Former special ops soldier and American missionary David Eubank has been on the front lines in some of the deadliest war zones in the world in an effort to spread Christ’s message and save people from danger. Earlier this month, the director of the Free Burma Rangers made headlines for the dramatic rescue of a young girl in Mosul, Iraq, who had been forced to take shelter under her dead mother’s hijab for nearly 48 hours after ISIS tore through her community and killed her entire family. He prayed as he ran:
Eubank and his organization regularly share updates and photos of their heroic work on social media, and the group posted haunting images of this particular search and rescue mission, which recovered the young girl and two adult men—one of whom sadly died in transport—on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU_2hX6hcyu/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU4vU7gBNqB/?taken-by=freeburmarangers
This week, Eubank appeared on CBN News to discuss his experience in the fight against ISIS. He shared examples of the strength and resolve of both American and Iraqi soldiers, while shedding light on the Bible verse that keeps him going amidst the danger and tragedy.
Watch the full interview below:
https://www.facebook.com/cbnnews/videos/10159222061945393/
“I consider myself forgiven by Jesus and blessed to do something. And it was, I believe, God’s power that helped us rescue that girl,” Eubank said of the daring mission that involved the careful coordination of both American and Iraqi forces.
He explained that ISIS seized the village on June 1, killing more than 70 people. The extremists remained camped out and ready to fight off anyone who tried to provide aide to the few remaining survivors. Eubank said that he and his team watched the young girl and other survivors from afar for nearly two days before they were able to swoop in for the rescue. He described the waiting game as “horrible,” and he ultimately ran some 150 yards under enemy fire to retrieve the petrified child, who was hiding under her mother’s burka.
“I just said, ‘Lord help us’ and if I die my wife and kids would understand,” Eubank told CWN. “It’s to save a little girl and I ran and I had to pull her away from her dead mother.”
Through his military service and organization, Eubank has been on the front lines for more than two decades, and there is a particular Bible verse he credits with giving him strength and keeping him focused.
“John 13:15—hope I got that right,” he said. “But I know the words though, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friends.”
Eubank said that particular passage came to him back in May during another mission, when he saved a 17-year-old woman in Mosul who had been trapped under rubble for three days after an ISIS attack.
“Almost every day that verse kept coming to me,” he said. “I was afraid, but I thought, ‘I need to follow that order from Jesus.’ And God gave me the strength.”
Ultimately, Eubank admitted watching his friends and compatriots die in the line of duty has been trying, but he and his family, who are in Iraq with him, know they are there to share “God’s love” and not allow themselves to be “led by comfort, fear, or pride.”
He offered a prayer for those who are fighting ISIS in the Middle East and around the globe:
“Lord I ask that the people of Iraq and Syria, first of all, know you that your love and power would break through and that you would raise them up. And Lord I ask that the hearts of ISIS would change, that they would repent and follow you. And those that won’t, help us to stop them. And I ask for a new day there and a new day in our country. Lord, thank you, and please bless America too, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
H/T: CBN News