For the first time, Christmas and New Year celebrations were jointly held by the public and the military on "Thanking God's blessings" at one of ethnic Kachin insurgent's strong holds in eastern Kachin state in northern Burma, said participants.

Christmas and New Year celebrations were held at Jik Loi Hill in Shangaw Krung, in the areas controlled by Lt-Col. Nhkum Doi La who turned from a Baptist pastor to a military officer in the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), said local participants.

On December 30, 2008, all participants performed the popular Kachin cultural dance called 'Htawng Ka' at the man-made field on the Jik Loi Hill and which was organised by a Kachin cultural team from Yingjiang county in China's southwest Yunnan province, added local participants.

According to the participants, a Christmas prayer service was held on December 31, 2008 and a special New Year's prayer service was held on the same day at five minutes before midnight at the military hall in Lt-Col. Doi La's Jik Loi military base.

After the New Year prayer service was concluded, the NDA-K soldiers and people fired from their guns into the sky. They later had special New Year food, added local participants.

Celebrations were also held by local majority Lisu tribes with Kachin, NDA-K servicemen and some invited Baptist pastors and dignitaries. Popular Kachin singers from Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state and Kachin cultural teams from neighbouring China's Yunnan province also attended, Lt-Col. Nhkum Doi La told KNG today.

NDA-K sources said over 800 people along with NDA-K servicemen and civilians joined in the celebrations. The NDA-K founder and leader Zahkung Ting Ying and some military officers from Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) also joined the celebrations.

Lt-Col. Doi La said, "The celebrations are the Prayers of thanking God on Christmas and New Year.  It is unusual that the celebrations went off flawlessly and concluded without a single problem.  We really enjoyed the celebrations."

During the three-day celebrations, all participants were served in abundance with Kachin traditional food cooked by Kachin-styled --- rice with delicious curries like pork, beef, chicken, fish and pickers by NDA-K.  Local transportation costs of all guest participants were provided by NDA-K officer Lt-Col. Nhkum Doi La.