After 4 years of being at the army camp, Anna decided to run away. She was tired of being yelled at every day, living in fear and being constantly exhausted and hungry. One day, Anna and a friend pretended to get sick and told the leaders they could not work. They hid in a car and crossed into a small city on the Burma China border.

In the city, Anna and her friend found jobs at a local restaurant. One day, two Burmese business men treated Anna and her friend to dinner and bought them gifts. Then they lured the girls to a hotel and raped them. Because of the gifts the girls felt indebted to the men and continued to see them. The girls were only 15 years old.

Anna was constantly terrorized by the army’s threats that they would enlist her father or younger sister if she did not return. Her parents would warn her when the army was looking for her and she would go into hiding for days.

The army finally caught up to Anna. She was arrested and put into a car heading for the army camp. She overheard the driver calling the camp and they said they were preparing the thick rod to beat her with. When the driver stopped to run an errand, Anna saw her opportunity, jumped out of the car and ran as fast as she could.

She escaped to a nearby town and was able to find work in a casino. Eventually she found a church where she was able to develop a healthy network of friends that would guide her through the healing process.

Today she is happily married to a shy and honest man. Because he is not an army man, and Anna’s former army general has died, Anna is no longer afraid of conscription. She has a heart for her hometown as there are many drug addicts there, and consequently many children are orphaned. Please keep Anna in your thoughts as she moves in her calling to help lost children.

Anna's Story (part 2): Escape From The Army