A Short Story: Real Strength

“Have you heard the rumors?”

Claudia leaned forward in the pew to catch the whispered conversation between the two men in front of her.

“The rumors about the spy?” responded the second man.

The first man cleared his throat and spoke so quietly that Claudia had to scoot to the edge of her seat to hear. “Yes. The pastor has reason to believe that someone has been leaking information about our meetings to the authorities.” The first man glanced quickly at the second man. “You know what that means.”

Sighing softly, the second man nodded. Claudia noticed him shift his gaze to a pretty woman and small child standing nearby. “Don’t know if Mary and I can afford to come anymore,” he murmured. “It’s just gettin’ too risky.”

Claudia leaned back and let her body slide into the back of the pew. Things were getting perilous. Ten years ago, the government outlawed Christianity. Five years ago, the federal police obliterated the last standing church building and executed its elders and pastors. Ever since then, not one believer had dared to start a church in the open. However, despite the danger, some bold believers began a secret, nationwide network of underground churches. Like the Roman Christians who sought refuge in the catacombs beneath the city of Rome, the members of these underground churches literally met underground. Claudia looked around at the cramped, damp, dimly-lit room that served as the place of worship for the Christians of the town. The light from the dying lamps traced eerie lines on the dirt walls, and she could hear the sound of water dripping from far down in the tunnel. Every man, woman, and child standing in quiet groups or sitting on the old, rotten pews looked scared. The number of believers in the country was small. The number of those who dared to join a church was even smaller. Only about twenty people regularly attended this church. The number used to be much higher, but some had been caught and killed, while others had simply stopped coming for fear of the danger involved. Being a Christian was not easy – and it certainly wasn’t safe.

Not safe. Claudia’s heart began pounding crazily. She was scared. She loved God and she truly believed in what Jesus had done for her, but she didn’t know if she would be willing to face the consequences of simply answering “I do” to the dreaded question. Anyone caught professing belief in salvation through Jesus Christ was brought to trial. Unless they chose to renounce their faith in trial, the government executed them within the week.

Christianity had been outlawed when Claudia was only five. She remembered the years before the government passed the law like a vague and beautiful dream – a dream of a life she wished could come back. She remembered sitting on her father’s lap every evening as he read her a true story from the Bible. She remembered her mother praying with her every night before she went to bed. But those days were gone. The change in the laws had distorted her life.

Her father had been one of the elders at the last existing church above ground. During the trial of the elders and pastors, her father had answered “I do” to that horrifying question and had been shot like a deserter. Every one of the pastors was executed as well. All but one of the elders met the same fate. The one elder who recanted watched as his former friends collapsed like felled trees. He then returned to his comfortable home, carrying with him a reward from the government for obeying the law.

Claudia didn’t blame him. She didn’t think she could ever be as brave as her father. Sometimes she wished he hadn’t answered the way he did. Sometimes she wished he had recanted like the one elder. But she always hit herself afterwards for thinking such a thing. God had given her father the rare strength to say those two, deadly words. As her mother told her the day they heard of father’s trial and execution, “It wasn’t your father who answered with those words, but the Holy Spirit in him.”

Claudia leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder as she watched the shadows of the moving people dance across the dirt walls. The worship service and preaching had ended, but everyone was still there. They were waiting for the sentinel to tell them that the exit was clear for them to make their way home. Everyone there knew it wasn’t safe for them to be there in the first place, but they still wanted to be as safe as possible.

At that moment, the sound of running feet came rushing through the passage. Every head turned toward the opening to the tunnel. The same thought flitted through each person’s mind. Soon, the sentinel appeared beneath the arched roof of dirt, covered with mud and panting frantically.

“We’ve been discovered!” He exclaimed. “We’ve gotta make a run for it!”

