Should a Thirteen-Year-Old Carry an Assault Rifle?

The following is from Steve Gumaer, Executive Director, Partners Relief & Development ...

Geniro is 13 years old. He carries an assault rifle and has completed basic training to join one of the resistance armies fighting for freedom in Burma. The army Geniro is a member of is one of many factions that are fighting for their freedom and defending their homes in Western Burma, like the Karen do in Eastern Burma.

Like me, you may be deeply disturbed and wonder, why do they give their young kids weapons. As I have struggled with this and asked God how we are to respond, I have realized one thing: These people are desperate. Their villages are burned down, their fathers are forced to serve as porter slaves, and their livelihood is destroyed by one of the most abusive and brutal regimes in the world today.

The war in Burma has stripped away the support and protective mechanisms that would keep this boy off the battlefield. In desperation the leaders of his community encourage boys like Geniro to join the adults in a life or death struggle against a merciless dictatorship.

Not only are Burma's children serving as combatants, they are being robbed of their childhood by a regime that denies them access to basic education, healthcare, and security. Further compounding their misery is a famine currently underway in Chin State where Geniro lives. This famine has claimed the lives of 44 children so far and leaves more than 50,000 vulnerable to starvation in 120 villages.

As part of our LifeLine campaign to physically be a life-line to the people of Burma, Partners has already sent in funds to buy rice and other food products. I just returned from a trip to help train 7 new Free Burma Ranger relief teams to work in this part of Burma. The teams will pay special attention to the needs of children. Their duty is to protect, nurture, and arrange sustainable care for children who have been marginalized by the war.

As we work for change in Burma for kids like Geniro, we also spread a net of compassion on the ground for as many children as we are able to reach. There are over 1,500 children in our children's homes, 65,000 children going to school each day, and thousands more that Partners are impacting as we press on into the battlefield to demonstrate God's love.

We can't do this work without you. Please continue to pray for our staff and the teams we support in the field. Ask God to guide, provide, and empower them. And would you consider asking Him what you could do to play a part in supporting and loving the people of Burma who are in desperate need of help? If you would like to give towards our work, please click here and you will be linked to our secure online donation page.

13 year-old boys shouldn't have to carry guns as big as them around. And parents shouldn't have to feel forced to expose their 13 year-old sons to the horrors of war. Together, we can do something about it.

For the children of war,

Steve