Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000051S
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00:00 (slow 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, 00:16 and your gaze be straight before you. 00:19 Keep straight the path of your feet, 00:21 and all your ways will be sure. 00:23 - Join us now for country wisdom. 00:25 (slow music) 00:38 You wave goodbye to your husband, 00:39 you see your dad, and you can't figure out what's going on. 00:43 The bus leaves. Now, what's the next thing that happens? 00:47 You're on the bus heading on a tourist vacation. 00:50 - I think everything with that excursion 00:53 was miracle after miracle. 00:56 But when we went 01:00 in Bulgaria, 01:02 because Romania was here, 01:04 Bulgaria was the next and next was Turkey. 01:10 The guide just realized that none of us had passports 01:15 because they didn't want to give us passports. 01:18 We just had a list with names. 01:24 In Bulgaria, I was working with a list 01:27 because it was communist country. 01:29 But when we went in Turkey, 01:31 Turkey was a democratic country, 01:34 and they expect us to have passports. 01:37 And none of us had passports. 01:41 Then we'd been waiting... 01:42 How many hours, Mommy? 01:44 - Hours. - Maybe eight hours. 01:44 - Hours. Yeah. 01:46 - To the... 01:47 - Border. - Border. 01:50 To receive the okay. 01:54 But the guide came to us 01:56 and said probably we have to return 01:59 back to Romania. 02:01 That was a very hard moment for us 02:05 because we were thinking we went through all this, 02:11 and now 02:12 all our hopes, 02:13 they were 02:16 gone. 02:20 Then we been praying and said, "Lord, 02:24 you can do miracles. 02:25 You can do something for us." 02:29 And after about eight hours, 02:31 - [Sperantza] It's a long time. 02:33 - Long time, 02:35 the guide came and she said, 02:38 they let us go in the country, in Turkey. 02:42 - At the border, 02:44 before we even went through Turkey, 02:47 which was a miracle after miracle. 02:48 Another miracle that God did 02:50 was when we were actually waiting at the border in Romania. 02:54 And we saw the militia men 02:55 actually going through every single piece of luggage. 03:00 I remember, 03:01 these were armed men, 03:02 they were going through the luggage. 03:04 And all I could think of was what was gonna happen, 03:06 if they discovered the... 03:09 - [Michaela] Camera. 03:09 - [Sperantza] The camera 03:10 and the Deutsche marks in the camera. 03:13 They were literally just emptying 03:16 the luggage of the people 03:18 and just making a mess of everything, 03:20 sometimes on the pavement. 03:22 And when our turn came, 03:24 I remember that they barely looked inside. 03:30 It was at that moment that I realized, 03:32 "Wow, God, you are with us. 03:36 You are with us." 03:37 Because these people, they barely looked inside. 03:40 In one bag, because we had two. 03:41 In one bag, they barely looked 03:43 and they said, "Okay, thank you. 03:45 You're good to go." 03:46 And so I think no one could have possibly imagined 03:50 that a mom with a 14 year old 03:53 would even 03:56 - [Michaela] Think to defect. - possibly think of defecting. 03:59 I saw God's covering through that process, 04:02 but then right before the bus left, 04:05 once again, these militia men came up. 04:08 Like my dad said, 04:10 there were informants in the bus. 04:13 They knew exactly what to look for. 04:16 And they watched this man, 04:17 and this man didn't have any luggage with him. 04:20 He only had a bag that was on his shoulders. 04:23 And so as we were ready to leave, we thought we were done. 04:27 The men stormed the bus again, 04:29 and they pulled that young man off the bus 04:32 for us to never see him again. 04:34 - So your heart is just going like this. 04:36 - So our heart is pounding and we're thinking, 04:38 "Sure enough, what my dad said is true." 04:40 - They arrested still. 04:41 - They arrested him right away. Yeah. 04:42 And then arriving in Turkey, 04:44 feeling like we're gonna have to be doubling up 04:46 with a stranger that we've never met before. 