Largest Programs

Free the Oppressed DBA Free Burma Rangers reported its three largest programs on its FY 2019 Form 990 as:

Burma Ministries - We have 105 FBR teams in Burma and performed 86 missions in 2019, treating more than 65,000 patients with medicine and helped another 120,000 people. We performed Good Life Club (GL ... (More)
Burma Ministries - We have 105 FBR teams in Burma and performed 86 missions in 2019, treating more than 65,000 patients with medicine and helped another 120,000 people. We performed Good Life Club (GLC) programs all over Burma, sharing the gospel by sharing the message that "Good life comes from God." To tell them the gospel story through GLC bracelets, to pray with them, and to remind them they are not forgotten by God or by the international community can bring healing. As the Burma Army continues its attacks in the ethnic areas of Burma, the Good Life Club (GLC) is now more important than ever. Burma has been divided for more than 70 years and, while the government has attempted to broker peace with the ethnic groups, the predatory attacks of the military at the same time belie the sincerity of these peacemaking overtures. The focus of the GLC is to show God's love to the children in conflict areas. Through spiritual dramas, songs, games, and other activities, GLC counselors spend time with the children and show them that, even though their lives don't always feel very stable, they are not alone. Inspired by John 10:10, where Jesus promises abundant life, the GLC believes that promise is true even for these children and strives to share this life with children everywhere they go. The Good Life Club was founded in the midst of a mission to Karen villagers who were hiding from Burma Army soldiers who were trying to capture or kill them. It was founded in faith that this verse was true, even as children had to hide in the jungle with only the few supplies they and their parents could carry, faith that God's promise of abundant life was true even for them. The GLC has wrestled with this promise from Burma to Sudan to Iraq and Syria. What is abundant life in a hide site in the jungle? What is it in the ruins of your home in Mosul, Iraq? What is it when your family is ISIS and is making a last stand against the entire world? As we encounter all kinds of oppression we have found that God's promises sustain us while we try to follow His example to share His abundant life. This is the Good Life Club. We also conducted our annual Free Burma Ranger Servant Leadership and Relief Team Training and celebrated our 22nd anniversary of FBR's existence. From October to December 2019 140 people from across Burma participated in the training including 102 new basic students, making up 22 new FBR teams. 20 advanced students, partnering with 18 students from JSMK, made up our advanced training, going deeper into the topics they had learned in their basic training the previous year. This year students came from eight different ethnic groups and represented ten different ethnic organizations. FBR had five Arakan basic teams and one advanced team, as well as four Shan basic teams. The Karen, Karenni, Kachin, Naga, Lahu, and Chin also sent men and women to be trained. One focus this year was on having the ethnic leaders teach and lead as many classes as possible. From start to finish, our ethnic headquarters leaders did an amazing job running the training, dealing with problems together, and making sure that this was one of the best trainings ever delivered. The staff that leads the training is made up of instructors and junior instructors, all who have been through FBR training and involved with FBR for many years. Most of the ethnic groups that send teams also send an instructor. This year the Kachin team travelled to camp with Zau Seng, one of FBR's most beloved instructors and headquarters leaders. When Zau was killed serving in Syria in November, the leaders and students mourned together. Taking a day off from regular training, the staff organized a memorial service for Zau and gave time and space for the students to grieve and process the loss, but also learn from Zau's death; he was one of the best videographers FBR has ever had, and he did everything with so much joy and love. Graduation took place on Dec. 26 and part of the celebration was baptizing four Rangers. Three were new Rangers and one was JSMK staff. After graduation the teams divided into four groups to complete follow-on relief missions, together with instructors. They will have an opportunity to practice their new skills on a real mission but with instructors and experienced Rangers available for further coaching and feedback. Once finished with the mission, they will return to their home areas, ready to conduct missions there. They will have learned and practiced many new skills to be able to help their people in many kinds of crisis, as well as having gained new relationships across ethnic lines. Both these skills and relationships will be of vital importance as Burma and her people move into an uncertain future. There are three requirements for FBR team members: 1) They must be literate in at least one language, to be able to send out reports. 