Anna’s Journey

By Nancy Quinn

“Bear one another’s
burdens, and so
fulfill the law
of Christ."
Galatians 6:2

tartled from sleep in the middle of the night, my mother’s hushed voice was urgent. “Hurry”, she whispered. I tightly gripped my tattered doll and followed my mom, dad and little brother outside. It was a blessedly moonless night and we were clothed in darkness. We ran far from the back of the house and into the woods, listening to the soldiers’ gruff calls to one another from a distance. I lay down, and my parents covered us with leaves. My brother whimpered and I covered his hand with mine and whispered, “The soldiers will not get us. God is with us.”

“Anna, what happened next?” I breathlessly asked, on the edge of the pew.

“The soldiers did not find us. But we made many trips to hide in the woods when we heard rumors that the soldiers were looking for Christians. Being a Christian in my country was dangerous. As a little girl, I didn’t know a lot of what was going on, but I knew God would keep my family safe. My mama told me that often.” Anna looked around the church sanctuary as we chatted after church, and she looked wistful. “We would go to an old storeroom in a basement of a grocery store for church where a few other families met with us. We couldn’t have too large a group so as to risk capture.”

“It was so exciting when we finally made it to America and I saw the Statue of Liberty break through the fog the night we arrived. You know, I got great joy from simple things like just carrying my Bible down the street to come to church!” The slight accent revealed her home country and her wrinkled cheeks showed a road map to the decades of a faithful journey with Christ. Her eyes shone and I wondered about her faith; a faith that grew strong despite persecution and danger.

I hugged Anna goodbye and said a prayer of thanks to the Lord that I live in America. It’s almost surreal to imagine the persecution that Christians all over the world are going through right now for their faith. Freedom – what have I been doing to honor God with the freedom that He’s given me? What am I doing to help my suffering brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world who aren’t free? Suddenly inspired by Anna’s journey, I searched the internet that afternoon. Stumbling across www.PrisonerAlert.com, I excitedly began a journey of love and prayer.