(AUTOBIOGRAPHY)
( 1974 – Present 15th October 2021)
Hau Go Thang, minister, evangelist, high school administrator, is a renowned mission worker in the Upper Myanmar Mission, Myanmar. He was called Thangnoe by his friends and family members. Presently he is a principal of Upper Myanmar Adventist Seminary in Gyothonpin, Kalaymyo, Myanmar. He is one of the ordained pastors who actively and eagerly serve God in different areas of the Kachin state, Chin state, and Sagaing division. He has worked as a pastor to various churches and as a principal to the several high schools of Seventh-day Adventists in Myanmar for more than twenty years. He intensely fears God and has a positive influence on his relatives and villagers.
Background and Early Life
Hau Go Thang was born on December 14, 1974, at Pyidawtha village, Kalay township, in Myanmar. His parents were Mr. Cin Sian Pau (1950-2014) and Mrs. Thang Khan Dim (1953- ). They were converted to Adventism in 1979 at Pyidawtha, where the evangelistic meeting was conducted by Pr. Lian Khan Dal, Pr. Thanliana, and Pr. Cin Za Kham.1 His parents were the first converts to the Seventh-day Adventist faith in their clan. They faced a lot of discrimination and social ostracism from their community and even their relatives in the early years because of their newfound faith. Still, now most of their siblings have become devout Adventists. Because of his parents’ ministerial works, two churches – (Northern) Pyidawtha Adventist Church and Sialthawzang Adventist Church – were founded at Pyidawtha and Sialthawzang villages, respectively.
Dearly called Thangnoe by family and friends, Hau Go Thang is the eldest son in the family. His grandfather, Luai Kho Hau, named him “Hau Go Thang” to commemorate his superb hunting skills and bravery. (Go means’ killing,’ and Thang means ‘famous or well-known’ in Zomi language. The first name Hau comes from the last name of his grandfather.) Thangnoe’s grandfather held a tribal feast called Zunung, killing about seventy oxen, pigs, and mithuns, and fed all the villagers with meat and Zozu, (a Zomi traditional fermented beverage), for seven days. In those days, a person’s power and strength were measured by how many giant animals they killed and how much grains they harvested or stored in their barns.
Hau Go Thang has one brother and three sisters. His younger brother, Tual Suan Mung, was now lives in the USA with his family, and his three younger sisters, Cing Nuam Vung, Niang Ngaih Lun, and Cing Sian Nuam, live in Sialthawzang and Pyidawtha villages. All his siblings are a devout and faithful to Seventh-day Adventist members today.
Education and Marriage
Hau Go Thang attended the elementary and middle school at Pyidawtha Adventist Seminary in Pyidawtha, and finished his high school at Upper Burma Adventist Seminary (now Upper Myanmar Adventist Seminary – sometimes also called UMAS) at Gyothonpin, Kalaymyo. After that, he studied religion and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion on March 27, 1997, from Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary (MUAS). Next, he continued his Master of Arts in Teaching through the Distance Learning Center from Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS), Philippines, and completed his master’s studies in 2010.
He married Don Khan Mang from Singgial village on May 18, 1999, and God blessed them with four sons. As a ministerial worker, Thangnoe and his family frequently moved from one place to another, so his children were born in different areas. The eldest son Pau Makai was born on April 25, 2000, at Peinggan village, Wuntho township, Sagaing region. The second son Suan Lam Cin was born on March 23, 2002, at Sialthawzang village, Tonzang township, Chin state. The third son Mung Biak Khai was born on December 21, 2003, at Kapteel village, Tedim township, and the youngest son Dim Sian Lam Thawn, was born on August 28, 2007, at Pyidawtha village, Kalay township, Sagaing region. Now all the young children go to Adventist schools.
Ministry Experience
After graduated from MUAS in 1997, Thangnoe decided to commit his life to serve in the ministry of God. He then got a call from the Upper Myanmar Mission Executive Committee (UMM-EC), who sent him to Pyidawtha Adventist Seminary in the 1997-1998 school year to teach and assist at the school and church services. He participated in writing a proposal to ADRA-Myanmar and received funds for a school building with four classrooms. The same year, he wrote letters asking for student financial support, and about forty students got REACH scholarships from REACH International. He also participated in a City Evangelistic Meeting, and 28 precious souls were baptized in the church. After one year of service at Pyidawtha, as a part of the frontline missionary 50 village teachers program, the Upper Myanmar Mission Executive Committee selected and sent him to Sampai village, situated at the border of Kachin State of Myanmar and China. As a teacher he taught at a Government school there during 1998-1999. Because of a local war broke out there, he was quickly transferred and assigned to Peingan village in Wuntho Township, serving as a church pastor and 50-village teacher for two consecutive school years (1999-2001). He taught about the official curriculum as well as the Bible to Buddhist students.
