Ram Lian Thang

Ram Lian Thang is a member of the Chin ethnic group from Chin State, Myanmar. The Chin people are made up of many different tribes and dialect groups, with more than 150 dialects spoken throughout the region. While many Chin people cannot understand one another’s dialects, they share a common identity, culture, and traditions. Because of these language differences, Chin people often communicate with one another in Burmese or English. Christianity and education have played important roles in Chin communities, and the influence of American missionaries helped make English widely used among many Chin people. 

Born in 1983 in a small town in Chin State, Ram Lian Thang grew up on top of a mountain where his family faced poverty and isolation. Life was difficult. Access to water, food, and farmland was limited, and survival was a daily struggle. Good food was rare. Weddings were among the few occasions when families could enjoy pork or beef, and Ram Lian Thang recalls attending his relatives’ ceremonies on an empty stomach just for the opportunity to eat a good meal. 

Despite these challenges, education became an important part of his life. He attended a school of theology, served as a youth pastor, and later studied at the Myanmar Institute of Theology, a seminary that also offers liberal arts education. He earned his master’s degree and graduated in 2013. After graduation, Ram was invited to teach at a Christian college in Shan State, where he worked as a lecturer for four years. During this time, he married a Lisu pastor, and together they welcomed a son. Inspired by the American education system, he applied to continue his studies in the United States. Although he was accepted, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed his visa process. 

When Ram Lian Thang arrived in the United States in 2021, he came alone. One of his first memories was seeing snow and feeling how cold it was. Before coming to the United States, he had pictured beautiful cities and nice weather. Instead, he quickly discovered that life could be difficult without a car and that American culture felt more individualistic than life in Myanmar. He missed the strong sense of community he had known growing up, where people regularly gathered to share food, time, and companionship. 

He was not entirely on his own, though. A pastor from the First Burmese Christian Church helped him settle into Minnesota, and community support became essential during his transition. In 2023, his wife and son joined him. The reunion came with its own hardships. The family faced financial challenges and initially stayed with friends while they worked to establish themselves. His son struggled with language barriers and bullying at school, at times coming home with tears in his eyes. This made Ram Lian Thang and his wife deeply sad, especially after experiencing discrimination and hardship connected to Myanmar’s military coup. However, over time the family adjusted, and his son became more comfortable with American life. He laughs as he says that his son is  “just like an American now.”

When asked how he made it through, he points to three things: “faith in God, the community, and perseverance.” He believes that no one can face life’s difficulties alone. Friends, church members, and fellow Chin community members are meant to hold each other up. For Ram Lian Thang, preserving cultural identity, strengthening family relationships, and showing up for one another are the pieces that allow a person to rebuild a life in a new country. 

When he thinks about the greatest difference between the life he left and the one he is building now, he thinks about the opportunities available to him. In America, he has been able to keep learning, to deepen his theological studies in ways that were not accessible to him back home. Life in Minnesota has given him the chance to provide for his family in ways he could not have done back in Chin State. But what matters most to him is his son. He wants his son to never feel the hunger he experienced as a boy waiting for his next meal. Instead, he wants his son to hunger for education and to live a more fulfilling life. The sacrifices of leaving everything behind makes sense when he thinks of them as an investment in the next generation. 

Ram Lian Thang now serves as one of the pastors at a Chin church in St. Paul, where his ministry centers on supporting and caring for the members of his community. But his sense of responsibility does not stop at the church doors, it extends back home. He has kept his connection to his home village in Myanmar alive, and he hopes to bring back what he has gained here to support the community he came from. For Ram Lian Thang, ministry is more than a job. It is a way of giving back, a lifelong commitment to the people who raised him, carried out through faith, mentorship, and service.