Escape
Samuel woke up to the sounds of distant gunfire. He propped himself up on one elbow and squinted to see what was happening in his village. Just as Samuel was about to yell out, his brother, Daniel, jammed his hand over Samuel’s mouth.
“Shhhh!” Daniel warned. Then he motioned for Samuel to stay down and follow him. As they crawled along the damp ground Samuel’s mind drifted to the events that had happened earlier that day. Men from a neighboring village in the south of Sudan had fled to his village with the news that rebel soldiers had attacked them, killing many.
“Escape quickly before the same thing happens here.” they warned.
Samuel’s dad was leaving with the other men. They would distract the soldiers away from the village so their families could escape safely. “Don’t make a sound; stay together; and stay in the long grass,” he instructed the family. “Head for the refugee camp over the border in Uganda.”
As Samuel followed his mother and brother through the tall grass he was so afraid he wanted to cry. But he didn’t dare. He was 9 years old and not a cry-baby. Besides, his dad needed him and Daniel to be strong for their mom and sister.
To keep up his courage Samuel tried to remember his father’s last words, “I will come and find you soon. And we’ll build a new home, where we can live in peace.” Samuel knew that to stay safe he must trust his dad and follow his instructions. But it was the thought of a new home with his father that kept back his tears and gave him hope.
Jean Kellner
We are in this world of darkness and sin, so to escape from all this turmoil we are in need of following our Heavenly Father’s instruction in the Bible, for He has made a way for us to escape from sin and death and have a new home with Him for eternity with never ending communion with all the heavenly intelligences. So let’s follow Jesus all the way every day.