Then in 2001, as per the request of Ngennung Adventist church members, a newly founded church in Tedim Township in Chin State, the UMM-EC sent him there, and he served as both a teacher and a church pastor. While doing the church, he oversaw building a church (63 feet in length and 24 feet wide with two stories) with a financial donation from Adventist Laymen’s Service and Industries ASI in the USA. He whole-heartedly shared the gospel about the love of Jesus and His beautiful teachings through an evangelistic meeting at this village. Then when a factional conflict occurred between the so-called Conference and Mission in the Upper Myanmar Mission, the UMM-EC appointed him as a principal and church pastor at Kapteel Adventist Church and G. Phungkai Adventist Seminary at Kapteel village in Tedim Township. He served there three consecutive years from 2003 to 2006. During these times, he earnestly searched for donors and conducted a big city evangelistic meeting. Five precious souls were added to the church. Under the Kapteel Christian Fellowship (KCF) leadership, he taught HALELUIAH CHORUS for about three months to participate in the Zomi Festival of Praise competition held at Tedim town. Over 4000 voices were singing together with the HALLELUJAH CHORUS. At the end of 2006, UMM-EC nominated and approved him as a regular worker status in ministry after serving nine years as a mission contract worker.
After some time, the Pyidawtha Adventist Seminary board chairman requested UMM-EC to send Hau Go Thang for a principal school position there. The UMM-EC approved and posted him Pyidawtha again in the summer of 2006. He is committed to ministry and conducted school evangelistic meetings for three consecutive school years (2006-2009); about 48 precious students at Pyidawtha Adventist Seminary were join over to the Adventist church. In 2009, he moved to Tahan Adventist Seminary and served as a registrar and treasurer at Tahan Adventist Church. He taught the students at Tahan Adventist Seminary for two school years (2009-2011). In 2009, the Remnant Band, a Zomi Adventist organization, appointed him as the secretary. Remnant Band (RB) is a layman-led ministry for revival meetings, spreading the gospel, and doing evangelistic meetings in Kalay District area2. It encompassed about 31 Adventist churches in the area, and a revival meeting is held once a year, in which the congregations counted from 1500 to 2000 every year.
In 2011, Hau Go Thang was transferred again by the Upper Myanmar Mission Executive Committee to Paangpi Adventist Seminary. He served there as the school principal and church pastor for five consecutive school years. While serving there, he conducted school evangelistic meetings every year. He joyfully brought fourteen precious souls to Christ in 2011; twenty precious souls in 2012; twenty-five precious souls in 2013; twelve precious souls in 2014; and twenty-five precious souls in 2015. During these years, he started English medium teaching, and English was used as the classroom language from Kindergarten to Grade Four. Many students improved their reading, writing, and speaking skills. The president and the education director of the Myanmar Union Mission visited the school and recognized it as the best English-medium school among Adventist schools in Myanmar. Paangpi Adventist Church was the biggest church in Upper Myanmar Mission, and it is a very active and growing church. He led the celebration of Paangpi Adventist Church’s Silver Jubilee in 2012, with the big meeting of Remnant Band in Kalay district. Working with church members, he raise fund to buy sound systems for the church and received over 5 million kyats for Peavey sound boxes, mixers and power amplifiers, and other equipment. While serving at the church, he built brick-wall fencing around the campus and erected beautiful steel gates. During 2013-2015, he conducted revival and reformation camping three times, and many young people and church members experienced a rebirth in Jesus Christ, and the church membership increased in numbers. At the year-end Committee meeting in 2015, he was nominated and forwarded to Myanmar Union Mission as a candidate for ordination. On February 6, 2016, Myanmar Union Mission bestowed the blessing of ordination at RB Revival Meeting at UMAS Hall in Upper Myanmar Adventist Seminary, Kalaymyo.
