Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000050S
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00:00 (contemplative music)
00:03 - Welcome, everyone. 00:05 We're excited to share some country wisdom with you. 00:07 - King Solomon had a thing or two to say 00:09 about the path to wisdom. 00:11 In Proverbs 4, he wrote, 00:13 "Let your eyes look directly forward 00:15 and your gaze be straight before you. 00:18 Keep straight the path of your feet 00:21 and all your ways will be sure." 00:23 - Join us now for "Country Wisdom." 00:26 (peaceful music) 00:36 I'm holding up a book, "Hope in Present Danger." 00:39 I mean, it's an incredible book. 00:40 I went through it and, well, Janice, 00:43 I had tears multiple times. 00:44 I may have tears in the interview today. 00:47 Matter of fact, I can probably guarantee it, 00:49 almost crack up now, just thinking 00:50 about what's in this book. 00:52 But I've got Adriana Pasos here 00:54 with us today and her family. 00:55 Adriana, would you introduce your family? 00:58 - Absolutely. Thank you so much for having us here. 01:00 This is my dad, Corneliu, and my mom, Michaela, 01:03 and we're just blessed to be here together 01:05 and share our story. 01:07 - This story is about getting out of communism. 01:10 I mean, in a country that was steeped in control 01:13 and everything you can imagine, 01:16 they felt led by God to get out. 01:18 And this is their story now of how miraculously 01:21 and incredibly the whole family finally got out. 01:25 Adriana, start way back. 01:28 I mean, you were in Romania, and the family, 01:31 you were how old when the family kind of, 01:34 you started realizing there's some problem 01:36 in the way life existence goes on in Romania? 01:39 - Sure, so, I was fortunate enough and blessed enough 01:42 to actually grow up in a Seventh-day Adventist family, 01:45 in a Christian family who loved God. 01:47 So, I grew up with the stories of the Bible, 01:49 my grandmother just sharing with me 01:51 the beautiful stories of the Bible. 01:53 And I remember my favorite one was the story of Joseph. 01:56 And so, it was, I really didn't realize, I think, you know, 02:00 the danger and the difficulty that we were living in 02:04 until really by the time I actually got to school. 02:08 So, in the first grade I remember going to school, 02:11 and the church, the school in Romania was actually 02:15 from Monday through Saturday, so first grade came. 02:19 - So, you had an issue right off the bat. 02:20 - Yeah, but I went to school and, interestingly enough, 02:23 my mom and dad, neither my grandmother, 02:26 actually told me not to do otherwise. 02:29 We just went to school. 02:30 And so, I remember going to school on Sabbath and, you know, 02:35 clearly, my parents and my grandparents 02:37 would go to church, and I would come back. 02:40 And so, that was first grade, second grade, third grade. 02:43 And then, at that point, it, I, it began dawning on me. 02:47 There's a difference here because all along, 02:49 before that, we would all go to church on Sabbath. 02:52 And so, that became marked in my brain as to, 02:58 there is a difference here. 02:59 And I remember coming to Mom and saying, 03:00 "Mom, I don't wanna go to school on Saturday. 03:03 I don't wanna go to school on Sabbath." 03:04 And I thought, was it because 03:06 I just really didn't wanna go to school? 03:09 'Cause that would be a fun way out? 03:11 But, I remember Mom telling me, 03:14 why is it that you don't wanna go to school on Sabbath? 03:18 And you know, at nine years old, it was, about that time, 03:22 I think it was, Mom, at about nine years old, 03:24 Mom said, "You need to know why it is 03:28 that you do not wanna go to school on Saturday 03:30 because it has to be your choice and your decision. 03:34 Because if you make that choice 03:35 that choice will bring with it a lot of consequence." 03:39 And, after a while I said, "Yes, I'm sure. 03:43 I'm not gonna go to school on Sabbath anymore." 