Letter from the Director

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support that enables our FBR relief teams to give help, hope, love and get the news out in Burma, Sudan and Kurdistan, Iraq.

The purpose of the Free Burma Rangers is to share the love of Jesus and to be His Ambassadors wherever we go. People of different faiths are welcome to be part of the Free Burma Rangers but the leadership of FBR are followers of Jesus. Our mission is to give help, hope and love and to put a light on the situation in conflict areas where we are invited. We work to free the oppressed and stand for justice and reconciliation wherever we go. Men and women of different ethnicities and beliefs make up the FBR humanitarian relief effort and all are called to serve for love. For me as the Director of the Free Burma Rangers,  my family and I serve compelled by the love, forgiveness and redemption of Jesus and want to share this with all I meet. We are thankful for all those that serve with us and all who support us. We thank God we can do this together.

Our supporting foundation is Free the Oppressed and it covers all of our different projects. The name of the foundation is inspired by the words of Jesus in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” FBR is made up of people of different faiths and all are free to believe as they choose. We of different faiths and ethnicities are joined in love as we try to serve the oppressed. For me, I want to follow Jesus in this and share His love with all in need.

In 1997 with the help of a Karen medic, Eliya, and many other ethnic leaders we started FBR. We started with the idea that even though we are small, if we helped one person they would be glad and we would be glad. I go to try to help because I feel it is God’s place for me – that is my soul; because oppression is wrong – that is my mind; because I love these people – that is my heart; and because I like to like to be on the frontline – that is my body. My wife and children go on missions with us and we now have 70 multi-ethnic, multi-faith relief teams and a wonderful staff of both locals and foreigners to support all of this.

In Burma, which is our main area of mission, the Burma military has taken over in a coup and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders in the National League for Democracy. Hundreds of thousands of Burmans and ethnics in the cities have protested and started a Civil Disobedience Movement which the military is trying brutally to crush. Also the Burma Army has increased its attacks against the Karen, displacing thousands, and increased its attacks against the Kachin, Shan and Ta’ang in northern Burma while many remain displaced in Arakan State of western Burma. Also, in Bangladesh, over 1,000,000 Rohingya live in squalid camps after being attacked and forced out of Burma by the regime. We pray for, stand with and try to help those under attack and oppression.

In the midst of this continuing oppression and uncertainty in their country, Rangers from Burma feel the call of God to go help people under attack in Kurdistan, Sudan and other places in the world. We see the power of God in this and, as in Burma, we go compelled by His love to give help, hope and love in Jesus’ name. In 2014 we went on our first mission to Sudan, and in 2015, we began missions to Kurdistan with our ethnic Burma teams, sharing the love of Jesus, providing medical training on the front lines, doing children’s programs in the IDP camps and getting the news out. We stand against oppressors, be they in Burma, Kurdistan, or Sudan, and we’re also praying for the oppressors—and asking God for love for them. No one is beyond redemption. A Burma soldier who once murdered villagers left the army, joined our teams, repented and was baptized. He is a new man in Christ and this is our prayer for all of us: that we are the people God created us to be. Psalm 77:19 says what I feel about how God leads us, “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” We follow an invisible God who visibly changes us!

Thank you for helping and praying with us and I look forward to when we can meet.

God bless you,
Dave, family and teams

Eubank bio:
David Eubank was born in Texas and grew up as the son of Christian missionaries in Thailand before attending Texas A&M University and being commissioned as an officer in the US Army. He is a former U.S. Army Special Forces and Ranger officer, is the founder and leader of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a humanitarian service movement for oppressed ethnic minorities of all races and religions in the Burma, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Sudan war zones. Along with relief, his personal mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ and to help people be free from oppression. FBR teams are comprised of men and women of different ethnicities and faiths that are united for freedom by the bond of love and service. David is joined on missions by his wife Karen and three children; Sahale 20, Suuzanne 18,and Peter 14. Together they work alongside the over 100 ethnic FBR relief teams in the conflict areas of Burma, Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Sudan giving help, hope and love and putting a light on the situation. The Eubank family started the Global Day of Prayer for Burma and the Good life Club family outreach program.