Aung Tin Moe had been told where to go to school and even in what degree to major. There were no scholarships for college, so he had to work. And to get a job he had to be a part of the one political party that ran the government. But now, after completing three years of college in Burma (now known as Myanmar), he decided it was time to speak out and make some choices for himself.
"In 1988, I protested with other students," said Aung Tin. "We spoke about freedom of speech, freedom of education, and marched in the street." Things quickly turned violent, Aung Tin said. "The soldiers had guns and they fired on the demonstrators. Many were injured, but I wasn't injured." However, Aung Tin would soon be fleeing for his life.
Aung Tin fled into "the jungle" during the rainy season. He hid in a Buddhist monastery, crossed rivers and streams, climbed mountains. Finally, after a month of travel, he made it to the borderlands area, populated with Karen refugees. It was here he would continue to hide and live for the next 13 years.
After six years in the forests of Burma, Aung Tin had become a medic at a refugee hospital. One day, he was caring for a man who was one of the rebels fighting the government. The fighter had to have his leg amputated and receive a tetanus shot. However, the man was not healing, and Aung Tin could not help him. Aung Tin tried to take the man from the refugee hospital to a private hospital. The private hospital wanted a lot of money and Aung Tin did not have any money.
"I prayed to God," Aung Tin said. "Can you help me with that patient? I didn't have enough education to treat him. I prayed to God and said I would change my religion." Within days, the rebel, on the verge of death, was eating and walking. Aung Tin, who had been influenced by the Karen Baptist churches in the refugee areas, remembering his vow -- became a Christian in January 1994.
Two months later, Khin Soe was praying. Khin Soe was the daughter of a Baptist minister in the Karen villages of the northern parts of Burma. She had been raised to know the work American Baptist missionaries had done in her country through her schools. She herself was now a school teacher. But all the men around her were "drinking, smoking, doing drugs."
"I asked God, can you please find someone for me," said Khin Soe. "I don't want my husband to be like those people, I asked God can you please find a good husband for me."
A week later, she had found Aung Tin and they were married.
Though married, the couple continued to live life on the run. They delivered their first two children -- a 13-year-old daughter Kapaw SaSah, and an 11-year-old daughter Kapru Htoo in the forests of Burma.
"We didn't have a village, no place, because the Burmese military always attacked us," said Khin Soe. "The first time I was so worried, the first baby, but I prayed to God to please help me [and] Aung Tin was my doctor."
Finally, in 2001, the couple was able to flee persecution and come to the United States through a refugee resettlement program. They came to Utica, New York, where the Tabernacle Baptist Church reached out to them. Tabernacle had been working with Karen refugees since 1999, said Edith Davison of their refugee ministry team. The church also has a historic connection to Burma, sending Cephas Bennett and his family out in the 1820s to serve as missionaries with the Judsons.
Khin Soe arrived pregnant, and soon gave birth to a son, Thomas Dale.
Two years later, the couple has sent $10,000 back to their home village to build a new church, and this was after repaying the airfare to resettle them in the U.S, something all resettled refugees must do, Davison said.
"My home village is very old and the church there is very old," said Khin Soe. "I decided when I was young, I would like to build that church, but I never had the chance when I lived in the jungle. I think God sent me here for people who live in my village."
Now six years into their new life, the Moes have purchased a home. Aung Tin works as a technician and has earned an associate's degree, and Khin Soe works with the public schools as a liaison to the Karen resettled community. And most recently, the couple became U.S. citizens.
"I was so happy when I got U.S. citizenship," said Khin Soe. "I have never gotten citizenship before," said Khin Soe, commenting that people who have fled to the forests are denied citizenship in Burma.
Tabernacle Church, which ministered to about 75 refugees in 2001, now ministers to over 500 resettled Karen. Davison said the church expects about 60 new families in 2007.