03:45 And so, that's when I began experiencing, you know, 03:49 some of the avalanche of what it really meant 03:53 to stand for God at nine years old. 03:59 - If you don't live it, it's very hard to understand, 04:06 because there were so many ramifications of this regime, 04:19 should I say, then really, 04:22 they said one thing and they did another thing. 04:26 They were talking all the time about freedom, 04:29 but freedom didn't exist. 04:32 Then, it's, I understand, 04:39 because some people, they are caught in this trap, 04:43 and they think it is the ideal to everybody to be equal. 04:52 But it's not true. 04:54 It's a very big lie. 04:56 - You all, sorry. 04:58 - Go ahead. 04:59 - You also didn't always have the best relationship 05:01 with neighbors. 05:04 That's one thing that struck me was the neighbors 05:07 that you had watching everything you're doing, 05:11 reporting anything that they thought was suspicious. 05:16 - [Michaela] In fact, I think - 05:17 - Including a neighbor, did you have one 05:18 who would just walk in your house? 05:20 - Actually, we had very good relationship with them, 05:27 serving them, taking pictures for them, 05:31 but exactly how you said, they were informers. 05:35 Then, they came suddenly without telling us, 05:39 you know how we do here in America. 05:42 You know, if we want to visit you, 05:44 I have to call you and say, may I come, 05:47 because I want to discuss something or ask you a question, 05:51 and you set a time, then, I gotta go. 05:54 But that didn't happen. 05:56 All of the sudden, then, all the time, 05:58 we should be very careful how everything, you know, 06:04 because we've been photographers. 06:07 We have to have work. 06:09 And if they would see we have a lot of work, 06:15 they would go and report that. 06:18 - Now, were there certain things 06:20 that maybe you wanted to do in life, but you couldn't do? 06:24 You had restrictions that? 06:29 - There were a lot of things, because before, 06:32 for a period of time, we had the, our business, 06:38 like photography business, was covered in a way 06:43 that we had peace. 06:48 - How did that even, you know, 06:51 develop in your mind of leaving? 06:53 I mean, when you're locked down, 06:55 you're afraid you're going to jail at maybe any time, 06:58 what even began to give you an idea you could get out? 07:02 - You know what? 07:05 What it's impossible for us, it's possible with God. 07:08 And that was our idea. 07:11 Then, after that, where my parents lived, 07:17 we saw an excursion in Turkey for five days. 07:23 And, Lord, you know, I was talking with my husband 07:25 and I said, what do you think if I, and Sperantza gonna go? 07:32 And he said, okay, apply. 07:35 - Under communism, you didn't have permission 07:39 to travel the entire family, 07:41 because they knew that if you were outside in the west, 07:44 more than likely, you would escape, 07:46 and you would not return. 07:47 And so, that was number one. 07:48 - But if they kept some of you back here - 07:50 - [Sperantza] Exactly. 07:51 - It's more likely you're going to come back. 07:53 - Correct. So, there was always insurance. 07:54 And so, that insurance was, 07:56 you're not gonna go with the entire family. 07:57 You're not allowed. 07:58 So, some have to be back. 08:00 And so, that in itself was their assurance 08:02 that they would be able to bring back the family. 08:06 And so, that was that. 08:08 I think that beyond that, and the reason why 08:12 this was so intense was because, you know, previous to that, 08:17 my aunt and uncle had traveled. 08:19 So, it was not just our family. 08:21 It was our entire extended family. 08:23 My aunt and uncle realized that they needed to escape. 08:26 My other uncle who had actually been approached 08:28 by the Securitate, the Romanian KGB. 08:32 He had been approached, and he was asked, told, 08:38 to be an informant for, 08:40 against the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Romania. 08:42 And so, he took a little bit of time and said, 08:46 let me think about this, because the Securitate in Romania, 08:50 there were informants in the church. 08:53 Every single Seventh-day Adventist church had an informant 08:56 that was - 08:57 - At least one. 08:58 - At least one, if not more, 09:00 that would inform the Securitate what was happening. 