Run. That’s all they could do. As soon as the sentinel had appeared beneath the arch of the tunnel and panted the frightening news, the two dozen people in the room had begun frantically filing out into the tunnel. They were now making their way as quickly as possible through the dark, damp underground maze to the safest exit – the one that emerged in the middle of the forest. According to the sentinel, police had discovered the main entrance and were preparing to descend into the underground passageway when he had sprinted off to warn the congregation. In only a matter of minutes, the police would arrive at the little, damp room where the congregation had been worshiping only moments before. Their only chance was to take the secret exit into the woods.

As Claudia rushed through the passageway, desperately clinging to her mother’s hand, she could sense the fear and desperation she felt in the people around her. Some of her friends were crying. Others simply looked stunned. Young mothers held tightly to their babies. The men constantly glanced over their shoulders, waiting for a glimpse of the light from the police flashlights. Young children screamed. Their parents tried to quiet them, but Claudia could tell that it was all they could do to keep from screaming themselves. 

Oh Lord, please help us! Claudia prayed silently. Her heart was beating frantically. Her breathing was uneven, and she was constantly gasping for air. Suddenly, she stumbled over an unseen root that stuck out from the dirt floor. She winced at the sharp pain that stabbed her left leg as she collapsed to her hands and knees. Her leg had landed on a jagged rock. She could tell something was broken.

Her mother was bending down beside her, trying to help her up, but the others rushed past them. There was no time to lose. Claudia knew she should stand up, that she should keep running. But her leg was throbbing. She knew it would not be able to bear her weight. She reached down and felt the large gash the rock had made. There was blood – plenty of it.

“Claudia, can you stand up? We have to keep moving! Let me help you up.” Her mother’s voice was steady, but Claudia could hear the panic behind it. Claudia forced herself to her feet as her mother pulled her off the ground. “Wrap your arm around my shoulder, dear.” Claudia clung to her mother’s shoulders and stood firmly on her right leg. Desperate to keep moving, Claudia took a step with her left leg. Instantly, pain shot up her leg and her knee crumpled under her.

“Mom, I – I can’t. I can’t do it,” Claudia gasped. She felt tears streaming down her face. She knew she would never make it out. She knew they would catch her and kill her. The others were still running. The last few people had just passed them by and were disappearing farther into the tunnel. Claudia knew her mother couldn’t stay.

Trying to act strong and determined, Claudia looked straight into her mother’s beautiful, honest eyes. “Mom, you – you have to keep going. You have to leave me.”

Claudia could see the tears slowly creeping down her mother's cheeks, but her mother's voice was strong and firm. “I’m not leaving you.”

Just then, arms scooped Claudia up from behind. It was the sentinel. He had been bringing up the rear. He looked just as frightened as the others had, but Claudia commended him for his strength and willingness to help her. “We just have to make it to the secret exit,” the sentinel panted. “Then we’ll be fine.”

Claudia caught her breath at the thought of that exit. She had never been in that segment of the underground maze before, but she had heard about it. The emergency tunnel diverged from the main passageway about a quarter of a mile away from the church room. The tunnel was concealed by a cleverly designed door that, when covering the entrance to the tunnel, looked like a part of the dirt walls of the main passageway. The door could be opened by pulling a latch hidden on the walls of the main tunnel and closed by pushing a similar latch on the inside of the secret tunnel. It all sounded nice in theory, but Claudia knew that, once they all entered the tunnel, the going would get tough and slow. The tunnel was only big enough to crawl through. Since they were in the back of the line, they would be the last ones to go through the tunnel. Being in the back meant that the police would arrest them first.

Claudia looked at her mother, running beside the sentinel. Her eyes were filled with fright. She knew she and her mother were thinking the same thing…

Will we ever make it?

“We’re almost there,” the sentinel gasped. 

Claudia turned her head, and her eyes probed the darkness of the tunnel ahead of her. Yes. There they were. She could just see the other people of the congregation forming a line against the dirt wall of the tunnel. She could barely make out the figure of the pastor uncovering the secret latch in the wall. They were preparing to crawl, one at a time, into the small, covert passageway that would lead them to safety. 