2) They must have the physical and moral courage to be able to do physically hard and dangerous missions, and cannot run away from the enemy if the villagers they are helping cannot run. 3) They must do this work for love; they are not paid by FBR. On arriving at camp, many students find themselves next to others who they, either because of ethnicity or organization, would normally be in conflict with. But the training forces them to work together and the spirit of love that the teaching is founded on often breaks down these conflicts. Rangers are to "Help the people, get the news out." Rangers learn to document the human rights violations they encounter on missions by taking videos, photos and conducting interviews with the people they meet, including villagers who have experienced violence or oppression, local leaders, teachers, soldiers and others they are trying to serve. They go into conflict zones to give a voice to those who are oppressed and to tell their stories. Ranger reports are processed - cataloged, collated, photos and videos filed, translated when necessary, and shared all over the world. We desire to bring change by catalyzing action in those who see our reports. We stand for the dignity of those we serve by sharing their story, because every person counts. In 2019, FBR provided frontlines reporting as fighting continued in Burma, in violation of ceasefire agreements, and as the Turks launched a violent ethnic cleansing operation into northeast Syria. On November 3rd, 2019, Kachin Ranger and cameraman Zau Seng, was killed by a Turkish munition while filming the attacks of the Turkish and Free Syrian Army. Read more on our website. "Year after year, the Jungle School of Medicine-Kawthoolei is running smoothly as God is with us." - Saw Toh Win, JSMK Medical Director The Jungle School of Medicine-Kawthoolei (JSMK) is a small hospital and medical school nestled in the hills of Burma and part of FBR's Tha U Wah training camp. Patients come here to receive medical care from highly trained Karen medics, western doctors, and medics-in-training. Students participate in patient care in the morning and evening and attend classes in the afternoon. This year JSMK trained 20 medics, three interns, and four second year students. JSMK provides assessment and laboratory testing to patients; the results of these tests are then reviewed by the Karen staff and remote doctors across the world through email. A treatment plan is agreed upon and implemented by the Karen medics. JSMK has a reputation in Karen State that draws people from days away. Every year medics and students treat waves of patients with a plethora of conditions: wounds and skin infections, abdominal pain, traumatic injuries, tumors, and fevers with many causes, to name a few. But this year the team faced new challenges with three outbreaks. Early 2019 saw a measles outbreak that reached the JSMK area. Many children in the area were protected by the vaccines they've received through the Kawthoolei Village Project (KVP). Other children and adults, however, became ill. Measles usually kills through a secondary infection like pneumonia or malnutrition, or it can cause blindness. Several babies were treated at the hospital, and all villagers who had been ill were treated with Vitamin A, which prevents blindness after a measles infection. In summer 2019, Karen State saw a few cases of poliovirus. The WHO responded quickly, working with a local NGO to initiate a mass vaccine campaign. While the children around JSMK participate in KVP and were already protected, most villages have no vaccine programs. JSMK sent several medics to help with the campaign in unvaccinated areas. At the end of the summer, reports started trickling in of rabies, starting with the death of a two-year-old in a neighboring clinic. Throughout the fall the reports, and subsequent fear, continued to spread. Villagers and parents understand little about the disease, and routine vaccination for rabies is not practical in this setting. Instead, JSMK medics are talking to villagers about proper wound care and encoura (Less)

Middle East Ministries - By February 2019, all that remained of ISIS's territorial holdings was a one-square mile village in Syria called Baghouz, which held the most hardcore members of ISIS - those  ... (More)
Middle East Ministries - By February 2019, all that remained of ISIS's territorial holdings was a one-square mile village in Syria called Baghouz, which held the most hardcore members of ISIS - those who had survived multiple defeats and never surrendered. (Less)

Thailand Ministries - We supported three hostels in Thailand, provided medical treatment, patient care, and other medical training. In 2019, we had our first missions completed for FBR Aviation. The p ... (More)
Thailand Ministries - We supported three hostels in Thailand, provided medical treatment, patient care, and other medical training. In 2019, we had our first missions completed for FBR Aviation. The purpose of Free Burma Rangers Aviation is to share the lo (Less)