09:03 And so, they always had an eye on everything 09:06 that you were doing. 09:07 - That's the uncle I was thinking of. 09:08 - [Sperantza] Yeah. 09:10 - Because the way he got out of the country 09:12 was a book all on its own. 09:13 - Correct. Correct. 09:15 And that's a story in itself, but so, he was approached. 09:19 He said, let me think about it. 09:21 In, as he was thinking about it, 09:23 my other aunt and uncle had applied for an excursion, 09:26 leaving their son back in Romania, 09:28 the insurance, back in Romania. 09:30 So they were given the visa to go and visit Austria. 09:36 So, they were there. 09:39 My uncle then paid a very large sum of money 09:43 to someone who lived on the - 09:47 - [Michaela] Danube. 09:48 - [Sperantza] On the Danube, so on the border - 09:49 - [Janice] Sure. 09:50 - Of what was then Yugoslavia, 09:52 Romania and Yugoslavia. 09:54 And he was a swimmer. 09:55 My uncle was a weightlifting coach. 09:57 He had had, you know, his team that was traveling 10:01 throughout Eastern Europe, though, not west, 10:04 and, which was behind the Iron Curtain. 10:07 And so, he was very fit. 10:10 He was, you know, someone that could withstand swimming. 10:16 And so, he paid a large sum of money to someone, 10:18 had to trust that person 10:21 after giving them a very large sum of money. 10:24 And the person said, you know what? 10:26 I can help you escape, because, and you have to do it 10:32 during the midnight shifting of the guards. 10:35 The guards are shifting at midnight. 10:37 They take the night shift comes in, 10:39 and so, I will lower you in this boat, 10:44 and you know, then you swim. 10:46 You know, from there you swim across into Yugoslavia. 10:50 You're gonna have to be very careful, 10:52 because if they find you, they have huge propellers, 10:57 and you will be cut to pieces pretty much if they find you. 11:02 So, you need to be careful. 11:04 And so, that was happening in the background. 11:10 I didn't know any of that. 11:13 So, the, everything was going on in the background. 11:17 So, my parents had all of that background. 11:20 And so, that was the impetus of them having to find a way 11:24 for us to actually get out. 11:26 Because the, if the communists, and when the communists, 11:29 not if, when the communists would find out 11:31 that my aunt and uncle had already requested, 11:34 they're not coming back, 11:35 because their deadline was a certain date. 11:37 They were not gonna return. 11:39 My other uncle, who had been approached 11:41 by the communists to be an informant, he disappears. 11:44 Then all eyes are on us. 11:46 - Your whole family, they really have been watching you. 11:47 - [Sperantza] Exactly, exactly. 11:48 All eyes are on us. 11:52 - I hold in my hands a dramatic and engaging book. 11:54 Let me read you something. 11:56 "He made it! He made it! 11:57 He's alive!" 11:59 With those words, my father dropped the phone, 12:00 collapsed to the ground and began crying uncontrollably. 12:04 Shocked, I stood there, my heart pounding faster and faster. 12:07 My mind began jumping to frightening conclusions. 12:11 After what seemed like an eternity, 12:13 my parents motioned for me to sit down. 12:15 Scared, I lowered myself to the ground, 12:17 squeezed in between them. 12:19 And for the very first time in my life, 12:21 I heard them whisper to me the incredible plan 12:24 my family had orchestrated 12:25 to escape Communist Romania to freedom. 12:29 - When Adriana Pasos was just 14, 12:32 her family became targets of the Romanian secret police. 12:36 And this book, "Hope in Present Danger," 12:39 tells her incredible story. 12:42 You can get your copy for a donation of just 14.95 or more 12:48 at TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 12:50 That's TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 12:58 I don't like surprises. 13:00 I like to know what's going to happen 13:02 and when it's going to happen. 13:04 I make lists, and I always have a plan A, B, 13:08 and sometimes C. 13:10 Needless to say, in today's uncertain world, 13:13 I struggle with an embarrassing amount of anxiety. 