Almost there. Claudia clenched her teeth and willed herself to hold on just a little longer. Even though the sentinel was carrying her, the pain that gripped her left leg as she bounced up and down in his arms was unbearable. Her mother read the pain in her face. She caught her daughter’s hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze as she ran next to the sentinel and Claudia. Claudia squeezed her hand back and tried to smile.

Soon, they joined the line to enter the tunnel. Claudia was thankful that the sentinel was still willing to hold her. She knew she couldn’t even stand on her own. If she couldn’t even stand on her own, how would she ever make it through the tunnel? They would have to enter the tunnel one person at a time. She would basically be on her own. She looked down at her leg. It was caked with blood and dirt, and it was bent slightly in an abnormal direction. She shut her eyes tight and shuddered. Lord, give me strength.

People were already ducking, one by one, into the dark hole. All the women and children were being ushered to the front of the line, but Claudia refused to move from the back of the line. If she went in front, she would only slow down the people behind her. Claudia looked at the pastor, who was kindly offering to help her into the tunnel next. She shook her head. “Best to leave me in the back.” The pastor hesitated, but only briefly. Then he simply nodded and proceeded to help a young mother and child into the tunnel. 

Within less than a minute, the twenty people in front of Claudia had entered the passageway. Only the pastor, the sentinel, Claudia, and her mother were left. The sentinel nodded to the pastor. “Go,” he urged. “I’ll go last and close it behind me.” Claudia watched as the pastor helped her mother into the tunnel. Hesitating, her mother looked back at her injured daughter in the sentinel’s arms, her eyes filled with tears of fright and sadness. Claudia gave her mother one last smile. Then the pastor and her mother disappeared into the small, dark hole. 

Without a warning, the sounds of barking dogs and gruff voices burst from only a small distance behind them in the main tunnel. The sentinel immediately placed Claudia on her knees in front of the tunnel and helped her crawl into the darkness. Her leg could hardly handle the crawling position, but she tried to ignore the pain and crawled as fast as she could. The sentinel jumped in right after her and pushed the latch in the wall, shutting the entrance and enveloping them in darkness.

Claudia could hardly see her hands under her. She could hardly see her hair that fell around her face and into her mouth. But she could feel the dirt under her fingers and the pain throbbing in her leg. 

The tunnel soon began to slope slightly upward, making the crawling even harder on her arms and legs. She winced with each move she made and almost cried out once. Her movement was slow, and she knew she was forcing the sentinel to match her slow pace behind her. There wasn’t much more she could do, though.

Whispers and soft cries traveled back at Claudia and the sentinel from farther up in the cramped darkness. She crawled on and on, listening to her own labored breathing and the quiet panting of the sentinel behind her. Soon, she heard the sound of rustling leaves coming from only a short distance up the tunnel. Soft clumps of dirt and crusty leaves rained down on her head. The next moment, the tunnel was flooded with light. The people in the front had made it to the surface. Claudia could now see the shoes of the pastor a few feet in front of her. She heard a soft exclamation of excitement from the sentinel behind her. 

“I’m sorry. I can’t go any faster,” she whispered back at him. 

“No worries,” he answered, reassuringly. “We’re gonna make it either way.”

With each second, Claudia was getting closer and closer to the light. She could hear sighs of relief and cheers of excitement coming from the people in front of her as they stepped into the fresh air of the woods. Hope began to fill her heart.

Then she heard a gunshot. Screams pierced the air. Who fired? What is going on up there? Before she knew it, Claudia felt rough hands seizing her wrists. The hands pulled her violently out of the hole and threw her to the ground next to a group of frightened women and children from her congregation. She landed on her leg and screamed from the pain. The throbbing blinded her, and she hardly knew anything but the pain and blood flowing from her left leg. But she could make out a harsh voice yelling something above the cries of the children around her. 

