“Help us Lord Jesus” was our constant prayer throughout the Moebye battle,” wrote David Eubank, head of Free Burma Rangers, a faith-based aid mission working on the frontlines of Burma’s war for over twenty years. “Mortars and 105mm howitzers fired repeatedly at our casualty collection point (CCP). The speed and sound of the cannon firing and the boom of impact gave no warning.”
Airstrikes can sometimes be anticipated by the pitch change in a diving plane. Mortars follow a looping trajectory—harder to track—but, “you can sometimes hear it being fired and then have a few seconds before it impacts.” Howitzers are different. “The firing and impact of a howitzer is almost instantaneous and devastating.” The medics were left exposed to superior firepower that killed indiscriminately, civilians, women, children, the wounded, and even medics. “We could do nothing but pray and get as low as we could.”
“We set up our casualty collection point (CCP) in a concrete building and got down whenever the rounds came in, shrapnel slammed into our building, but we were protected. We thanked God throughout the day,” Eubank wrote.
Moebye lies on the edge of the mountains, with rice fields to the east, Pekon Lake to the north, and the serene Balu River running nearby. “But there’s no peace now. The Burma military has hammered Moebye for four years, with multiple massacres of villagers before everyone fled.”
The town resembles any small American community, two-story homes, front yards, iron gates, neat blocks. The Karenni people are mostly Catholic, so churches are everywhere. Today, it’s a ghost town. Homes are abandoned, churches riddled with machine-gun fire or destroyed by artillery, and yards heavily mined.
Moebye sits at a strategic crossroads between southern Shan State and northern Karenni State. It’s a vital supply route for both regions and has changed hands multiple times since the 2021 coup. Junta forces seized it early, turning schools and churches into military command centers. They massacred large numbers of civilians while forcing the rest to flee.
The resistance has retaken parts of the town several times, but the junta has launched repeated counteroffensives. Earlier this year, resistance forces, primarily the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), won a stunning victory, reclaiming about 80% of the town. The cost was high, with many lives lost on both sides. Tragically, the resistance had to retreat just days later after running out of ammunition.
While the junta enjoys a steady supply of weapons from China and Russia, the resistance must smuggle munitions into the country, a slow, expensive, and illegal process under the laws of neighboring nations. Shipments are often seized before reaching the front. It’s not uncommon for fighters to go into battle with as few as 20 rounds. In extreme cases, multiple soldiers share a single weapon.
The junta’s unrestricted access to munitions, aircraft, artillery, and jet fuel underscores the failure of the UN and other international organizations. Burma is under strict sanctions, yet the world allows China and Russia to keep supplying the generals who are slaughtering their own people.
According to Eubank, “Just south of Moebye, almost the entire population of 350,000 Karenni have been displaced, along with thousands of southern Shan families.” He said that during his team’s first week in the area, more than 12,000 people were newly displaced in a single day by Burma military attacks northeast of Moebye.
The Free Burma Rangers provided medical support, setting up a casualty collection point and evacuating the wounded from the front lines. “Normally, that means running through gunfire, dragging the patient to a road, if there is one, and transferring them into a vehicle,” Eubank explained. But the junta deliberately targets both the wounded and the medics. “Roads near the front lines are usually heavily hit by mortars and airstrikes because the Burma military knows what the evacuation routes are.”
This time, the team had one armored vehicle, the only one they have in all of Burma. “It’s been hit multiple times by mortars as well as rifle and machine gun fire,” Eubank wrote. “Each time, the armor has protected the wounded and medics inside.”
Eubank described how the Free Burma Rangers organized medical operations during the Moebye battle: “We divided into three elements. One was with the armored vehicle in the front, going to pick up casualties at the point of injury. We dismount and move on foot to bring the wounded back to the vehicle.” The vehicle then transports the wounded to a transfer point, where other vehicles with medics are waiting. “The transfer team drives the wounded to our casualty collection point (CCP), where our doctor and medics do the best they can to save them.”
Once stabilized at the CCP, patients are taken to the nearest hospital, often a full day’s drive away. The entire process, from front-line rescue to hospital transfer, was carried out by a small but dedicated team of nurses, medics, and one doctor, all working under constant threat.
The battle lasted five days, leaving 58 wounded and seven dead. Still, the resistance succeeded in holding the Burma Army back from the strategic crossroads.
During two brief lulls, part of the team conducted Good Life Club (GLC) programs for displaced families, bringing music, stories, and prayer to children under fire. “What a contrast,” wrote Eubank, “to be singing and dancing within the sound of mortars landing, but to be filled with genuine joy to be together and to be alive.”
One especially moving moment came when the team was invited to hold a program inside a Buddhist monastery, hidden from aircraft. A large Buddha statue stood in the main hall where they set up. Though most of the displaced were Buddhist, they welcomed the Christian team warmly. Karen, David’s wife, led songs and laughter, then shared about the saving power of Jesus. The group sang “Our God is a Great, Great God” together.
“I could feel God’s presence of love and power there,” Eubank wrote, describing how people of different faiths—Buddhist, Christian, and animist—were united by love.
“In the battle we are in now,” Eubank added, “we already have over 100 wounded and 15 dead—and it continues. As long as God leads us, we will keep going. Thank you for your prayers during the Moebye battle.”
The post “Help Us Lord Jesus”: A Cry for Help from the Burma Frontlines appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.