Nadezhda Sloboda
Soviet Union
around 1960.
“Come to our place tonight to listen to the radio,” whispered Nadezhda to her neighbor. “I have never heard anything like this before. A man preaches the word of God from the Bible. I don’t know how it happened, but those shows have changed my life.”
Nadezhda Sloboda was one of the first in her village to convert as a result of Russian-language evangelical radio broadcasts from neighboring countries. Soon her love for God and zealous testimonies led others to Christ. Although she was not a pastor, she formed a church in her village.
As time passed, the church grew so powerful that the militia had to forcefully prevent people from other collective farms who wanted to go to hear the preaching of the gospel.
For this, sister Sloboda was sentenced to four years in prison, her five children were forcibly taken from her and placed in an atheist boarding school. Her husband left her.
In prison, sister Sloboda told other prisoners about Christ. For this, she was placed in an unheated solitary cell, where she had to sleep on a bare cement floor. Prisoners cannot sleep in such conditions, even the walls are too cold to lean comfortably against. Some claim that if you lean your forehead against the wall, you can sleep enough to stay alive for a few days.
Sister Sloboda spent two months in this cell! In addition, she went to work during the day with other prisoners. The communists thought that the hard work and lack of sleep would break her health and force her to renounce her faith. But she did not become weaker.
Everyone wondered how she could do it?
She replied: “I fall asleep trusting in God and the cold cement floor becomes warm. I rest in the bosom of God.”
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms!” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Excerpt “Voice of the Martyrs” from the book “Jesus-Freaks” Logos publishing house (translated from Estonian version of the book).
John Stanescu Romania 1960s. A Russian soldier entered the prison cell with a whip, which he usually used .....
Tsehay Tolessa Ethiopia 1980s. "They put my hands under my knees and tied them there. They put a .....
Niyole Sadunaite, Soviet Union, Lithuania, 1970s. When Niyole Sadunaite was convicted in Soviet Lithuania, she told the court: .....
Robert J. Thomas Korea 1865 Robert J. Thomas heard the screams, stopped reading his Bible and looked around. .....
Rose Allen Munt England 1557. Rose Allen jumped out of bed and looked out the window. In front .....
Xu Yonghai China 1995 Xu Yonghai looked around his 6 square meter cell. He was a doctor and .....
Sebaste, Armenia, Eastern Roman Empire (today in Siva, Turkey) Under Emperor Licinus, AD 320. The Roman governor stood .....
We sang in prison. Once an angry prison director rushed into our cell. "I heard that you are .....
John Bradford England 1555. John Bradford stood boldly before the Lord Chancellor. "I assure you," said the young .....
Idrish Miah Bangladesh 1995 My name is Idrish Miah. I have a wife Rahana and four daughters - .....
As a powerful revival swept across central China in the 1990s, many Christians responded to God’s call to .....