After five years of leading Paangpi Adventist Seminary and Paangpi Adventist Church, the nominating committee in the 2015 year-end session elected him for the responsibilities of the principal of Upper Myanmar Adventist Seminary (UMAS) and church pastor at Siyin Adventist Church (SAC) in Gyothonpin, Kalaymyo. The post is supposed to be a five-year term from 2016 to 2020, but due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, he remains there at the time of writing. Working under the board of trustees, he is responsible for administering both the school and the church. In regular times, he would lead all the teaching staff, church members, and students for a non-stop Marathon Prayer every year. He would also lead worship and prayer with the staff every morning before the class started and after the school was over. Under his leadership, the first Sabbath of the month was designated for fasting day in the Siyin Adventist Church. He would also lead praying in the church with members eager to participate in fasting in the early Sabbath morning and the afternoon. Therefore, during the six years term (from 2016 to 2021), God has blessed him with great blessings as follows:
1. Souls winning
Every year he conducted evangelistic meetings inside and outside of the church and school. He won over 23 precious souls in 2016, 32 precious souls in 2017, 36 precious souls in 2018, and 44 precious souls in 2019 to the feet of Jesus. The Holy Spirit worked in power and brought believers to Jesus through the prayers of his fellow workers and members.
2. A beautiful soul!
He experienced God’s wonderful and marvelous works in the school. In 2017 he conducted the first UMAS students and teachers’ revival camping for a week. Many young people joined the camping, broke free from their drug addiction, and changed their lives. It is such a joyous thing to experience the born-again life. Again, in the 2018-2019 school year, he conducted the second UMAS students and teachers’ revival camping for seven days. One of the teachers Miss Cing Za Pau, who was originally from another denomination, accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and converted to Adventism during the revival camping. Her parent tried to prevent her from becoming an Adventist and persuaded her not to join the Adventist faith in various ways. Still, she decided to follow Jesus, and now she is one of the faithful staff in UMAS and a mission worker in the Upper Myanmar Mission. He also held preaching contests for students to hone and improve their preaching skills.
3. Connection with Arm of Help Organization
In 2016, he and his staff warmly welcomed a young lady named Deborah Preuss from Germany, who visited UMAS and built a relationship with all the staff members and students and helped the needs and concerns of the school. When she got back to Germany, she gave mission reports in detail on the real situations of UMAS and some boarding schools in an event at one Adventist Youth convention. Many German young people are interested and visited UMAS and volunteered to teach classes there. The Arm of Help (AoH) organization supported about 200 students at UMAS for their tuition fees every year.
4. New school building
In 2017, the Upper Myanmar Adventist Seminary received a large sum of money, USD 280,000, as a donation from Dr. P. D. Chun, former president of Far Eastern Division, through Pr. Thang Kaanglo, an MYUM Sabbath school department director from 2016-2020, constructed a new school building. This was the most significant donation ever UMAS received. The new school building was generously donated by Martin Muik Ro, husband of Elicia Chun Ro, a sister of Pastor P. D. Chun, in memory of his wife. After Elicia died in the USA, Martin sold their house and donated the money for Adventist heritage. So, the name of the new school building is called “Elicia Ro,” named after Elicia Chun Ro. It’s a three-story building, with 215 feet in length, 31 feet in width, and 36 feet in height. He discussed the new project with the school board members and supervised the whole construction process with the engineer. The new school building was inaugurated on November 3, 2018, by Timothy Muna Paul, the president of Myanmar Union Mission (MYUM).
5. Girls’ Dormitory and Dining Hall
Furthermore, in 2019, UMAS received the second biggest donations (USD 100,000) from Mrs. Yong Baek, a devoted Korean Adventist and openhanded laywoman from the USA, to build the girls’ dormitory and dining Hall. He organized the building committee and built the buildings immediately. These two buildings were completed quickly and are now ready to be used for the post-pandemic classes.
6. SAC Hall Dedication
He guided building the SAC Hall, which was 50 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 23 feet high, two stories constructed by the SAC women ministry members and donations from abroad. The inauguration program was celebrated on March 7, 2020, by Pr Kelly P. Lyan, secretary of MYUM.
7. Nursery School Building Dedication
He oversaw the building of the nursery school in the SAC church. After the construction was completed, the dedication program was held on May 20, 2017, with the dedication prayer of Pr. Moe Khaing, Kalay District Pastor.
8. SAC Concrete Floor and New Ceiling
Pastor Thangnoe was also in charge of making the concrete floor in the SAC church compound. All the church members and students volunteered to pave the concrete floor and finished the work in September 2019. Moreover, he and Elder Suak Khat Pome looked for a donor for a new ceiling project in the SAC, and now under his leadership, a new and beautiful church ceiling was installed with a donation from Mr. Thang Thlur.
9. New Truck for Gospel Outreach
Again in 2020, a generous donor named Leah from the USA donated USD 20,000 to buy a truck for the gospel outreach around the Kalay district. Pr. Thangnoe, UMAS school treasurer Vanlaldika, and church member Mr. Thang Gen Mung went to Yangon and bought a smart and strong Japan Hino Truck, which they named ‘Leah’s Mission Truck.’ The dedication program for the new truck was held on May 22, 2021, by the Pr. Thangnoe himself.
