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"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
-Romans 15:13
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Hello Dear Community!
How are you? We pray this update finds you well.
We are much overdue for an update on where God has led us this year. Below you will find an overview of the last 4 months.
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Karen State and Karenni State, Burma (Jan - Feb)
We would like to give an update on our 7-week trip to Burma.
Our trip started with a 9-day walking mission in Karen State and ended with a 5-week mission to Karenni, Burma.
The mission in Karen State is an opportunity for the 200 newly trained Rangers to apply the skills they have learned over the past 3-months. We put in some serious mileage on the trail as we walked from village to village - meeting people, providing relief, and holding Good Life Clubs (GLC).
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Our team's focus was to provide help, hope, and love to the internally displaced people (IDP) and those protecting/providing for them - hospital staff, military personnel, educators, civic leaders, etc. We also had specific team responsibilities. Ross was the chaplain and managed team finances. Eirenee' led the team reporting, data collection, and supported GLC. We found being present with the people in this deep time of need speaks love in ways beyond anything we could do for them.
We were able to visit Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) hospitals/clinics and pray for the wounded, schools, soldiers on the frontlines, churches, and families. The centerpiece of the mission were the 16 GLC programs led by our team for IDP camps and villages. If you missed our video update last month here it is again!
The GLC program is the component of FBR that focuses on children’s needs in the conflict zones of Burma. Even though the program is focused on children, the entire community joins in as every age receives joy from the program. These programs are similar to western vacation Bible schools with Bible stories, dramas, The gospel is shared through the wordless book method and reinforced through dramas and crafts.
At each program our specific roles were to lead the meeting with camp leaders and educators. We spent time listening to their needs, praying for them, sharing the gospel with them, and giving financially how Jesus led. It was exhausting at times but Jesus graciously gave us just what we needed to be present with the people.
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At the 16 GLC’s held, 66 IDP camps were represented and 11,481 IDP’s came and heard the Gospel. Our team was able to support 65 schools, 440 teachers, and a total of 4,849 students. God enabled our team to financially give over $205,000 to provide relief for these communities. Praise Jesus!
During the GLC's, our team also ran medical and dental clinics. They saw 1,330 medical patients and 150 dental patients. It is amazing to see the smiles on someone's face after a root canal in the jungle!
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Run for Relief, Day of Prayer, Annual Conference, Training (March)
- R4R. Were you able to join in virtually? We had a great turnout in Chiang Mai on 11 March. Many of our ethnic leaders were present and running in flip-flops. We have yet to master this skill :)
- DoP. Our team shared at churches around the city about how to pray for Burma. We ended the day together with a worship night and prayer vigil.
- Annual Conference. The FBR held its conference last month. and we all got to host our ethnic leaders here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was a time of planning for the year ahead and team building.
- Biblical Leadership Training. Ross and another chaplain hosted a 2-day training for our ethnic leaders. It was a great opportunity to build into our leaders and encouraged them to be shepherds for their teams just like Jesus shepherds us!
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Mae Sot, Thailand (Early April)
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We served alongside others to lead the 2nd annual Free Burma Junior Ranger Camp. The camp served four different children’s homes in Mae Sot, Thailand (6 hours southwest of Chiang Mai on the border with Burma). The children living in these homes have all come from Burma for different reasons. Some have come because their parents cannot take care of them, some came because both their parents have died, and some to pursue education opportunities in Thailand.
Around 125 children participated in this week-long program focused on building a strong heart, mind, and body. Our team got to teach them practical skills in medical, swimming, self-defense, and how to share their testimony. Ross was the Chaplain of the trip and coordinated devotion time with the children as well as taught on how to practically and powerfully give help, hope, and love to others. Eirenee’ helped lead swimming, worship and PT.
These kids have become super close to our heart and we were so thankful for the opportunity to continue to build into them in Jesus name!
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FBR Training (10-days in April)
We were were blessed to spend time with our team in Burma at a training this month. This training is a shortened version of FBR's Ranger training. Over 40 people from five different ethnic groups have united to learn more about how they can practically help their people and get the news out.
We joined to provide encouragement and support to our ethnic staff leading the training. They are doing a phenomenal job. The leader of the training and two of his team are new followers of Jesus (Decemeber 2022) that we have been building into over the last 6-months. It is amazing to see how Jesus has transformed their hearts and the way they lead!
We were able to lead several devotionals and Ross preached twice during this short trip. There are many hearts soft to the gospel. We are so thankful for the opportunity to unpack the good news of Jesus Christ with them!
For the safety and protection of the Rangers, we will wait to share more info and pictures once it concludes. Please pray for their protection as their have been increased threats from the Burma Army.
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What's new?
We will share a special update next week focused on where God has us and where He is leading us into the future!
Nuances of the conflict in Burma change, but over the last two years the only change has been a continual increase in evil acts from the military junta. The video below is a great resource to understand what is happening.
P.s. there is one curse word in the first few minutes :)
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Current situation in Burma.
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