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The Freedom Singers thank God...

Two years ago, the manager of a booking agency called and asked if I would like to have The Freedom Singers in our church.

Faith & Reflection

Two years ago, the manager of a booking agency called and asked if I would like to have The Freedom Singers in our church. As he explained their ministry, I said that they would probably fit very well for our Christmas banquet and a date was set. Well, time has gone by quickly and a few weeks ago, tickets were printed and posters distributed for the event.

Almost immediately, I received a phone call. It was encouraging, because the lady who called said that she’d recently seen The Freedom Singers on a rerun of Dragon’s Den. Having decided that seeing them in person was a must, she was pleased to see that they were coming to Stettler.

I delivered two tickets to her later that day and she described how The Freedom Singers had touched her and mentioned that even the Dragon’s Den hosts had shed tears. I was a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t seen the episode, but that evening, I reread the promotional materials and located online, the Dragon’s Den episode that she’d mentioned. I’m not embarrassed to admit that it brought tears to my eyes as well. The following, is an extremely condensed version of The Freedom Singers story.

Teenagers, Simon and Steven Ivascu and Wesley Pop, fled from their native land of Romania. They knew that upon their graduation from high school, the Romanian military would forcibly conscript them. Because freedom of worship was strictly prohibited, they believed it would be against their Christian convictions to comply. However, resisting conscription typically resulted in several years of imprisonment and lifelong persecution...so they fled!

With no idea as to destination, they stowed away in a container, which was sealed and locked. After several days in intense heat, the container was loaded onto a ship. They ran out of food, water, oxygen and hope. Despair filled both the container and their hearts. It seemed as if that container and the dark hold of the ship, would become their tomb. But in their words, “God provided one of many miracles in their lives”, and while admittedly, somewhat the worse for wear, they arrived in Montreal!

The Freedom Singers share their music and testimony in the hope that those who listen will be spiritually blessed and they habitually thank God for His guidance and abundant grace. They say, “We’ve been blessed beyond our imagination in so many ways...with the opportunity of sharing our music and testimony...”

A few prevailing thoughts come to mind...how much these young men were willing to pay for freedom, and simultaneously how easy it is for me to take freedom, as a Canadian, and as a Christian, for granted.

“The cause of Freedom is the cause of God!”