04:49 Where we can't discuss anything. 04:52 Seeing informants 04:54 literally parked at every other... 04:56 or maybe two or three doors down from us. 05:00 And I'm thinking, "How in the world are we gonna make it? 05:04 How are we gonna be able to separate ourselves 05:06 from the group? 05:07 How is this gonna happen?" 05:12 And just the bathroom with the water running 05:14 was our safe haven, literally. 05:17 And that's where mom and I would just talk very little 05:19 because we didn't know, "Is there a camera here too? 05:22 Is there something? 05:23 Is there somewhere that they are listening to us as well." 05:29 And then yet, through the process, 05:32 we were supposed to go to the bazaar 05:34 I think the second day, 05:36 and everyone got sick. 05:38 Everyone got sick with a stomach virus. 05:41 And so they changed the plan. 05:43 And even in that process, just thinking about that, 05:47 they changed the plan, so the bazaar, 05:48 which meant that everyone was free, 05:51 "free" 05:53 to go and spread and go shopping and look for stuff, 05:57 and then meet again. 06:00 That trip then was postponed to the last day 06:02 being in Turkey. 06:04 Little did we realize, 06:06 that if that would've been the second day, 06:08 they would've had one more day to search for us, 06:10 should we be able to actually separate ourselves 06:13 from the group. 06:14 And then God switched the whole process, 06:16 their plan, 06:17 it switched the plan. 06:18 Everybody got sick, 06:20 but funny thing, we didn't get sick. 06:22 - Amen. 06:23 - [Sperantza] We did not have a stomach virus. 06:25 We were fine. 06:27 At the same time though, that evening. 06:29 I remember that the guide, right? 06:30 The tour guide, mom. 06:31 She asked us, "Can we join you at your table?" 06:35 Remember what she said to you? 06:36 - Yeah. 06:37 - And she was just... 06:38 - She said, "I am so glad 06:41 that nobody is defecting in this group." 06:44 (Janice laughing) 06:47 (Jim laughing) 06:49 - Sperantza was by me, 06:51 and I... 06:52 - Just stepped on my foot. 06:54 - Stepped on her foot, 06:56 not to have any reactions somehow. 06:58 - Yeah. 06:59 - So the plan is formulating. 07:02 So finally my mom is telling me what we're going to do. 07:05 She said, "Okay, tomorrow we're going to the bazaar." 07:08 And I thought, "Okay, well, let's just..." 07:10 Because we had a big piece of luggage, 07:11 and then a smaller. 07:13 A little handbag, duffle bag. 07:14 And I thought, 07:16 "Okay. Well, let's just put my clothes in that duffle bag. 07:18 And I started to do that. 07:19 And mom said, "What are you doing?" 07:21 And I said, 07:22 "Well, we're gonna put the clothes in the duffle bag. 07:23 My clothes." 07:24 She said, 07:26 "We can't put any of your clothes in the duffle bag." 07:28 And I'm thinking, "I'm 14. 07:31 What do you mean we can't put my clothes in the bag? 07:33 What does that mean?" (interviewers laughing) 07:34 And so mom said, "You understand, 07:37 we are going to separate ourself from the group. 07:40 If anybody finds this bag, she said, 07:43 "That will be a giveaway, 07:45 a dead giveaway, 07:46 that we are trying to defect." 07:47 She said, "The only thing we can take, 07:49 is the camera, and the Deutsche marks inside. 07:52 That's all we can take." 07:53 So I had one little summer dress on me. 07:58 And mom, the clothes on her back. 08:00 And so I realized at that point 08:02 that that's all we could take, 08:03 and the camera, and the Deutsche marks. 08:07 The thought was that... 08:09 She said, "Okay, we're going to go to the bazaar. 08:11 When we watch the entire group leave, 08:14 we're gonna try to separate ourselves from the group, 08:17 and we're gonna get back into a taxi, 08:19 and we're gonna take a taxi to the Austrian embassy, 08:22 she said. 08:23 And then we're going to tell them, 08:26 that your... 08:27 - Political asylum. 08:28 - That we want political asylum. 08:30 And then that we want to be reunited with our family, 08:32 my aunt and uncle in Austria." 