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Colonel Lo, a Christian, would often pray with his troops on the front line via two-way radio. Some months earlier, the commander had twice dreamt of seeing an elderly man with his hands raised in front of him. On his left hand was the number 16, on his right 85, and above his head 101. After praying about what this might mean, he concluded that he needed to read Psalms—the only book in the Bible with either 101 verses or chapters.

He looked at . Then he plastered the walls of his bunker with these and other verses, and renamed his troops Battalion 101, after Psalm 101's first verse: "I will sing of your love and justice to you, O Lord."

As the doctor left the colonel's home, Lo's 20-year-old daughter, Saleh, thanked him and turned to wipe away tears from her face. The colonel's wife held Panter's hand in hers and said: "It's as if Jesus Christ has come to our home tonight." The doctor was embarrassed but encouraged.

"I trembled at such a comment, knowing full well the multitude of shortcomings in my own life, and my failure to measure up to anything like that which my Lord would require," Panter said. "Yet on reflection, I rejoiced that somehow, in some small way, we had been able to represent the love of Jesus to them at that time, and stand with them in solidarity in this, their darkest hour."

Benedict Rogers is a consultant to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (www.csw.org.uk), and author of A Land Without Evil: Stopping the Genocide of Burma's Karen People (Monarch Books, 2004).

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The License to Rape report is available online.

More articles about Burma include:

Compassion Confusion | We should serve the needy even when it has bad political consequences. (Aug. 28, 2001)

The Homeless Church of Myanmar | In 1990, after decades of cruel military regimes, democratic elections were held in Myanmar, and the National League for Democracy party won with over 80 percent of the vote. The military ignored the election results, seized control, and has set up the illegitimate (and wrongly named) State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government. (Oct. 5, 1998)

Ethnic Politics Suppresses Outreach | The stunning success of Christian outreach among some ethnic minorities in Asia has fueled religious resentment and repression. (May 19, 1997)

More is available in our Persecution section.

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March 2004, Vol. 48, No. 3