13:17 If that sounds familiar, you need to send for 13:20 this free pamphlet, "Certainty in an Uncertain World." 13:24 To order your free copy, 13:26 go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 13:29 and request offer number 121 13:32 and find hope for today and tomorrow. 13:38 - Adriana, let's maybe set the stage 13:40 and the foundation here. 13:42 How old are you and your sister, 13:45 and your mom and dad been married how long? 13:47 And kind of pull it all together at this moment. 13:51 - Sure, so I will leave it for mom to tell me, 13:54 how many years were you married 13:56 when all this was happening, Mom with Dad? 13:58 I was 14. 13:59 My little sister was four years old, but I'm not sure 14:02 exactly how many years you guys were married at that point. 14:06 About 16 year wasn't it, no? 14:08 - 16 years, that period of time. 14:11 - [Sperantza] Right. 14:12 - This was a traumatic situation, 14:14 now, thinking of any kind of separation. 14:17 - Right, I've got kids, 14:19 and when I was reading your book, I thought, 14:22 what would it take? 14:24 I can't even imagine what kind of stresses, 14:27 what kind of danger it would take 14:29 for me to be so desperately in need 14:34 of getting this one out 14:36 that I could even consider leaving the other one behind. 14:41 You know, how do you get to have to make a choice like that? 14:46 - Nobody can understand if it's not in that situation, 14:52 in the regime, in the communist regime. 14:54 People would do quote unquote the impossible to get free. 15:02 And it's hard. 15:04 We decided as a family. 15:06 I asked my husband, I said, do you want us to go or no? 15:13 I have to know because I don't want, and it's true. 15:16 After we left, he got in the hospital. 15:21 He was sick. 15:22 - From the stress. 15:23 - From the stress, and of course, you know, it was terrible. 15:29 All the questions, all the, 15:31 wherever he went, where he applied, and, you know. 15:35 (speaking Romanian) 15:57 - I was going to ask that because you had, 16:00 you couldn't let on that you knew they weren't coming home. 16:04 - [Sperantza] Correct. 16:05 (speaking Romanian) 16:39 - They had to keep you in the dark. 16:40 - [Sperantza] They had to keep me in the dark. 16:41 - So that you didn't accidentally let on. 16:43 - I had no idea 16:44 No, I had no idea what was happening in the background. 16:47 My parents knew. I had no idea. 16:49 However, I remember like it was yesterday. 16:51 There was in one afternoon when the phone rang. 16:53 We were at my aunt and uncle's apartment, 16:57 and the phone rang. 16:58 And I remember Dad just running to the phone. 17:04 - [Michaela] And crying. 17:06 - And all I could hear and see was him saying, 17:10 "Praise God, praise God, you're alive, you're alive." 17:15 And then he just dropped to the ground, 17:18 and he continued crying. 17:19 And I'm like, what just happened? 17:21 Who's alive? What is going on? 17:24 And that's when my mom and dad began telling me 17:28 what had just happened, 17:30 that my aunt and uncle were actually not coming back 17:34 from that excursion in Austria, 17:36 and that my uncle had just crossed the Danube, 17:42 had just swam at night during the, you know, 17:46 night shift switching of the guards. 17:50 And he walked all the way into Yugoslavia. 17:53 And then, on foot made it to Trieste, Italy. 17:57 For an entire week, my parents had no clue 18:01 if he was dead or alive. 18:03 They had no idea what had happened to him. 18:05 And after an entire week of waiting, 18:08 so imagine, they're holding all of this in their hearts, 18:12 and I have no idea what is happening, 18:15 and they have to just do life as normal 18:19 with all of this heaviness in their hearts. 18:21 And so, the phone call comes, they find out he's alive. 18:25 And then they're realizing, 18:27 we have to apply for an excursion at that moment because - 18:30 - The clock is ticking. You got a very short window. 18:31 - The clock is ticking. Exactly. 18:32 And so, that is how the whole thing comes about. 18:36 And that is when I find out, oh my goodness, 18:39 my parents had just applied for that excursion. 