08:35 And I thought, "Okay, that's a good plan." 08:37 And I remember mom actually writing in Turkish, 08:40 in Romanian, 08:41 and translating in a little, little tiny dictionary 08:43 in Turkish words, 08:44 "Help, escape, political asylum." 08:47 And so I thought, 08:48 "How in the world are we gonna separate ourselves 08:50 from the group at that point? 08:52 We actually went into the bazaar. 08:54 We were told that- - We went. 08:56 - Yeah. 08:57 In the bazaar that we could have a certain amount of time, 08:59 and that at 1:30, the group would come together. 09:03 There was a tour guide that was a Turkish tour guide, 09:05 and said, "At 1:30, you need to be here. 09:09 We will wait for you for 30 minutes extra. 09:12 If you are not here within 30 minutes, 09:14 we will realize... 09:16 - We will leave. 09:18 - That you wanted to stay here." 09:20 And those were her words, which was really, really odd, 09:23 that would come from a Turkish guide. 09:26 It was not the Romanian guide, it was a Turkish guide. 09:28 So basically what they were saying is, 09:30 "This is the timeframe, you better be here." 09:33 But if you're not here, we understand what happened. 09:36 And so that was strange. I remember that. 09:38 And then Dr. Dinescu, 09:40 the same lady 09:42 that we were supposed to actually be in the room with, 09:45 she would want to be together with us. 09:47 And she just said, "Well, we're gonna stick together. 09:49 We're gonna stick together." 09:50 And I thought, "Oh God, have mercy. 09:51 How are we gonna get away from this lady?" 09:54 And so I remember that we went into a store, right? 09:57 - No, we went to a store, 09:58 but we told her we have to go to pharmacy 10:02 to get some pills 10:03 because everybody was sick. 10:05 Then we didn't say we are sick. 10:07 We say, "We have to buy something." Then- 10:09 - So somehow rather we were able to separate from her 10:11 and we actually enter into the bazaar. 10:13 And the bazaar, if any one of you have been in Turkey, 10:17 it's a metropolis. 10:18 And so the bazaar is literally a city under the city. 10:21 It's incredible. 10:22 And so they told us 10:24 that we needed to remember what gate we were entering 10:26 so that we can actually go back through the same gate, 10:29 because if not, 10:31 you can end up in a different side of the city. 10:33 And so it was huge, and the noises, 10:37 and the music. 10:40 It was just such an incredible stimulation of the eyes. 10:44 I mean, I had never seen such an incredible place, 10:47 like the bazaar. 10:49 All kinds of things for sale. 10:51 People trying to get you into their stores to buy 10:54 all kinds of things. 10:56 And I thought, "Oh my goodness, 10:57 how are we gonna make it back?" 11:00 And my mom said, 11:01 "We have to watch for every person on this trip 11:03 to pass us through. 11:05 And we have to remember where we're at, 11:07 so that we can exit back." 11:09 As we were entering into the gate, 11:11 I remember seeing a sea of taxis. 11:13 And you said to me, this... 11:15 You just kind of nodded. 11:16 Like, "This is where we need to come back to. 11:20 This is where we're gonna grab a taxi from." 11:23 Remember? 11:25 And then you insisted that I would get a pair of sandals. 11:28 And I thought, "I don't need a pair of sandals." 11:30 (male interviewer laughing) 11:31 - I'm okay. I'm okay." 11:32 And you said, 11:33 "But we need to get you a pair of sandals." 11:35 And I'm thinking, 11:36 "When my mom says 11:38 we need to get your pair of sandals at 14 in Romania, 11:40 you do what mom says." 11:41 So we went and we got a pair of sandals. 11:45 Right? 11:47 - [Michaela] And we met with some people from the group. 11:48 And as we tried to make our way back, 11:51 thinking that we had passed everyone into the group, 11:55 the tour guide was right in front of us and said, 11:59 "Where are you going, Mrs. Totpal?" 12:02 - I hold in my hands a dramatic and engaging book. 12:04 You want me read you something? 12:06 "He made it, he made it. He's alive. 12:08 With those words, my father dropped the phone, 12:10 collapsed to the ground, 12:12 and began crying uncontrollably. 