10. UMAS English Nursery
Formerly the Agape Philo Nursery was operated under the guidance and support of the Siyin Adventist Church (SAC). He oversaw the restructuring and changing of the nursery’s name into UMAS English Nursery in 2019 and guided to practice the English language for teaching and speaking only. Over thirty students were attended in UMAS English Nursery.
11. Brick Wall Fencing
In 2018, while Pr. Thangnoe was traveling for EC Meeting in PyinOoLwin; he had a dream to have a brick-making machine. He requested support from the German Adventist young people group, Arm of Help, and bought a new brick-making machine for UMAS School. It made a lot of bricks for multi-purposes, and under his leadership, the campus was protected with brick wall fencing. The wall was 1042 feet long and 6 feet high.
12. ZOFA Cup Champion
In 2017, He organized the students who were enthusiastic about playing football and hired a coach for training. Finally, the UMAS soccer team won the champion title of the fifth ZOFA tournament Cup. The ZOFA Cup was a soccer tournament for Zomi people, especially in Chin State and Sagaing Region.
13. Donation from Alumni
He met with a member of the UMAS alumni organization, who lives in Sweden, and received MMK 2,400,000 for the sound system for the school. He also talked with one of the alumni from Singapore and received four sound boxes and 24 tracks mixer power amplifiers to use in the school programs and events.
14. Ambassador Vocal Band
He also organized the formation of UMAS Ambassadors, a vocal band, in the 2016-2017 school year, which produced an Album with 12 beautiful songs written and sung by students and teachers. UMAS music teacher Pau Muan Thang made an excellent music arrangement.
Conclusion
In summary, through growing up in an Adventist family and environment, he has the privilege to obtain an Adventist education that is the best all over the world. Now he is preparing many students and young people to be the precious sons and daughters of God as he leads them to the cross of Calvary. Moreover, wherever he goes, and he is, he always wants to emphasize preaching about revival and reformation as his priority no matter what happens around him. His teaching at school or preaching in the church and his teaching on the songs, hymns, and physical education moves the church members to be active in their spirituality. He is never murmuring to where he was posted, sincerely and humbly; his serving in God’s mission proves that he is a good administrator, minister, and leader. In order to grow the church mission and the school, the things he has done affirms that he is earnestly enthusiastic for the kingdom of the Lord.
Finally, he loves Jesus so much and always wants to focus on Christ’s righteousness by faith. Along with his whole family, he has committed to God’s mission to lead the school and teach the students with God’s given gifts with his family. He involves his heart and ability to finish spreading the gospel of three angels’ messages (Revelation 14:6-12). Serving the Lord is the sweetest job in his lifetime.
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Pr Thangnoe solemnly wed 13 couple wedding program since he was ordained in 2016.
1. Mr. Pau Sian Thawn and Miss Hung Suan Huai on November 9, 2016
2. Mr. Daniel Thangpi Kimlai and Miss Cing Ngah Tawi on December 2, 2016
3. Mr. Pau Suan Lian and Miss Vung Sian Nuam on December 27, 2016
4. Mr. Sung Thian Khup and Miss It Nun Mawi on June 14, 2017
5. Mr. James Kam Lian and Miss Cing Don Lun on May 25, 2017
6. Mr. Kap Deih Tung and Miss Man Sian Huai on September 21, 2018
7. Mr. Gin Suan Tung and Miss Huai San Nuam on December 21, 2018
8. Mr. Cin Sian Muan Tuang and Miss Khoi Sian Huai on December 30, 2020
9. Mr. Dal Sawm Tuang and Miss Cing Lam Huai on January 29, 2021
10. Mr. Cin Deih Tuang and Miss Nem Khawm Huai on February 16, 2021
11. Mr. Khup Sawm Piang and Miss Pau Cian Cing on March 25, 2021
12. Mr. Larinfela and Miss Khin Htwe on December 5, 2021
13. Mr. Vung Sian Muan and Miss Cing Za Pau December 8, 2021
Endnotes
1Interview with Cin Za Kham by Hau Go Thang on October 29, 2021at Kalaymyo through phone call.
2Remnant Band (RB) is the name of a laymen-led organization for revival meetings. It was organized in 1996 at Kalaymyo. It’s involved about 31 churches in Kalay District, particularly for Zomi language-speaking people. RB Meeting is held yearly by the recognation of the Upper Myanmar Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.