Miracle | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Miracle | Previous Challenge Entry
By Julie Berry
11/18/14
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MIRACLE

In Romania, we climbed the stairs onto the train exhausted and hungry. It seemed like an eternity since we left the comfort and safety of America to travel to Eastern Europe and teach English.

It all seemed surreal. We grew up in a country where there’s a Bible in every hotel room and a church on every corner. Not here. We operate under a veil of secrecy.
To the outsider we’re simply here to teach local students English but, in reality, all nine of us are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and we’ve come to share the Gospel.

What an amazing time to be in this part of the world. Countries have begun to crumble as people rise up in protest against Communism. Resistance from the masses has grown and we’ve witnessed uprisings in Poland, Hungary and East Germany.

It may now be the dawn of a new decade but the tyranny of dictators who remain in power is very real and Romania is no exception. Nicolas Ceausescu’s rule has become increasingly repressive as he maintains control over every aspect of life.

Fortunately, we’re only passing through as we look forward to returning home to share the amazing things we’ve seen God do.

As we board the train, we keep our heads low and try to blend in. With all the protests going on, Ceausescu’s police, the Securitate, are increasingly paranoid.

We finally locate our seats and collapse. Our feet hurt, we haven’t had a decent shower in three days and we’re SO hungry. Just an hour away is a warm bed and a hot meal. It’s dark and cold. We settle in and wait for the train to pull out.

Screams of anguish pierce the darkness. We sit up and look to see what’s happening. Ceausescu’s police have entered our train car and are roughly dragging people out of their seats. The light’s too dim to see much more than that and we don’t speak Romanian so we can’t understand what the police are shouting. As they continue to advance towards us, more people are grabbed by the Securitate and pushed towards the back of the train.

Our hearts begin pounding in fear as the police look our direction. We don’t know what they are looking for or why they’d be interested in us. As they make their way down the aisle, we glance at each other in desperation. Eyes close and heads bow as one by one we begin to pray.

It didn’t take long for them to reach us.

“Ridicăte! Ridicăte!” the police scream.

“We don’t understand. What do you want?” we all shouted at once.

Frustrated, the Securitate pull myself and two other women from our seats and shove us down the aisle. We trip and stumble while desperately grabbing the backs of the seats to keep our balance. We’re pushed in with the group of others that they’ve taken. Like a herd of cows, we’re forced to move together out of our train car. Women are weeping and screaming while the men put on a brave face.

We finally stop in a deserted, dimly lit train car. My two friends and me are separated from the group and taken off to the side by four officers. As we huddle together in fear, the officers begin shouting and pointing at us. What do they want and how do we communicate.? Suddenly, they grab my friend Christy by the hair and continue to scream as they hold a gun to her head.

“Ce vrei?” Christy cries.

“Ce vrei de la noi?” Christy continued to ask.

Something incredible and unbelievable was taking place. Christy had asked the officers, “What do you want?” and “What do you want with us?” in Romanian but we understood what she said and so did the police.

It couldn’t be. Christy didn’t speak Romanian and neither did we.

The conversation continued as watched in stunned amazement. The Securitate demanded to know why we were in Romania and asked for our passports. Christy answered their questions as we all quickly located our passports and presented them to the guards.

Satisfied, the officers allowed us to leave and return to our friends. Hugs and cheers reverberated through the train as they welcomed us back and began asking a thousand questions about what had happened. How do you explain the supernatural? How do you convey the miracle of God that just played out in your life? One amazing word at a time…….

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