12:14 Shocked, I stood there, my heart pounding faster and faster. 12:17 My mind began jumping to frightening conclusions. 12:21 After what seemed like an eternity, 12:23 my parents motioned for me to sit down. 12:25 Scared, I lowered myself to the ground, 12:27 squeezed in between them. 12:29 And for the very first time in my life, 12:31 I heard them whisper to me 12:33 the incredible plan my family had orchestrated 12:36 to escape communist Romania to freedom. 12:39 - When Adriana Pasos was just 14, 12:42 her family became targets of the Romanian secret police. 12:46 And this book, Hope In Present Danger, 12:49 tells her incredible story. 12:52 You can get your copy 12:53 for a donation of just 14.95 or more 12:57 at talkingdonkeyinternational.org. 13:00 That's, talkingdonkeyinternational.org. 13:07 - When we saw the guy there, 13:11 was very difficult. 13:13 But I think God again, gave me the presence of the spirit. 13:19 - [Sperantza] The wisdom. 13:20 - The wisdom to be able to answer. 13:23 And was a wonderful thing 13:26 because I made Sperantza to accept to buy those sandals 13:30 because we show it to her 13:32 and we went to the pharmacy, right? 13:36 We decided to go to the pharmacy because 13:39 (people speaking simultaneously) 13:41 everybody knew that was a situation, 13:43 but we weren't affected. 13:45 Then in this way, we just went out. 13:51 That was the reason how we presented to the guide 13:55 and said, "Okay, see you later." 14:00 We left. 14:01 - So I think that for me, I remember that when I saw her, 14:05 I felt like my feet just stepped 14:09 into glue, 14:11 because I thought, "What are we gonna say?" 14:13 And it was those sandals, you said to her mom, 14:16 you said, 14:17 "Oh, look at the sandals that I just got from my daughter." 14:18 We wanna go back to the same store 14:20 and it's around the corner, if you wanna check it out. 14:23 It's an amazing space. 14:24 And we just wanted to look at something else again". 14:31 And in addition to that, 14:32 we need to go and find a pharmacy. 14:33 And so it was that kind of an answer, 14:37 but I remember my heart 14:38 just getting ready to come out of my chest 14:40 because I knew that what we really wanted to do 14:43 was actually move further, closer to the gate. 14:47 And I think the fear also, mom, 14:49 being into that bazaar and the sounds and the smells, 14:53 the sight was just so overwhelming. 14:56 People trying to get you into their stores. 14:59 And then I think for me, it was the fear. 15:01 If we get lost here, we will never know how to get out. 15:05 What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get out? 15:08 As we stepped into the light, as I remember, 15:11 the bazaar, it was dark. - [Jim] Yeah. 15:13 - [Sperantza] And so stepping into that light, 15:16 it was almost like, 15:18 we could take a breath at that moment to know that, 15:21 wow, there's one more step and maybe one more step. 15:24 One more step that will get us closer to freedom. 15:28 And getting into that taxi was the first taxi that we saw. 15:32 As the taxi... 15:33 I remember you giving him this little piece of paper 15:36 that you had written. 15:37 - [Michaela] Yeah. - [Sperantza] In Turkish. 15:39 "We want to go to the Austrian embassy, political asylum." 15:41 And so the taxi going around and around and around, 15:44 I thought, "What is he doing? 15:47 Is he lost? Or does he just wanna take our money? 15:50 Is he going to turn us in?" 15:51 Because Turkey was also renowned 15:54 in actually turning back refugees, 15:57 or people who were asking for political asylum. 15:59 That was at least the fear 16:01 and the word that we had heard in Romania, 16:03 that we had to be careful with that as well. 16:08 The taxi finally stopped, 16:11 and he pointed to us, the Austrian embassy. 16:13 He was lost. 16:14 He didn't know exactly where that was. 16:15 And so he finally stopped, we paid him. 16:18 Mom paid him, 16:19 and then we got to the Austrian embassy. 