Step by Step, part 1

"But Adonai is with me like a dreaded warrior." Jeremiah 20:11

Orcs sniffing for hobbits. A drone passes overhead, hunting over the jungle for hours. The fact that it prowls for its prey through the night means it's probably using thermal imaging. We've camouflaged our Operating Room tent with cane and our ambulances with mud so maybe they won’t see us on the visible end of the light spectrum. And as the ambient temperature is about the same as body temperature, I imagine the thermals on these drones have a hard time actually picking out human bodies. More likely they would be looking for campfires, generator exhaust plumes... autoclave burners. But the stakes are high as these drones are armed. Occasionally, I’ve heard one drop several bombs. Yesterday, two helicopters also flew over us… twice. Including the jet fighters, it's a pretty menacing horde roaming the skies over our heads.

The situation on the ground is a bit different. Occasional explosions from the bombs and mortars reverberate in the jungle around us, day and night. Some are from the Karen, some from the Burma Army… and I can’t tell the difference. But we are getting very few injuries, so I am starting to suspect they are coming from the Karen. In fact, we’ve only gotten one minor injury so far. The Burma Army is supposed to have 3 Battalions controlling this area, in the heart of Karen State. And the Karen want their land back. With the fury of a patient man, the Karen want it back and they want the Burma Army gone. So, at some point, unless the Burma Army surrenders, there will be a bloody ground assault. Against this potentially monstrous Shelobic need, Earth Mission has set up a small but very capable mobile surgical hospital near the impending battle… if you can call tents, bamboo, leaves, string, tarps, and duct tape a hospital. Despite appearances, like Frodo’s Sting, the spider’s bane, we will challenge the massive need by caring for any who are wounded with our utmost best… civilians or soldiers… come what may.

But for now, we wait. And think. And think. Why again am I here? Is this really worth the risk? I miss my wife. I love this band of brothers I am with. So, sitting here… waiting… I thought I should write out some of these thoughts.

In the manner of most journeys, my story with the Karen people started with one small step… going out to a Japanese restaurant with a guy who spoke in church. Caryl, Josh, Luke, and I had landed in Thailand as refugees from our mission in Pakistan. One day we were in church in Chiang Mai, and Steve Gumaer, then the head of Partners Relief and Development, spoke. At the end of the service, he asked for donations of blankets and food for Internally Displaced Karen people (IDPs) in the mountains along the border. I had never heard of the Karen. Who were they? Why did they need blankets and food? Over my first ever Sushi set, Steve told me about the 70-year war the Burma Army was waging against the Karen. His tales about the Karen reeked of oppression and injustice but also included stories of courage and community. He said as a doctor, I should check out the Free Burma Rangers who were going into Burma to do medical humanitarian missions for these IDPs. One step led to another, and I soon found myself as the medical director for FBR.

For the next several years in FBR, I worked closely with the Karen and learned much from them. Together, we improved FBR’s medical training from a few hours of first aid to several weeks and finally to a one-year medic training program. Through these experiences, I learned firsthand about the struggles of the Karen. I met many of their leaders. I taught Karen students medicine, and the Karen taught me about life under what some called a “slow genocide.” But they did so in a way that totally captured my heart in love for their people, not hatred for their enemies. Although that it is a fine line sometimes, the Karen don’t act like victims. Instead, they taught me about the beauty of their land and the strength of their lives in community. In fact, they taught me much about Jesus that I hadn’t considered before because of my own cultural blinders.

“Through these experiences, I learned firsthand about the struggles of the Karen. I met many of their leaders. I taught Karen students medicine, and the Karen taught me about life under what some called a ‘slow genocide.’”

The National Ceasefire Agreement was signed in 2015 bringing a measure of peace to the country and opportunities for legally approved development programs. Based on what we had learned about the real healthcare needs of Karen State, we decided to leave FBR and start a 5-year Physician Associate training program for the Karen. We also wanted to provide better practical hands-on teaching opportunities on diseases our graduates would commonly encounter. So, we opened two hospitals… one in the city and a year later one in the jungle. Our only struggle then was just to make the program better… survival wasn’t an issue… or not the main one. On February 1st, 2021, the Burma military, led by Min Aung Lang and spewing self-justifications, overthrew the elected government. Survival soon became a much bigger issue.

