Our Faith Cannot Be Broken: The Bombing and Reclaiming of a Karenni Church
Across Burma, the constant threat of airstrikes, landmines, and ground assaults by the Burma Army causes great fear among the civilian population. Teachers struggle to maintain classrooms. Parents try to subdue the panic in their children. Township leaders facilitate humanitarian support for underfunded communities, and pastors attempt to lead their congregations with courage and perseverance amid the raging war environment. Throughout this chaos, stories of resilient men and women emerge from the conflict zones. Despite the overwhelming violence, these figures lead with courage, bringing hope to the hopeless and love to those who are in grief.
The congregation of Canaan Baptist Church in Jaw Sue Village, Mese Township, Karenni State, is just one of many groups that have faced violence by the Burma Army and persevered with faith and unity. Jon Moss, a former U.S. Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) officer, met members of Canaan Baptist Church last Summer while on a community demining mission in the area, not far from Jaw Sue village. After conducting a Good Life Club program, Jon and his team spoke with multiple members of the church community, including pastor Poe, who was willing to tell the story of how his church was bombed, his people were displaced, and why their faith and hope endured.
The Canaan Baptist Church was built in 2017 after the 47 families, about 170 people, had outgrown their previous building. The congregation was full of excitement when their new church was finished, and it was open multiple days a week for years, serving the people of Jaw Sue village as a unifying place of fellowship and worship. Everything changed late at night on July 10th, 2023, when Burma Army forces came with two planes and dropped 300-pound bombs on the village. Two bombs exploded in the neighborhood, and one hit the church. A 12-year-old child was killed, and a man and a woman were injured in the attack. Two houses were wrecked by the airstrikes, while the church itself was severely damaged by the bomb. Dave Eubank and his team of Rangers met villagers from Jaw Sue village in the weeks following the bombing, including members of the church. Dave, his daughter Suzanne, and other Rangers on the team helped encourage the civilians as they responded to the unexpected loss and tragedy.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Pastor Poe and other church leaders leapt into action. "We were running in fear, without any lights, trying to rescue the injured. Then the plane came again while we were on the run." The pastor ran through the village, trying to make some sense of the situation in the dark, following the sounds of screaming, mourning people. "When I saw the people, houses, and church, I was so heartbroken. The first bomb that exploded hit the child who died. I can never forget the sound of his friend crying and crying in pain while we were trying to rescue him. When I heard that sound in my ears, I could never forget it. It was a hard time and the longest night of my entire life."
Canaan Baptist Church before and after the Burma Army bombing in July, 2023.
Through the night, into the next morning, Pastor Poe helped assess the destruction, care for the wounded, encourage the grief-stricken villagers, and finally, decide on the next steps for the inhabitants of Jaw Sue. "Why is the Burma Army brutally killing unarmed civilians? Why are innocent children and women being brutally murdered? Why attack a church that has done nothing wrong?" He asked himself as he walked through his splintered church. "The morning after the attack, we buried the child who had died and left for the area near the Thai border, because we were in danger if we stayed."
After such a brutal attack by the Burma Army, the inhabitants of Jaw Sue village knew they could not stay. They packed up their families and began a long exodus in search of safety. The newly displaced people made their way to another village near the Thai border, but as they began to resettle in tents and bamboo huts, the Burma Military conducted another airstrike against that village, causing them to flee yet again.
Pastor Poe and his people came to an IDP camp on the Thai side of the border, where they remained for 6 months, uncertain of when they would return to their home. Though they were separated from their home, their church, and their sense of security, they still praised God. Pastor Poe reflected on that time: "While we were escaping the war, even though there was no church, we still had to praise God under a tree. We had to worship by using a volleyball court like a monastery. We were still happy in our difficulties." When the Thai border police forced the group to leave the IDP camp, many from Jaw Sue village decided that they were through with displacement. "When we got back to the Burma side, most people said, 'We don’t want to build tents again and again. We are tired of building tents. We will go back to our village,'" one church elder said.
The road to return was not without continued challenges. Because of the shifting frontlines and the threat of bombings, some Jaw Sue villagers remained near the border, while others settled in villages close to their own. The pastor and other leaders traveled back to their home to see what had become of Canaan Baptist Church. "I will never forget the feeling I had when I returned to the church for the first time. I felt tears of sadness when I saw our church, covered in shrubs after years of being abandoned." They could not yet resettle in Jaw Sue because of Burma Army activity in the area. Many congregation members lived in an IDP camp only several hours from their home.
In June of 2025, Pastor Poe met Jon and the team of Rangers. "The FBR team members came to support us. At the end of a relief program, we met with Jon Moss and talked about the condition of the congregation and the ruins of our church. The FBR team then made donations to help with the most important need, which was the roof." Those funds were put to immediate use. The congregation began to repair the church building, and one year later, the church was restored.
"After this kind of attack, our experience of escaping war has created a lot of spiritual formation in the members of our team. Sometimes we feel like the Israelites in the Bible." Pastor Poe explained the similarities between his congregation and the Israelites in exile. They too had to leave their beloved home and place of worship, in pain and fear, and go to another country, with God as their guide. "We stopped on the bank of the Than Lwin River as we first left and stared at our church and cried. We wanted to come back, but we were not allowed to return because the Burma Army was all around. But God is good. We came back; we rebuilt."
Members of Canaan Baptist Church did not merely consider the material wins and losses. They tried to view their hardship through the lens of spirituality, which, in Pastor Poe's own words, is even more important than the physical challenges. "Satan does not want believers to grow spiritually. He is destroying believers in many ways to keep them away from Christ. Destroying churches might be one of those ways, too. Our church can be destroyed, but our faith cannot be broken."
Pastor Poe demonstrated immense faith and courage throughout an experience marred by grief, but defined by hope. "Satan can destroy the things we see, but our hope and faith cannot be broken. Thankfully, the members of the congregation can now praise God again in their beloved church. The believers in this church can hear the Word of God again. The children will grow spiritually through this church. This church will be used to expand God's kingdom. May God be glorified."
Today, the church and its members are in need of basic necessities. Please pray for the people of Karenni State, who long for safety amid landmines, airstrikes, and the constantly shifting frontlines. The Free Burma Rangers are grateful for the leadership at Canaan Baptist Church. Their story is one of resilient faith that also demonstrates the brutality of the Burma Army against defenseless civilians and the forced displacement that is all too common across Burma. Their willingness to care for their people and continue standing as a pillar of hope in southern Karenni State is truly inspiring, and we thank God for the opportunity to come alongside them in practical love.
Thanks and God bless,
The Free Burma Rangers