16:21 And when I saw the plaque of the Austrian embassy, 16:24 I thought, 16:25 (Sperantza exhaling) 16:26 "Here we are. 16:27 We made it. We made it." 16:29 So the anticipation of, "Wow, we're free. 16:34 We made it." 16:35 So we made our way up 16:36 to the second floor of the Austria embassy. 16:38 And with my little German, tried to explain 16:41 and asked for us to speak to the council. 16:44 And so they said, "Do you have an appointment?" 16:47 (Sperantza speaking faintly) 16:48 "We don't have an appointment. 16:49 We don't have an appointment. We just dropped in literally. 16:52 (male interviewer giggling) 16:53 Just dropped in." 16:55 And the wo- - We want political asylum. 16:56 - The woman said to us... 16:58 She looked at us, she said, "I'm so sorry. 17:01 The council cannot see you." 17:02 And we said to her, 17:04 we said, "Well, we're from Romania, and on excursion. 17:08 We're seeking political asylum 17:09 due to the religious persecution." 17:12 So here we were thinking we had just made it to freedom, 17:15 just to be told, "There is nothing we can do. 17:20 We cannot help you. 17:22 And I remember looking at mom and mom looking at me, 17:24 and I'm thinking, 17:26 "What now?" 17:28 Here we were in a metropolis, 17:30 not knowing a soul, 17:32 not speaking the language. 17:34 Two women in a Muslim country. 17:36 Mom, 34. I'm 14. 17:39 Where do we go? What do we do? 17:42 Where are we? What is happening now?" 17:44 And I remember sitting down, right? 17:47 on a ledge 17:49 of a fence 17:50 right in front of the Austrian embassy. 17:53 And just for... 17:55 I don't even know how long, just sitting quietly. 17:58 We didn't know what to say. - [Michaela] We didn't know. 18:00 We were confused. - We didn't know what to say. 18:01 We were so confused. 18:02 We were so scared. 18:04 I remember finally, 18:06 mom, you said, "Maybe the bus will pass by here." 18:14 - And I thought, "What?" 18:17 Maybe the bus will pass by here and we can go back home. 18:21 And I'm like, "There is no home. 18:23 We can't go back. 18:24 We have to go forward. There is no way back." 18:28 And as mom said that, I saw a... 18:31 Well, it looked like a man in uniform. 18:33 We didn't know what he was, 18:34 but it was somebody in uniform. 18:36 He was in a blue uniform with a cap and a gold tassel, 18:39 I remember. 18:40 And I just thought, "Well, maybe he can help us." 18:43 I don't speak the language. 18:44 I don't know. 18:45 We had to cross the street. 18:47 He was across the street. And I remember... 18:49 I said, "Mom, let's go. 18:50 Let's just go. 18:51 Let's talk to this man. Maybe he can help us." 18:54 So I remember- 18:54 - [Michaela] You spoke in French. 18:56 - Crossing the street and approaching this man, 18:59 and trying to speak to him in French. 19:01 He doesn't understand me because he doesn't speak French. 19:03 But I did say political asylum. 19:05 I said, 19:06 (Sperantza speaking in foreign language) 19:08 in French. 19:10 And so he looked at us and he said, "Come with me." 19:12 in Turkish. 19:13 And he just motioned to us 19:15 because I couldn't understand what he was saying. 19:16 He didn't understand what I was saying. 19:17 But he figured, two women in a Muslim country. 19:20 Clearly we were not from there, clearly we were lost, 19:23 clearly we were helpless. 19:25 I don't know what our faces must have looked like. 19:27 I don't know what the fear... 19:28 He probably read the fear in our faces. 19:30 And so he took us around. 19:32 We didn't realize that around the corner, 19:34 there was actually a police station. 19:37 And so we tried to explain to them. 19:39 They asked us if we spoke English, we didn't. 19:41 They asked if we spoke German, very little, 19:43 but I told them French. I speak French. 19:46 And so they motioned us to follow them. 19:49 Now, three men coming with us, 19:51 and then they took- 19:52 - [Michaela] That was a scary moment. 19:53 - They took us, right? 19:55 They took us to a place, 19:59 and it was several blocks away. 20:01 It was a building, 20:03 and the building had steps 20:05 going subterraneously down underneath the ground. 