By Michelle Lee
Virginia Prodan, author of Saving My Assassin, spoke recently at an event in Dallas, Texas.
She shared her life story of growing up and then raising a family under Communist rule in Romania. Virginia and her family faced persecution from Ceausescu, a brutal dictator.
A Choice is Made
In spite of these horrible circumstances, Virginia saw God’s hand in the midst of her suffering:
“Yes, in many, many ways you see God’s hand and you hear His voice when you stay close to Him. When you have nothing else but God to help you. You must make sure you read the Bible. When I was young, I believe that God put in my heart to know the truth.”
Virginia related some of her harrowing experiences in the hands of her persecutors. She explained, “When I was under interrogation and full of blood like in a movie, they played good cop/bad cop with me. The bad guys would do things. The nice guy would say he didn’t mean to do that. While they were hitting me, the Lord put in my heart to look into their eyes and say, ‘I don’t like what you’re doing. But God loves you. I choose to love you. It comes from the Holy Spirit.’ And I know that I was there for a mission. They were there for a mission to please their dictator. But I was there for a mission to please the Lord. And the Lord showed me what to do. Because I told them, ‘I choose to love you too,’ they were overcome with emotion, and didn’t know what to do with me.”
Ms. Prodan reminded the audience: “You people are here today to hear me. You may not be in prison. But you are here on a mission. You can show Christ to others.”
A Desperate Time
She went on to recount a time of house arrest intended to coerce her to stop defending Christian rights in Romania. Virginia shares, “While I was under house arrest with my two daughters, I didn’t know how I was going to provide food and everything for my girls. I t