Pein Kyi (1913–2005)

A devoted church leader, Pein Kyi was an important figure of second-generation Adventists in Myanmar.

Early Life

Pein Kyi was born 18 April 1913, in Meiktila, Myanmar to Ahlon Shoke and Ma Kywe. His father was a Chinese and mother, Burmese. They lived on the Meiktila Adventist Technical High School campus, which was established in 1910 by R. B. Thurber. His father supervised the school’s vocational trades, such as carpentry and shoe makings. Ahlon Shokes and Ma Kywe had nine children: Shwe Kyin, Pein Kyi, Ma Yin, Maung Muang Aye, Nyunt Hlaing, Kyin Myaing, Ah Tin, and Ms. Khin Khin. All of them spent their childhood at Meiktila.¹

Education and Marriage

Pein Kyi enrolled at Meiktila Adventist Technical High School from primary up to 10^th standard. He was baptized in 1926 at the age of 13. After completing his academic studies, he continued to business studies in Rangoon, and completed his course in 1930. On December 7, 1931, Pein Kyi married a Karen woman, Nant Mu Seit, born September 1, 1913, at Theinlar village, Myaungmya, Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar. She also studied at Meiktila Adventist Technical High School and completed 7^th standard. She was baptized in 1930. Together they had six children: Sydney Gyi, Harris Gyi, Gilbert Gyi, Norris Gyi, Ronnie Gyi, and Emerald Kyi May Win. They had 23 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.²

Ministry

Pein Kyi’s first job was as a bookkeeper, at Burma Union Headquarters in Rangoon, from 1930 to 1933. From 1933 to 1935 he worked as a teacher in Tenasserim section (Southeast Mission). He was then called to serve as a bookkeeper and teacher at Meiktila Adventist Technical High School, from 1935 to 1936. From 1937 to 1939 he was a bookkeeper for the Southern Asia Division office in Poona, India. He served as secretary-treasurer of the Burma Union Mission from 1939 to 1941.³

Pein Kyi was a faithful, self-supporting worker in Theinlar and nearby villages during the Japanese occupation, from 1942 to 1945. He was reappointed as secretary-treasurer from 1946 to 1953 at Burma Union, Rangoon. From 1953 to 1955 he served at the Kinsaung Press as a manager, and then served at 72 U Wisara Road, next to the union office.⁴ He also served as a general supervisor to the Union office and campus for one year, from 1956 to 1957.⁵

From 1958 to 1962 Pein Kyi was a missionary to Dacca, East Pakistan, where he served as a secretary-treasurer from 1958 to 1962.⁶ The Burma Union called him back to serve as a business manager of the Seventh-day Adventist hospital in Rangoon for three years, from 1963 to 1965.⁷ He was ordained on January 19, 1965.⁸

When all the missionaries left Burma in 1966, he took over the responsibility of union treasurer and religious liberty secretary from 1966 to 1972.⁹ At the Southern Asia Division quadrennial session in 1972, Pein Kyi was appointed as the union secretary and auditor from 1973 to 1975.¹⁰

Later Life

Pein Kyi served the Seventh-day Adventist church organization for 45 years. He retired January 1, 1976, at the age of 62 according to the Southern Asia Division working policy at that time. Finally, he and his wife settled down permanently in Hpa-an, the capital city of the Karen State, Myanmar. On January 14, 1992, his wife Daw Mu Seit died at the age of 78. Pein Kyi died December 6, 2005, at age 91 in Hpa-an, Karen State, Myanmar.¹¹

Sources

Burma Union Committee Minutes, Actions No. 63-6 and 65-6. Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1959, 1962.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2009.

Southern Asia Division Minutes, Action No. 1965-569. Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

Workers Service Record of Pein Kyi. Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.

Yee, Pe. The Story of Seventh-day Adventists in Myanmar. Kinsaung Publishing House, n.d.

Notes

1. Workers Service Record of Pein Kyi, Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.↩

2. Interview by the author with Gilbert Gyi (son of Pein Kyi, Hpa-An), October 2017.↩

3. Workers Service Record of Pein Kyi, Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.↩

4. Pe Yee, The Story of Seventh-day Adventists in Myanmar (Kinsaung Publishing House, n.d.), 369.↩

5. Workers Service Record of Pein Kyi, Southern Asia-Pacific Division archives, Silang, Cavite, Philippines.↩

6. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1959), 188; Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1962), 204.↩

7. Burma Union Committee Minutes, Action No. 63-6.↩

8. Burma Union Committee Minutes, Action No. 65-5.↩

9. Southern Asia Division Minutes, Action No. 1965-569.↩

10. Southern Asia Division Minutes, Action No. 1972-1776.↩

11. Interview by the author with Aye Khin Soe (adopted child of Pein Kyi, Yangon), October 2017.↩