20:10 And so 20:13 I remember 20:16 they motioned us to go down, 20:18 to follow them. 20:20 Three men, 20:21 mom and I, 20:23 in subterraneous steps, 20:25 just going down 20:26 into where it looked like an opening of a door. 20:31 And I'm like, "What are they going to do to us? 20:34 What are they going to do with us, to us?" 20:37 And so one of them- - Just men. 20:39 - Just men. - Just men. 20:40 - No women, no women. 20:42 And so all of a sudden, I remember one of them entered, 20:46 and brought back a woman from that place. 20:51 I don't know if it was a restaurant, if it was a hotel, 20:55 I do not know what that place was, to this day. 20:58 And this woman came and she started speaking French to me, 21:02 and she asked me, "Tell me what you need." 21:06 And so we told them we were 21:09 in a trip, in an excursion from Romania. 21:12 We had suffered political... 21:16 (Michaela speaking faintly) 21:17 - [Sperantza] We wanted political asylum. 21:18 We were requesting political asylum. 21:20 We had separated from the group. 21:21 (Sperantza sniffing) 21:22 We were by ourselves, 21:24 and that we had suffered religious persecution 21:27 and we needed help. 21:29 And so she translated to the police, 21:33 and the police said, "Okay. 21:35 Okay, we will help them. Tell them we will help them." 21:38 And so I remember they said... 21:40 She translated to us. 21:42 She said, "They'll put you in a police car. 21:44 They cannot process you here. 21:45 This is a small police station. 21:46 They have to take you to the big police station." 21:49 But I just looked at mom and mom looked so terrified. 21:52 And finally, I remember there was a phone. 21:56 They made several phone calls, 21:58 trying to ask for identity. 21:59 couldn't figure it out, 22:01 Couldn't figure out how they can literally help us. 22:03 Finally, they got someone, on the phone 22:06 that spoke Romanian. 22:07 And mom spoke, 22:08 and they clarified certain things. 22:10 And at that point they said, "Okay." 22:12 Mom, what did you think when you had that man on the phone? 22:15 What did you think? 22:16 Who did you think you were talking to? 22:18 - I really believed was 22:22 Romanian ambassador. 22:24 - [Sperantza] And what was your biggest fear 22:25 at that point?" 22:26 - That we have to go back. 22:29 - So after that conversation, 22:31 they finally were able to just then take us from there. 22:38 They motioned to us to follow them. 22:40 And so we followed them, 22:41 and they opened a big van. 22:44 The van opened. 22:45 And I remember that there was white sheets 22:48 on the seats of the van. 22:51 And there was a little light just dangling. 22:53 It looked like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. 22:57 We got in, 22:59 we had our little duffle bag, 23:00 the orange duffle bag. 23:02 And the door slam shut behind us. 23:04 We didn't know where they were gonna take us. 23:06 They didn't tell us. 23:08 We had no idea what the next step was. 23:12 When that door slammed shut, it felt so dark. 23:16 And then we just heard footsteps around the van, 23:18 men talking again. 23:21 We didn't know where we were going to be taken. 23:23 And so the trip continued on 23:26 for what seemed like a very long time 23:29 through very uneven terrain. 23:32 We were wondering, "Where are they taking us? 23:34 What are they going to do to us." Remember? 23:37 And I remember just clinging onto you and saying, 23:39 "Mom, it's so dark in here." 23:42 - And you said, "Mommy, they gonna kill us." 23:45 I said, "No." 23:47 I said, "Definitely not. God is with us." 23:51 This is what I told her because I realized her fear 23:55 (Sperantza speaking faintly) 23:56 But I was scared also because... 23:59 I said, "Why we have to 24:02 be in a closed van like this?" 24:05 I didn't realize. 24:06 - There were no windows. 24:07 The only windows thing... - No windows. 24:08 And I remember you telling me 24:10 there was a little grill in the corner of that van. 24:13 And I remember mom saying to me, 24:16 she said, "I want you to focus..." 