Many of those who come will be blessed to interact with missionaries -- like Duane and Marcia Binkley -- who serve in the U.S. and in Thailand (which borders Burma) working with displaced people living in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, and with Karen, Chin and other ethnic persons being resettled by the tens of thousands in the U.S.
"In 1988, I protested with other students," said Aung Tin. "We spoke about freedom of speech, freedom of education, and marched in the street." Things quickly turned violent, Aung Tin said. "The soldiers had guns and they fired on the demonstrators. Many were injured, but I wasn't injured." However, Aung Tin would soon be fleeing for his life.
Aung Tin fled into "the jungle" during the rainy season. He hid in a Buddhist monastery, crossed rivers and streams, climbed mountains. Finally, after a month of travel, he made it to the borderlands area, populated with Karen refugees. It was here he would continue to hide and live for the next 13 years.
After six years in the forests of Burma, Aung Tin had become a medic at a refugee hospital. One day, he was caring for a man who was one of the rebels fighting the government. The fighter had to have his leg amputated and receive a tetanus shot. However, the man was not healing, and Aung Tin could not help him. Aung Tin tried to take the man from the refugee hospital to a private hospital. The private hospital wanted a lot of money and Aung Tin did not have any money.
"I prayed to God," Aung Tin said. "Can you help me with that patient? I didn't have enough education to treat him. I prayed to God and said I would change my religion." Within days, the rebel, on the verge of death, was eating and walking. Aung Tin, who had been influenced by the Karen Baptist churches in the refugee areas, remembering his vow -- became a Christian in January 1994.
Two months later, Khin Soe was praying. Khin Soe was the daughter of a Baptist minister in the Karen villages of the northern parts of Burma. She had been raised to know the work American Baptist missionaries had done in her country through her schools. She herself was now a school teacher. But all the men around her were "drinking, smoking, doing drugs."
"I asked God, can you please find someone for me," said Khin Soe. "I don't want my husband to be like those people, I asked God can you please find a good husband for me."
A week later, she had found Aung Tin and they were married.
Though married, the couple continued to live life on the run. They delivered their first two children -- a 13-year-old daughter Kapaw SaSah, and an 11-year-old daughter Kapru Htoo in the forests of Burma.
"We didn't have a village, no place, because the Burmese military always attacked us," said Khin Soe. "The first time I was so worried, the first baby, but I prayed to God to please help me [and] Aung Tin was my doctor."
Finally, in 2001, the couple was able to flee persecution and come to the United States through a refugee resettlement program. They came to Utica, New York, where the Tabernacle Baptist Church reached out to them. Tabernacle had been working with Karen refugees since 1999, said Edith Davison of their refugee ministry team. The church also has a historic connection to Burma, sending Cephas Bennett and his family out in the 1820s to serve as missionaries with the Judsons.
Khin Soe arrived pregnant, and soon gave birth to a son, Thomas Dale.
Two years later, the couple has sent $10,000 back to their home village to build a new church, and this was after repaying the airfare to resettle them in the U.S, something all resettled refugees must do, Davison said.
"My home village is very old and the church there is very old," said Khin Soe. "I decided when I was young, I would like to build that church, but I never had the chance when I lived in the jungle. I think God sent me here for people who live in my village."
Now six years into their new life, the Moes have purchased a home. Aung Tin works as a technician and has earned an associate's degree, and Khin Soe works with the public schools as a liaison to the Karen resettled community. And most recently, the couple became U.S. citizens.
"I was so happy when I got U.S. citizenship," said Khin Soe. "I have never gotten citizenship before," said Khin Soe, commenting that people who have fled to the forests are denied citizenship in Burma.
Tabernacle Church, which ministered to about 75 refugees in 2001, now ministers to over 500 resettled Karen. Davison said the church expects about 60 new families in 2007.
Many of those who come will be blessed to interact with missionaries -- like Duane and Marcia Binkley -- who serve in the U.S. and in Thailand (which borders Burma) working with displaced people living in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, and with Karen, Chin and other ethnic persons being resettled by the tens of thousands in the U.S.