“Because of God I am still alive”: A Ranger Finds Jesus
Karenni State, Burma
30 July 2024
Beginnings:
Aung Gyi, whose nickname means “Victory,” is 27 years old. He is from the Sagaing area of Myanmar, but grew up in Mandalay, a city in central Burma. As a young teenager, he lost both his parents, who passed away just one week apart. He has three older brothers, but isn’t able to communicate with them anymore after they were all briefly arrested by the police due to Aung Gyi’s participation in the revolution.
Aung Gyi returned to Sagaing for university, where he studied mechanical engineering and, perhaps more importantly, met his future wife, Lin, in 2019. In February 2021, the Burma Army staged a coup and overthrew the elected government; very quickly the people of Burma rose up to resist – the revolution had begun. In the cities of central Burma there were mass protests, and in the outlying ethnic areas, the scale and intensity of violence by the Burma Army against the ethnic people began to increase. Aung Gyi and Lin both became involved in the people’s movement and in May 2021, after learning more about the situation for Karenni IDPs (internally displaced people), they and three other friends raised 4 million kyat so they could travel to Karenni to help.
Since the coup, Karenni State has seen some of the heaviest attacks by the Burma Army, and hundreds of people have been displaced. While the need is great, travel there, especially from the outside, is difficult. Aung Gyi and the group knew their trip could be difficult and dangerous. Once on their way, they arrived in a town near the Karenni border and stopped to buy supplies and try to learn more about the situation and safest way to the IDP area. While there, they heard there was a ceasefire, so they set off again to reach the IDPs. At one point, they were stopped at a Burma Army checkpoint, but were miraculously the only people on the bus who didn’t have their IDs and phones checked. On the way, they often didn’t know where to go next but Lin would encourage the team to pray and wait. They heard there were many IDPs in Demoso, so they decided to go there; but, before continuing, they decided their group needed a name. Freelance Volunteer Myanmar was born.
Since then, FVM has grown to a total of 20 volunteers. Their mission is to visit IDP camps to give supplies and medicine, and facilitate children’s programs. In September 2021, they met FBR Karenni teams and began to collaborate. They were able to give money for mobile medical clinics and participated with Good Life Club programs.
In January 2022, during an FBR relief mission, an FBR Karenni leader called Aung Gyi to see if he could help to organize food for some team members who were returning to the area. Aung Gyi liked what FBR was doing since there were many similarities between FBR and his work. He also met Dave Eubank who gave a donation to FVM to help continue their work. In June 2022, Aung Gyi met with FBR teams again on a relief mission and asked to join a team for basic training later that year.
Aung Gyi often uses his musical abilities to give IDPs hope.
New Faith:
Aung Gyi was raised Buddhist, but he says that it always felt more cultural than personal. Lin is a Christian and while they were dating, she would take Aung Gyi to church every Sunday and explain her faith to him. Aung Gyi says that he would have identified more as an atheist at that time.
After Aung Gyi met Dave Eubank, he started to think a lot more about faith. He saw that Dave would go to the frontline in Burma and in many other countries as well, but every time they met, Dave just talked about Jesus. He remembers Dave saying, “He (Jesus) forgets my sins and shows me the way.”
Aung Gyi said, “I think he prays a lot and that’s why he hasn’t gotten injured on the frontline. So I started asking my girlfriend because I was curious about that. My girlfriend was so happy and we started reading the Bible together. Dave Eubank inspired me a lot. When I graduated from Ranger training, Dave said ‘Pray, think, act’ and so I wrote it down. Whenever I went back to the frontline I always thought about this.”
Pretty soon, God started working in Aung Gyi’s heart, and he shares three testimonies of God’s faithfulness and calling to him.
The first time was seeing God meet an immediate need. In January 2023, Aung Gyi prayed, “God it’s been two years. I need a truck for my organization. If you’re really God, please help me.” The next day, Dave Eubank called him to a meeting. Dave was talking with other leaders and suddenly he turned to Aung Gyi and asked, “Do you need a truck?” Aung Gyi says, “That was the first time I prayed and God had already answered me. I told my girlfriend what had happened; it was so crazy!”
Aung Gyi leading resistance soldiers in a prayer.
In July 2023, in Pan Tein, Aung Gyi went with a Ranger team to help provide medical help for an impending battle between the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) and other resistance groups, against the Burma Army. On the way to connect with the other half of their group, they contacted them to ask if there were any landmines in the area. The group said, no, you can come in – but suddenly they heard a landmine explode. Aung Gyi says, “I’m not afraid of mortars, jets, or gun fire, I’m only afraid of landmines. I said a prayer, ‘Lord be with me and cover me.’ A soldier had stepped on a landmine and I ran out to help stop the bleeding and to evacuate him. Suddenly all the soldiers lay down on the ground and everyone looked terrified. I yelled to ask what was going on. They showed me there was a landmine wire between my legs. I stopped and prayed, ‘God help me and be with me.’ I was safe and the landmine didn’t explode. This is the second time God showed me the way.”
The third time was in November 2023. He was driving a truck with 25 IDPs and some Rangers sitting on top of it. Loi Kaw was being bombed and he was helping to evacuate the people. He didn’t think they would be a target because they were just civilians and weren’t right on the frontline. Suddenly he heard an explosion near his truck and realized he was a target. They came to an open field and the jet shot rockets and machine guns. The first time, the jet shot about 10 ft. behind the truck; the next time, the fire was in front of the truck about 10 ft. Aung Gyi said, “I remembered I needed to do one thing – I needed to pray. The Rangers shouted that the jet fighter was diving. I was yelling in my mind ‘God please help me’ and suddenly I stepped on the brake. Bullets came three feet in front of my truck. The IDPs were crying and I just drove fast to get away. The Rangers were shaking and I grabbed their hands and prayed with them. I said we need to thank God because we are still alive. I called my girlfriend and told her ‘I want to get baptized. Because of God I am still alive.’ She told me that the day before she prayed that I would accept Jesus.”
Aung Gyi got baptized the next month in Karenni. “Before that I did a lot of Bible study to learn more about God. Two days later, on 27th December, Lin and I got married.”
Recently, Aung Gyi helped with a medical training for frontline aid workers. He helped to facilitate many worship events for the students. “Every worship night I want to show young people that Jesus is real and you just have to ask him. He’s real. Every night at worship I am so happy. It feels so powerful for me. Even some Christians they forget to pray and connect with God. You don’t need a long prayer – just ‘God help me’ and ‘God be with me.’”
Now as a Christian, life still has many challenges, but Aung Gyi says his goal is to “try to share my life with my people and give love to my enemies.”
God bless you,
The Free Burma Rangers