24:17 She said, "Look there." 24:19 She said, "There's a little bit of light 24:20 that you can see through that grill." 24:22 She said, "If you can just focus on the light, 24:25 the darkness will disappear." 24:26 Just focus on the light, honey. 24:28 Just focus on the light. 24:28 And I remember the light motif. 24:30 It was just constantly the refrain that mom would say, 24:33 "God is with us, God is with us. 24:35 He promised, he won't leave us. 24:36 He promised he won't leave us. 24:38 Don't fear, don't fear. God is with us." 24:40 And then after what seemed like an eternal trip... 24:45 - [Michaela] That was... 24:46 - We heard. 24:47 - [Michaela] We heard a terrible noise. 24:49 I really figured. 24:51 I thought this is a prison, 24:53 definitely. 24:54 The way how you read in stories like... 24:58 I said, "What is this? 25:00 This doesn't sound like embassy or something. 25:04 This is like a prison." 25:09 The chauffeur, the guy, 25:11 I mean, the driver came, 25:14 opened the doors. - [Sperantza] No. Well, 25:15 we heard the sound of those gates opening. 25:17 - Yeah. 25:18 - [Sperantza] So it was like the sound reverberating, 25:20 like boom, boom, boom. 25:22 And then the car moving inside wherever this was. 25:27 And then the sound of the gates shutting behind us. 25:29 - [Michaela] Behind us. Yeah. 25:31 - Again, boom, boom. Just reverberating sound. 25:34 It was at that point that I told mom, I said, 25:36 "They're gonna kill us." 25:37 I said, "We're gonna be in prison. 25:38 They're gonna kill us here." 25:40 And then after that, the van stopped. 25:43 - [Michaela] Yeah. 25:43 - And then what happened, mom? 25:45 - [Michaela] Then he came, the chauffer, he came, 25:48 the driver. 25:49 He opened the door. 25:53 And never I would forget 25:57 that gentleman which came in front of the door, 26:01 open. 26:04 He was smiling and he said, 26:07 "You are welcome, 26:10 Mrs. 26:12 You are on American soil." 26:16 - [Male Interviewer] Wow. 26:17 - And I saw in the corner of the room, 26:21 American flag. 26:24 And he realized how scared we were. 26:27 Because he said, "Please don't fear. 26:32 You don't have any reason to be scared. 26:35 You are on American soil. 26:38 (male interviewee speaking in foreign language) 26:41 - [Sperantza] And we arrived in LAX in the evening. 26:43 (male interviewee speaking in foreign language) 26:45 - [Sperantza] When I saw all the lights 26:46 and all the beauty of that huge place. 26:49 (Corneliu speaking in foreign language) 26:50 - [Sperantza] I thought, "This is America." 26:52 (male interviewer laughing) This is America. 26:54 (male interviewee speaking in foreign language) 27:11 - [Michaela] Oh. 27:11 - [Male Interviewer] Amen. Amen. 27:13 - More than that. 27:14 - Folks, this is an incredible book, 27:17 Hope In Present Danger. 27:18 You've only heard a little bit of this story today. 27:20 Believe me, just a little bit of it. 27:22 You need to get this book. 27:23 You can go to talkingdonkeyinternational.org, 27:25 and get your own copy. 27:28 Adriana is a great writer. 27:30 It's an incredible story, get it today. 27:32 Folks, I just can't tell you how happy we are 27:35 that you came here today to meet with us. 27:36 Really, we had a barn, but it's... 27:39 everything going on and on mowers everything 27:40 (Sperantza and Janice laughing) 27:42 - But God got us through this, he got you through it. 27:46 That's what we want our viewers to understand, 27:48 is how incredible our God really is. 27:50 - [Sperantza] Yes, yes. 27:51 - Your story in person... 27:52 I love the book, 27:53 but hearing it from you in person has just been incredible. 27:59 I'm so glad you shared. 28:00 - [Male Interviewer] Amen. Amen. 28:01 Thank you all your great Americans. That's what- 28:02 - [Sperantza] Thank you so much. 28:03 - Sorry we were late. - God bless you guys. 28:04 - Thank you very much. - May the Lord bless you. 28:07 - Thank you for watching. 28:08 Join us again for another exciting country wisdom. 28:10 - See you next time. 28:12 (slow music) |
Revised 2022-09-26