Enduring the Cold
“I tried to walk in the pitch blackness to keep warm, holding my hands out to keep from bumping into the wall, but the wall was too cold to touch. Besides, rather than warming me, walking only brought me close to the vent. I huddled in the corner of the room.
“”Oh God, help me!’ I cried out in despair. He would, only not in the way I wanted. I stuffed my coverall legs into my socks to keep the air from coming up my pants, then pulled my arms inside the sleeveless top. I stretched the top up over my nose so I could heat my body with my warm breath. This gave me times of relief, but then fatigue and slow but steady loss of body heat would cause me to start shaking. I couldn’t bear to sit on the floor, nor lean on the wall. The only position that worked was standing with just my forehead touching the wall.
Singing Through Spiritual Warfare
“I don’t know why I remembered to sing. But God’s hand was guiding and teaching me. As the levels of punishment grew more severe, so did the intensity of spiritual warfare. Satan tried harder to drag me down, but God gently raised me up. Psalm 3:3 says, He is my glory and the lifter up of mine head. God was gracious, merciful, and loving, asking only for a chance to prove Himself to me.
“I started singing that great hymn, ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.’ I sang ‘Jesus Loves Me,’ Bible choruses, and every Christian song I could remember. I was no longer conscious of the cold, only of Jesus. With eyes closed, my head barely touching the wall, I whistled, sang, even imitated a trumpet blasting out praises to the Lord.
“Although I didn’t think through the many Scriptures which support it, I had entered the highest level of warfare against the enemy – praise. Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits our praises. I don’t know how this is accomplished, but it’s true. The mighty Deliverer, the Messiah, the Savior was with me. He held my shaking body in His arms. I was with Jesus, no matter what happened.”
A guard opened the little steel window flap in the door and peered inside curiously. “What are you doing?” he demanded. “I’m singing about Jesus.” “Why?” “Because I love Him,” White replied happily. He slammed the flap and left. White continued singing. He returned a few minutes later and opened the window flap again. “If you love Jesus, don’t sing,” he ordered, then left. But White loved Jesus too much to stop singing.
Release and Faithfulness
Over the next two days the guards came to check on him every three or four hours. The flap would open and a flashlight beam would snake across the floor looking for him. Still White continued to sing. At the end of those two days, he was returned to his former cell which, though still cold, seemed warm in comparison. Now convinced that he was not a superspy trying to overthrow their government, they had started White back up the treatment ladder.
After three months, Tom White was moved from solitary confinement to the main prison where 7,000 prisoners were kept. There he met and worshipped with members of the Cuban church who were imprisoned for their faith. An international campaign for his release helped trim White’s prison time from his original 24-year sentence. After many prayers, letters, appeals from U.S. Congressmen and even Mother Teresa, he was released on October 27, 1980, after seventeen months in jail. He now serves as U.S. director for The Voice of the Martyrs.
This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13
Date: 19th August 2023
Martyr: TOM WHITE
Location: CUBA 1979-1980
Source: Jesus Freaks
Author: DC Talk and Voice of Martyrs
Suffering Saturday 052
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