18:41 We had no idea. 18:43 That's when I find out it's just my mom and I, 18:45 and I'm thinking, what is happening? 18:47 I'm 14. What does this mean? 18:50 How do you do this? 18:52 And so, the day before, literally hours before the trip 18:56 was to take place in the morning, 18:59 we found out that we were approved. 19:01 - [Jim] So, here's the situation. 19:02 - So, literally hours, in the afternoon, like, 19:04 I don't know, one o'clock in the afternoon, 19:05 two o'clock in the afternoon - 19:06 - Two o'clock. 19:07 - With the trip leaving tomorrow morning at 6:30, 19:09 or seven o'clock. 19:10 - What happened when the two of you knew you had to make 19:12 that immediate decision? 19:14 What's going on between the two of you, husband and wife, 19:16 that knows, you may never see each other again? 19:18 - Because there was no guarantee - 19:20 - [Michaela] And that was a tough decision. 19:21 - Just because you were on the outside, 19:22 that you could get them out. 19:26 - It was a very tough decision, but a lot of times, 19:30 God, I mean, most of the time in our lives, 19:36 God is the one which is leading us. 19:41 A lot of times, we are not in the picture, really. 19:44 Lord is telling us, you have to do this. 19:47 You know, the Bible says, I gonna tell you 19:50 when you have to take a right, 19:52 when you have to take a left, or, 19:55 and that, this is what happens. 19:57 We knew gonna be very hard. 20:01 And I was broken when I saw my husband. 20:08 He wasn't able to drive the car, 20:18 stop the car. 20:21 He was weeping, both of us, all of us weeping. 20:27 - He had to pull over because he just couldn't drive. 20:32 - Yeah, and we went in Brasov to our home there 20:38 to take whatever, you know, we need. 20:40 We needed for her some things. 20:42 And that was part of the pain. 20:48 But in the morning, when we left. 20:52 - So, you're home now with a four year old girl. 20:55 You two are traveling, quote, on a tourist trip. 21:02 - You know, we knew in the back of our mind 21:07 that God was leading this, 21:10 and that's why I think we could make it. 21:15 Otherwise, we couldn't make it. 21:16 - You wouldn't have had the strength otherwise. 21:17 - If we wouldn't know that God was arranging 21:21 three brothers, my sister, my brother and I, 21:26 our families were able to leave the country. 21:30 - [Sperantza] Within days of each other, 21:32 within weeks of each other. 21:33 - Weeks. 21:36 (speaking Romanian) 21:38 - [Sperantza] In about a month, all, my mom, my, yeah, 21:44 the three brothers, yeah. 21:45 - [Michaela] We were the last. 21:46 - [Sperantza] Yeah. 21:47 - [Michaela] We were the last. 21:48 - In about a month to escape and separate ways. 21:51 - [Michaela] Yeah. 21:53 - And when I saw Cornelia, which was four years in health, 22:00 you know, I didn't doubt in my mind 22:05 that I wouldn't see her again in that morning. 22:14 My heart was broken because I have to leave her behind. 22:25 - I hold my hands a dramatic and engaging book. 22:28 Let me read you something. 22:30 "He made it! He made it! 22:31 He's alive!" 22:32 With those words, my father dropped the phone, 22:34 collapsed to the ground and began crying, uncontrollably. 22:38 Shocked, I stood there, my heart pounding faster and faster. 22:41 My mind began jumping to frightening conclusions. 22:45 After what seemed like an eternity, 22:47 my parents motioned for me to sit down. 22:50 Scared, I lowered myself to the ground, 22:51 squeezed in between them. 22:53 And for the very first time in my life, 22:55 I heard them whisper to me the incredible plan 22:58 my family had orchestrated 23:00 to escape Communist Romania to freedom. 23:03 - When Adriana Pasos was just 14, her family became targets 23:08 of the Romanian secret police. 23:10 And this book, "Hope in Present Danger," 23:13 tells her incredible story. 23:16 You can get your copy for a donation of just 14.95 or more 23:20 at TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 23:24 That's TalkingDonkeyInternational.org. 23:32 - In the morning, because after we got the approval, 23:37 we found out that, yes, 23:38 we were leaving the following morning. 