Ruth replied… “Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
Ruth 1:16
Daw Pwa Sein (1942)
Stood By Hated Tribe
Daw Pwa Sein was hacked to death when she chose to stand with a Christian tribe during a raid by the Burmese. The daughter of a Buddhist, she became a Christian as a teenager and went on to become headmistress of a Christian school in Kemendine, Burma. The country was invaded in 1941, and along with her school she was evacuated to Nyaugn-ngu. The inhabitants of this village were Karens, a tribe that includes many Christians and is hated by the Burmese majority.
On 5 June 1942 the village was raided by the Burmese, and although Daw Pwa Sein was not a Karen, she stood with her fellow-believers. The Burmese raiders chose her and her companions, namely Daw Sein Thit, Daw Aye Nyein, Hilda, Ann and Ma Tin Shwe, to be killed. All were given a few moments to pray before being hacked to death.
Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be;
Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem;
Choose Thou my good and ill.
Choose Thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health.
Choose Thou my cares for me,
My poverty or wealth.
Not mine, not mine the choice,
In things both great and small;
Be Thou my guide, my strength,
My wisdom and my all.
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)