999. In 2001, he was transferred to Hmawbi and after two months the Yangon Attached District Executive Committee appointed him to serve at Insein as church pastor. In 2003, he was appointed by the Committee to serve at Ahlone as church pastor.
In 2004 December 18, Shwe Thet Oo was ordained to the gospel ministry together with Pastor Memory Tun and Pastor Thawng Sian Mung, on the Sabbath day at Yangon Central Church. In 2006, he was appointed as the district leader of Twantay district in southern Yangon. He conducted evangelistic meetings with church pastors, mission school teachers and laymen and baptized many souls within four years of serving in Twantay circle. He had also led and participated in reconstruction and renovation in building construction in Twantay district which were affected by the Nargis cyclone in 2008. In 2011, he was transferred to Kanbe as church pastor and also appointed as district leader for Hmawbi district. In 2012, he was transferred to Tharyarwady as a district leader. Within four years in Tharyarwady, he conducted evangelistic meetings with fellow workers and lay members, conducting seminar on Youth Alive and Elijah project with the leadership of Pr. Shine Tha and Pr. Wilson Po, leading circle-wide retreat, participated in donating goods and materials to flood victims in that district. There was a new church, Kyun Gone, was dedicated on May 18, 2013.
In 2015, at Quinquennium Year-end Meeting, on December 10, the Myanmar Union Executive Committee appointed Shwe Thet Oo as South-east Mission (SEM) Executive Secretary, and he moved to Mawlamyaing on February 15, 2016. The other appointed Mission executive secretaries were A One Thein for Ayeyarwady Mission, Hla Kun for Central Myanmr Mission, Rozama for Upper Myanmar Mission, and Khin Maung Yin for Yangon Mission. He was privileged to attend the Division-wide Secretariat Retreat and Convention on the July 25th to 27th of 2019 which was held in hotel CINTARA GRAND AT CENTRAL WORLD, Bangkok, Thailand, along with Pastor Kelly P Lyan the Executive Secretary of MYUM and his secretary Susie Sein, Pastor A One Thein and his secretary Thant Yee Mon from AYM, Pastor Hla Kun from CMM, and his secretary Tin Thandar Tun, Pastor Rozama and his secretary Sainuntluangi from UMM, Pastor Khin Maung Yin and his secretary Eh Paw Wah from YAM, and his secretary Nu Yin Aye from SEM. The Myanmar Union Mission was granted the Division Cooperative Union Performance Achievement in second place at the Retreat-Convention.
Within four years from 2016 to 2019 and the first month of 2020, the SEM officers including Shwe Thet Oo and departmental directors could celebrated the dedication of (8) new church-buildings under the leadership of the union officers. They were Minzee church on January 9th of 2016, Nitchar-Payargone church on December 31st of 2016, Joe Taung church March 25th of 2017, Yebu church on 9th December of 2017, Kamamaung church on December 15th of 2018, Hta Lor church on December 29th of 2018, Laungminpha church on March 23rd 2019, and Hteepothan church on January 11th 2020. He was privileged in participating the Union-wide Care Group Reaping Celebration which (126) souls were baptized on 15th December of 2018 at Myanmar Union Mission headquarters led by Pastor Rudy R. Baloyo the Executive Secretary of Southern Asia-Pacific Division with the effort of Pr. Kelly P Lyan, the Executive Secretary of the MYUM.
In 2019, when year-end meeting held at union headquarters, he was appointed as IEL/NDR coordinator for the union through the approval of the Executive Committee of MYUM, which sit on the 9th day of December. And again, on May 11, 2020, the union Committee appointed him as the union Stewardship Ministries Department director in place of Pastor Kai Khan Khual who had retired from work. From January 13 to 21, 2021, along with Pr. Thang Kang Lo, he had travelled to Layshi in Naga land for revival meeting and seminar on Discipleship and IEL/NDR and six souls were baptized by Pr. Thang Kang Lo. With officers and departmental directors from SEM he had travelled to Myeik, Pawutta, Kauthaung for revival meeting during February 4 to 14, and accompanied to Pr. Timothy Muna Paul the union president to Yebu church in Hlaingbwe Township and Wagone church in Dawei District for IEL/NDR seminars during February 23-27, and attended the Dedication Service of SEAS chapel hall on Sabbath, February 29th of 2020. Due to Covid-19 Pandemic over the whole world, most of seminars and programs were conducted through the Zoom Virtual Meetings.
By the grace of God in amid the pandemic and political conditions, a seminar of Family Ministries was conducted by Mrs. Cho Cho Paul, the union Children Ministries and Pastors’ Spouses Ministries Department director, accompanied by Pr. Thang Kang Lo the union Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department director, and Pr. Shwe Thet Oo, Stewardship and NDR/IEL director, at 76 Mile, a newly organized group in CMM during May 13 to 15, 2021. Then these tri-departments were moving to Padaukkone church, Yone-daw church, and Taungbawsu church during May 26 to June 7,2021 for discipleship seminar. He loves his family and wishes to work together at every moment. He leans more on the Lord and learn from his fellow colleagues in order for better serve the Lord more till His coming.