23:40 I'm, it was days, it was hours, literally, 23:43 between the time we found out 23:45 and the morning where we had to leave. 23:47 And I remember clearly, my dad that night before, 23:54 he took a camera, took the spool, the film out of the camera 23:59 and put in there 300 Deutsche Marks. 24:03 We in Romania, under communism, 24:06 you were not allowed to have any foreign currency. 24:08 If they found you with foreign currency, 24:11 they would throw you in jail, 24:12 because they knew that you had contact with the west. 24:16 Going back to what the world was like in Romania, 24:22 it was under the dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, 24:24 the worst dictators of this modern age, really. 24:30 The people in the country were literally, 24:33 many of them were starving, 24:36 and he was actually feeding his dogs on gold scales meat 24:43 where people couldn't find meat. 24:45 They couldn't find food. 24:46 You would go into stores, 24:47 and the stores pretty much were empty. 24:49 The irony of all of it was that there were stores 24:53 that were full to the rim that were specifically made 24:58 for the tourists, for the foreign tourists 25:00 that would come and visit Romania. 25:02 And we, as Romanians, would not be able to enter 25:05 into those stores or make any purchases. 25:07 So, you have the contrast of Romanian stores being empty. 25:12 Sometimes, I remember hours standing in line 25:16 for a liter of oil or a kilogram of sugar or flour, 25:22 for hours. 25:23 - [Michaela] At three o'clock in morning. 25:24 - Or milk, three o'clock in the morning. 25:26 Sometimes, my mom would give me a book and said, 25:28 stay in line, eight hours sometimes. 25:30 And, at times, I would actually get to the line, 25:34 and they would say, "Sorry, there's nothing left." 25:38 And so, that was the milieu in which we lived. 25:41 That is the power of communism, right? 25:44 That is the beauty of being equal, which was a farce. 25:49 It's a lie. 25:50 There is no such thing. 25:51 That's a utopia. 25:53 I believe that that kind of a imagery - 25:55 - Some people were always a little more equal than others. 25:58 - Yes, yes, yeah. So, all of that was happening. 26:02 And so, you know, the telephones were tapped. 26:06 The people were being followed. 26:07 One out of three were actually was an informant. 26:11 You didn't know who was an informant. 26:13 You had to keep a poker face. 26:14 We had no idea. 26:16 So, all of that to say that that morning or that evening, 26:19 my dad actually took the 300 Deutsche Marks, 26:22 put them in the spool of the film, 26:24 handed back the camera to my mom. 26:27 Yeah, handed back the camera to my mom. 26:29 And he warned her, be careful with this. 26:33 You know what they'll do to you if they find it. 26:35 - Basically, communism forces you to do all these things 26:38 just to survive. 26:39 - [Sperantza] Correct. 26:41 - And you find, you've got a plan to do this and do that. 26:42 - Yes, yeah, and so, then that morning, 26:46 I remember just gathering around it. 26:48 We were at our grandparents villa, 26:50 and they had a beautiful place. 26:53 And I remember it as it was yesterday. 26:55 It was a glorious morning. 26:57 And, my heart was just, 27:00 there were so many mixed emotions, 27:03 wondering, what did this mean? 27:05 What will this mean? 27:06 Will we be able to get out? 27:07 And so, the plan was that we would leave. 27:11 We would get to Turkey, somehow rather make it, 27:15 and really connect to someone who can help us. 27:19 And I remember Mom. 27:20 I remember Mom walking over to Cornelia, who was four, 27:25 and she was sleeping in perfect, perfect peace. 27:29 And I remember you just bending down over her 27:33 and kissing her. 27:36 - You know, I really believe here in America, 27:42 we know the price of freedom, and that time, I mean, 27:51 in my mind, I knew that, for freedom, 27:55 we have to pay a price. 28:02 - Thank you for watching. 28:03 Join us again for another exciting "Country Wisdom." 28:05 See you next time. 28:07 (peaceful music) |
Revised 2023-04-25