NuSung Biak: A Snapshot

Published Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Global Mission Leadership Spring Newsletter

While journeying through the mountains of the Chin State in Western Myanmar, NuSung Biak (GML/MSW ‘12) takes a picture: the river, foamy and grey, splits across a patch of dry ground. Above it, the mountains billow, tight green with dark rivets, speckled with bright farmed land. The clouds are low, the top of the photo fogged, and though the view is bright, it does not seem to be from the sun. NuSung takes this photo as she moves through villages, gathering community families, parents mostly, to encourage them, that they already have what they need to build the foundation of their child’s development. In Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, you have to go to the zoo just to see a cow. “But for you,” NuSung says to these village parents, “It's here. This is science. And you can teach them how the egg comes, and then you can teach them what the plants are and how to grow the beans. And math? You can still teach them in the field, one potato plus one is two. You don't need to have a book. You have opportunity.” 

The idea of latent opportunity embedded in the human soul is the core of NuSung’s work and ministry. Her father, her hero, valued and invested his time in education, not just of his own children but of the children in his community. He developed an educational program for children in slum areas, understanding how poverty and lack of education go hand in hand. Working alongside her father, NuSung began her lifelong focus on child development, “how our childhoods shape who we are, what we become.”  

Their educational model was inspired by Mr. Biak’s childhood friend, who, while raised a Buddhist, became a Christian. But after moving to Yangon, this man struggled with his faith. Mr. Biak considered how challenging it must be for a Buddhist to convert after so much learned faith in one’s early years. “If faith comes from hearing,” NuSung explains, “we can sow the seed of God’s word that might someday speak to them.” So they taught their students about the Bible, prayed with them, planted seeds of faith in their developingminds, not knowing if those seeds would grow, holding fast to the belief that the Lord could and would grow what needs blossoming. 

So, unsurprisingly, the seeds of opportunity embedded and the concept of waiting for emergence became a theme in NuSung’s life. In 2000, she met Pastor Tom Ogburn, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, when he contacted her hoping to understand more about the large Chin population in his community. Over time, he became her beloved mentor. In 2010, NuSung was experiencing living in Myanmar as a “closed door,” so much blocked under the dictatorship, so many citizens struggling with anxiety and spending hard eared wages on ineffectual palm readers. A Burmese friend suggested NuSung apply to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where she herself was studying. Though NuSung had never dreamt of going to the US, she wondered how she could help Burmese people learn practical mental health skills. When she mentioned the idea to her mentor, Pastor Tom listened thoughtfully before saying, “I have a better [school] for you. I want you to go to a university where they empower women. You’ll go to Baylor. They have a great program.” He was referencing the Global Mission Leadership (GML) Scholars Program at the Garland School of Social Work, and without knowing what social work was, she applied.  

Dr. Jennifer Dickey, Director of the GML Scholars Program saw a depth of commitment in NuSung that resonated deeply. “[NuSung] wants to be someone who nurtures wholeness and well-being in children. And when combined with Pastor Ogburn’s deep desire to serve the Chin population in Oklahoma City… God led us to you. You were the one that emerged because the alignment was so right.”  

After graduating from Baylor in 2012, NuSung returned to a job at her church, which sadly did not fulfill her. When she saw a UNICEF job posting about child protection, she innocently thought, “I like child protection.” Although she didn’t know much about UNICEF, she applied for a few positions, not really even noting which positions they were or how much they would pay. After being contacted about one job in particular, she started asking about the role and what it would be like to work in a UNICEF county office. Colleagues and friends told her it would be a good experience, but they didn’t think she would make it. When NuSung nervously arrived for her competency interview, she felt a sense of calm wash over her as she entered the room. “If they had asked me who is the country rep of UNICEF, I wouldn’t know. Or who is the CEO. I didn’t know who they were and hadn’t researched.” But they only asked about her social service skills, and those were embedded in NuSung’s heart and mind. Of course, she got the job, which she’s been at since, and which further grew the deeply sown seed of love and care for children that God had planted, through her father, all those years before. 

Nu Sung knows the realities of living in Myanmar, but where others may see despair, she sees opportunity—a community of people who love their children, who want to care for them, who have the capability to build their child’s healthy brain with the resources, albeit limited, at their fingertips. “It’s not about money,” she explains, “it’s about what you have. What can you do? You can choose from the available sources. And it’s about love. It’s about care. You can still build.”   

As Dr. Dickey describes NuSung now, she sees how NuSung’s love builds courage. “Because you have such deep love for the children of your country, you will do courageous things,” She shares. “And it's woven with such humility. It reminds me of David in the Old Testament. NuSung isn’t trying to be Saul putting all this big armor on. She's just trying to use her 5 smooth stones.” 

Let’s go back to the picture of the Chin State. NuSung hikes through the mountains of a country she loves, populated by a people she has devoted her life to serving, to arrive at a village. Her keen mind and sharp eyes see the cows and the fields and the crops and feels the air heavy with Holy dignity. She wonders, “What can I give? It isn’t weapons or clothing or money." She pauses. “What is already here?” She sees stones, smoothed by passing from hand to hand, generation after generation, exactly what a mother needs to teach her child to count to 5.