A Gathering of Hope

20 January, 2021
Naw Way Hta Village, Karen State, Burma

On 13 January, 2021, over 900 villagers from around the Naw Way Hta village area in Karen State, Burma, gathered to attend a Good Life Club (GLC) program, where FBR rangers poured out help, hope, and love. The faces of the villagers shone with hope and joy as they could see they were not alone and that people from the outside cared. They could also see their friends from other villages. Nine different schools, some walking a long distance, came to the program. JSMK medics treated 197 patients, while nearly 100 Rangers did an interactive GLC program with the villagers, who have lived with regular and increasing attacks from the Burma Army.

Before the program, rangers visited one village that had been mortared by Burma Army and were shown newly built bunkers outside the homes. (As we are writing this report, we just got news the Burma Army shelled again and killed a father of six children near this area.) Branches from trees still dangle where the mortar ripped through, swaying above the villagers’ houses. These villagers walked nearly 15km to listen to the message of hope presented at the Good Life Club the next day. It was important for these villagers to make the trek to attend the program; it is important to know there is another force active in their area other than the force of the Burma Army. We remind them that that the greatest force is love and that God has sent his son Jesus to help us share that love and depend on that force.

Thank you and God bless you,

Free Burma Rangers, Karen State