“Lawbreakers! Rebels! Did you really think you could escape the law? How stupid of you! You will all get what you deserve!” Claudia’s head began to clear up. She could see the speaker: a rough-looking policeman, dressed all in black and heavily armed. He was standing next to the exit of the passageway. Claudia looked around. About three dozen other police officers encircled her entire congregation. The men of the congregation were tied up, and some of them were gagged. Surrounding her, the women and children were crowded together in a disorderly heap. 

Mother! Where’s Mother? Claudia thought, as her eyes frantically searched the crowd for her mother’s beautiful face. She still didn’t know what had resulted from the gunshot, and she feared for her mother’s life. But she finally spotted her mother among the crowd of women and children, hugging a sobbing woman. Their eyes met, and Claudia noticed that the fear that had filled her mother’s eyes earlier was now gone. A powerful strength was in its place. Claudia knew that this strength she saw in her mother could only be from the Holy Spirit. 

Tears of terror and pain were streaming from Claudia’s eyes, and her leg hurt more than ever. But the sight of her mother, strong and overflowing with faith, filled her with real strength. She wiped her eyes and nodded at her mother, then turned her head just in time to see the policeman kick a young child sitting next to her.

“Rebels!” the policeman yelled again as he kicked the child. The child cried loudly, but the policeman only kicked him again. Whimpering helplessly, the child crumpled up in a little heap.

“Stop it! Don’t hurt my child!” yelled one of the men from the congregation as he tried to loosen his bonds. Claudia could see it in his eyes – he longed to protect his child, but he was powerless. An officer punched him in the stomach, and the man doubled over, groaning. 

Claudia could feel the strength rising in her. She crawled over to the helpless child, dragging her leg behind her, and pulled him onto her lap. Stroking his hair, she whispered, “It’ll be ok. God is with us.” Suddenly, the policeman’s rock-hard fist smashed against her right cheek, and she fell backward, her ears ringing. Then his hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to her feet, nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process. Claudia cried out, overcome by the pain that covered her entire body. But the strength of the Holy Spirit still filled her whole being. She knew that, no matter what they did to her, they could never truly defeat the Holy Spirit’s strength that protected her. 

“What did you say?” the policeman yelled into one of her ringing ears. He was still tightly gripping her shoulder. Her right cheek was beginning to throb excruciatingly, and the pain in her leg was worse than ever. Claudia blinked twice to clear the remaining tears from her eyes. My Lord God, she prayed silently. Give me the words to say. Then she looked straight into the policeman’s black eyes and said, loudly, “God is with us.”

Enraged, the policeman threw her into the powerful arms of another officer and drew his gun from its case at his belt. Pushing her out of the circle of officers, the officer forced her to stand by a tall, slender tree. He then tied up Claudia’s hands behind the tree, intensifying the pain in her shoulder. The head policeman held up his gun and began to stalk slowly toward Claudia. Cries and shouts of protest erupted from the congregation. But the policeman continued to tread toward Claudia until the cold tip of his gun was pressed against Claudia’s temple. Then he asked the deadly question.

“Do you really believe that Jesus Christ can save you from sin and eternal death?” He snarled and laughed as if to mock the idea. He squinted his black eyes as they probed Claudia’s face.

The entire crowd went silent. The whole world froze. Claudia couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. But then she remembered what her mother had said the day they had learned about her father’s execution: “It wasn’t your father who answered with those words, but the Holy Spirit in him.” Then she knew what to say. The Holy Spirit had given her the words, too. Just as he had given her father the words to say when he was asked the same question. Claudia found her mother’s face in the crowd and their eyes locked. Her mother was crying, but her eyes were still emanating the same strength that Claudia felt. Her mother gave a small nod. Standing up straight and tall against the tree, Claudia took a deep breath. Then, in a loud voice so unlike her own, Claudia declared,

“I do.”

“Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11).

  

– By Ashlyn Aura