When Thawng Kung was a student growing up in Burma, he planned to rebel against the totalitarian government that was discriminating against his ethnic group of Chin.
The military regime forcibly removed Burma's democratic government in March 1962, making life difficult for his people in southeast Asia.
"Since 1962, our country (has) almost become Communist. When I was in school, I mentioned I would rebel. That was my plan," he said.
Today, Kung, along with his wife Sui Tial, and their four children, are homeowners in Murfreesboro experiencing a different way of life. Kung's sister, Ruth Nini, and her husband, Kyaw Toe, came to live with the family earlier this month.
But the journey for them all to the United States was not an easy one.
After years of repression, on Aug. 8, 1988, many Chin students formed the Chin National Front (CNF) and began fighting for democracy. Approximately 20,000 of them were killed by the Burmese army, Kung said, including one of his brothers and his wife's brother.
During that time, Tial worked as a high school biology teacher, and Kung was a dean at a Bible college. Many of the college students sought refuge in their home.
"The students were hiding there because they thought my house was safe. They suspected a lot of people (of hiding students)," he said. "My wife was interrogated many times."
Some of the students caught protesting against the current government were forced into the Burmese army to fight against the very cause they believed in, said Kung. Others were tortured.
Determined to make a better life for his family, Kung left the country and traveled to the Philippines.
"It was not safe for everyone to go together," Tial said.
Tial left the country in December 2000, with their youngest son, Billy, who was about 5 years old at the time. The couple's two older children, Grace and Samuel, remained in Burma with Tial's mother.
Tial and Billy boarded a plane to Thailand, one of the places Chins could travel to safely. During the flight, she learned there were other Chin people on board who were continuing on to Guam to a refugee camp. With no time to alert her husband of her plans, Tial went to Guam also.
"She called me from Guam after two weeks," said Kung, who realized that even if he was safe, his family was still separated. He traveled to Guam to meet them.
"I consulted my spirit and decided that even though I don't know what will happen, I will go," he said.
In Guam, they found a group of 600 Chin people seeking political asylum status from the U.S. government.
Once asylum was granted, the nonprofit organizations World Relief and the Lutheran Immigration Service gave them a choice of several places to settle, one of them Tennessee. Even the decision to come here was a hard one to make, Kung said.
"I wanted to come here because I heard Tennessee was a Christian state. We heard they hated foreigners and it was white-dominated," he said. He expressed those feelings to a white pastor from Tennessee, who assured him everything would be fine.
They ended up in Smyrna in August 2001 and began attending Smyrna First Baptist Church.
Meanwhile, Grace and Samuel were still in Burma. The two said they missed their parents and brother. Their mother missed them as well.
"I (cried) a lot. I am worried for everything — the government, their health," Tial said, adding that they had been in the United States for a year before she talked to them on the phone.
In March 2002, the couple found out they were expecting their fourth child, Angie, who was born that November. Before baby Angie arrived, there was a crisis in Burma. Tial's mother, who had been caring for the two oldest children, died.
The family had started attending Southeast Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, where Linda Vile, Billy's teacher, was a member. Church members there had already started the process of reuniting Grace and Samuel with the family.
"It took two full years to get them here," said church member Linda Owen. "We were told that 9/11 didn't speed anything up."
Packages were sent to Burma with pictures of their family and the pilot that would meet them at the airport to bring them home, Owen said. They finally arrived in October 2004.
Now together as a family, they are adjusting well to life in America. Kung has worked at Ingram in La Vergne as a packer since 2001, and Tial has worked at MTSU and at a day care. The adults had never driven a vehicle in their old country and didn't own one until recently.
"Walking is a way of life in our country," Kung said.
Kung got his driver's license in 2004, and Tial received hers last year.
"I feel freedom (being able to drive). I don't have to depend on anyone," she said.
Grace, 15, is a freshman at Riverdale High, and is on the math team. School is easier here, than in Burma, where children attend classes 10 months out of the year, she said. The Burmese education system only goes up to 10th grade, though.
"You can't choose your classes (in Burma). You don't have art or music and you stay in one class all day. It's boring," said Grace, who wants to become a doctor.
She also cooks American food, like chicken and dressing and green beans and mashed potatoes, for the family.
"I like American food. Not fast food, but American food," Grace added.
Samuel, 13, a seventh-grader at Buchanan School, said his favorite subject is history.
"All history, how they invent things," he said. "I miss my friends, but I don't miss the education."
Billy, 10, also attends Buchanan as a fourth-grader. His favorite subject is social studies.
"It changes," his mother said. "It used to be science."
Tial said the family is also getting used to the different climate, since Burma is a tropical country.v
"We liked the snow. I praised God (seeing it for the first time). It was beautiful. We took pictures," she said.
Before her journey to America, Tial said, she had never seen the ocean. She also likes seeing different races living together. Laos borders Burma, but Tial said she had never been there.
She said she would never go back to Burma even if democracy became the new form of government because life is good here. Kung has different thoughts.
"For my children, I'd like to stay here, but if the government changed, I would go back and serve my people," he said.
The members at Southeast Baptist have helped with the adjustment, he said.
"By the grace of God, we have good friends at church. Without friends, we'd be very discouraged," Kung said.