It seems to me the world has become anti-Christian. The hardest part about being a Christian is telling others about what you believe. The Bible says to go into all the world and spread the Word of God. This is not at all easy to do. People no longer want to hear it. The moment you say anything, they block you out. I have gone through some major roadblocks dealing with this. Each time the roadblock has changed. Finally, I was even killed because I was telling someone about God.

I truly believe God to be real, but it’s been hard convincing others of this. When I was alive, I would go with my church to the city. We would minister to people. You know, tell them about God, feed them, and serve them in any way we could, the usual for churches. We did this - up until they ‘unbelievably,' made it a law that we could no longer tell people about God, at least in public. Whatever happened to freedom of religion? You might ask. We certainly were. That freedom now only applies to all other religions except for Christianity. Some of us still tried to tell people about God. We had to do it ever so subtly. We had to be careful about the way we brought up the topic. If we said too much, the person might think we were trying to force our religion on them. And, more and more often, that lead to a call to the police. One occasion similar to this that I finally was silenced, I was put to death, killed.

I was telling someone about God at school. I was only seventeen at the time. I had gotten overly enthusiastic about God. Someone else heard me talking. They thought I was forcing my religion on the person I was talking with. I found all of this out when the police came knocking at our door the next morning. You could say, I got so carried away that I was carried away.

I was then arrested and sent to court. They claimed it was a double offense, because not only was I telling someone about Christianity and God, but I was also doing so in a public school where all displays of Christianity were banned. I was then sentenced to two years in Juvenile Detention plus two more in adult prison.

When I was in the Juvenile Detention Center, I still found ways to “encourage” the others. I would continually tell them about God… every chance that I could. Sometimes, when I was caught, I was severely beaten. Sometimes I was denied food. Sometimes both. Eventually, it was threatened that my sentence would be extended. But, I didn’t care. I was going to continue to tell others about the God who created them and loves them - the one who sent his son to die on the cross for their sin, our Father who is in heaven, our healer, and our protector. I never gave up.

That is not to say, that there were not days that I was scared and afraid. It is not to say, that I was never discouraged when no one would listen to me. I dealt with plenty of both.

A year later I was sent to prison. The treatment grew far worse. It seemed that grown-ups were less likely to listen to anything about Christianity. However, I would still tell them about Him. I would still talk, even if it meant talking to myself and hoping they would listen. Almost immediately the government discovered that I was still talking about God in front of others, “heaven forbid”… well... not! They decided that because of this I should be sentenced to death. They would not even wait until my two years were up.

I was going to die. I had never been more afraid in my life. My family was devastated. They just couldn’t understand why I had to keep telling others about God. They had given up “understanding’ a long time ago.

Boy! The night before the execution I was feeling sure that all my pain had been for nothing. My spirit was so sunken to the point that I lost hope in God. With all I have done, I had not done everything I could to tell others about Him. And, yet I was still going to die because of it. I had just finished praying, no, it was more like begging, for God to send me a sign that everything I went through was not for nothing when the parole officer said I had a visitor. It was a girl I recognized from Juvenile Detention. She had gotten out a few months before I had been transferred. She told me that I had helped her get through that hard time in her life. She had accepted God into her heart, but she had not gotten the chance to thank me. She told me that she was telling her family, even some of her close friends, about God. She was sorry that I had to die, but she promised to continue telling others about God, about Jesus.

I knew right then and there, that I ‘had’ done what I was meant to do. God would continue to transform people, as others continue to tell about Him. After talking with her, I was okay to die. I was still afraid and a little bit sad. But, I was okay. I knew I had fulfilled what God had wanted me to do. I was ready to die.

So, now I am with my Father. I feel no pain. I am warm and happy. Of course, I am loved. I never feel hunger. I am where I am meant to be. I am finally home with my Lord. I told you my story to give you hope. Even when or, especially when, you face death, never stop believing in the power of God. He will always be there with you. He will be there, no matter what life puts in front of you. He will be there, no matter how discouraged you get. He will be there! Continue to tell others about God. Besides, death is inevitable, either way. Death becomes worthwhile, and life becomes eternal. Continue to spread the Word of happiness, joy, peace, healing, power, and love. They ‘so’ silenced me… Not!