Htoo Rah knows persecution. As a teenager, he barely escaped when the Burmese military invaded his village and brutally attacked people. He fled to a refugee camp in Thailand, studied, became a teacher and came to Victory Bible Academy, Christian Freedom International’s school for persecuted Christians.
Today, he teaches persecuted Christians from Burma like him.
In March, he messaged: “Today the Burmese airstrike my village. Some people dead, some injuries. Please pray for my village.”
MORE THAN A TEACHER
Htoo Rah, his wife and three children live at Victory with the students. For young people who have lost family to war and persecution, Htoo Rah’s family is living role model of a Christian marriage and parents.
He is also a living example of overcoming persecution.
For nearly 80 years, Christians in Burma (also called Myanmar) have lived through conflict and persecution. Since the coup in 2021, the military has killed 149 Christians, imprisoned 218 for faith-related reasons, damaged 343 Christian churches and buildings, and timed attacks for Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter.
Htoo Rah’s village is small. About 120 people and only 15 homes. It has no militia. They don’t fight the Burmese military. Yet the suffering is heartbreaking. In one recent attack on a nearby community center, a woman and her baby were killed while she was giving birth.
“I think they just target civilians to make them suffer,” he said.
Two young adults from Htoo Rah’s village are now Victory students. One graduate returned to serve using the skills he gained at Victory.
Working together and with funding from Christian Freedom International, Htoo Rah and Victory’s staff arranged to get food and supplies delivered deep inside the jungle where the villagers were hiding.
Several years ago, Christian Freedom International helped rebuild Htoo Rah’s village church after an attack. It was attacked again. They rebuilt it again.
But now they are afraid to meet there because the Burmese military targets gatherings. Instead, Christians meet quietly in small groups in their homes.
Since the attack, many villagers have moved their bamboo homes deeper into the forest. Somehow, they continue. They worship. They farm. They care for one another. They rebuild. They endure.
That is why Victory Bible Academy exists.
Many of Victory’s students come from villages just like Htoo Rah’s.
They have seen family and friends killed, homes and churches destroyed. They have lived with the sound of aircraft overhead and the fear that they could be next.
Many are training to go back. Victory’s students prepare, knowing they may serve inside Burma and in the path of bombs. They know the people they will serve because they are those people. They know the fear. The loss. The need.
And they are preparing to bring more than practical skills.
A student may return to a village to teach children the Bible – then help organize a community after an attack. Another may help rebuild a home or church and sit with a frightened family to offer Biblical guidance and prayer.
In Thailand, our staff and students hear bombs explode across the border and watch videos of attacks sent by friends and family inside Burma. But Victory is more than a safe place to study.
They are learning how to serve Christ in the midst of persecution.
And teacher Htoo Rah is a living example for them.