Over the following 3 years, in the face of massive opposition, the military has been driving the country to ruin to stay in power. They have put tens of thousands in prison for resisting their political agenda. Dastardly deeds like changing a Facebook icon to black to protest a massacre… 10 years hard labor. I recently read that a 23-year-old teacher got a life prison sentence for protesting the coup and her dad 7 years. A life sentence for a protest?? For a 23-year-old teacher? Let that sink in. The use of torture all along the judicial process has been well documented. Many don’t survive. In fact, the military has killed thousands and burned down whole cities. More than a million people are now on the run fleeing the military. The ethnic groups combined with local militias (Peoples Defense Force or PDF) began fighting back. At first, PDFs fought back with homemade weapons. Once, early on, the Karen started a surprise attack on a military base by throwing 10 hand grenades at the perimeter of the enemy camp. All 10 were duds. I know this because we got a dozen of very badly shot up young Karen men afterward.

Increasingly, however, over time, the efforts of the PDF militias and the ethnic armies became better coordinated and better armed. To the point they are now winning the ground war. Military camp after camp has been taken or surrendered. Battalions and whole Divisions of the Burma Army have surrendered in mass. In the last 2 weeks, because so many military units have surrendered, the Burma Army started conscripting young men and women from the cities, at the airport, at checkpoints on the roads. Can you imagine? Seeing your sons (and some rumors say daughters) yanked from the car or bus at a checkpoint to be forced to fight on the side of your enemy who is in fact losing. People who have stayed quiet hoping to avoid the whole struggle are now in sheer panic as the military is now going to homes looking for young people. But again, people are resisting. Many flee. In the last week, 17 city administrators working for the military have been killed. The military still proudly justifies its existence even as it crumbles and carries out a scorched-earth war against the very population it vowed to protect. Indeed, for now, they still rule the sky and have the bigger guns. Meanwhile, Burma barely gets a mention on Western news services. International humanitarian groups talk and talk and talk, paralyzed to actually DO anything.

But then there’s a lot of that going around the world lately. As if talk counts as action. People passionately posting or shouting at a camera, politicians promoting their cause with pretend fury, protesters justifying themselves with a fist raised in the air… all without actually DOing anything. Probably a lot more of us are quietly asking a question… as a follower of Jesus, what should I DO in the face of all the oppression and injustice in the world? In between being distracted by the drones and the gnats buzzing around my head, sitting in the jungle on the edge of a mass casualty event, I realize the centrality of my faith and the God who has guided me, step by step to this place. I believe in a loving Creator whose one expectation of us is to love. More specifically, to love Him with every part of our being, to learn to experience His love for us, and to extend that love to those around us—our neighbors. But especially to those on the margins of life without the means to stand for themselves. In that context, the beggar on the side of the road becomes as important as the genocide on another continent. So, what should I DO?

Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” I believe, directed by God, our obedience leads to the reverse as well… injustice made right anywhere affects injustice everywhere. Nowhere in the Bible are we called to save the whole world. That’s God’s job. But we are called to heed the inner voice that urges us to take care of the situation or need directly in our path. The parable of the Good Samaritan being a great example. And often, I have found that the first step is fairly easy. I doubt the naked bleeding victim on the side of the road was the Good Samaritan’s first round with desperate situations.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

So, if… and only if... you feel the Logos inside you urging to take the guy talking in church out to lunch, do it. Or tutor some kid in English. Or talk to the beggar outside of Starbucks. Or get involved with an organization that moves you. But realize that the first step is often the beginning of a journey. One that may lead you to treating injured people on a front line somewhere. Or spending a year in the jungle teaching English and math to first-year PA students as it did for one in our EM community. Or supporting a PA student financially as it has done for two of our EM community members. What should you DO? Only you and your Maker can answer that. But know this… wherever that first step leads you… come what may… you can count on a dreaded warrior to be standing by your side…

...and sometimes in this world that’s exactly what you need.