True Freedom

With the hot summer months upon us, as the calendar changes to July, there is the imminent arrival of our US Independence Day on July 4^th. As the historic 249^th birthday of our independence approaches, I think about the freedoms we so passionately enjoy, earned by the sacrifices of a hardy patchwork of farmers, ranchers, mechanics and businessmen who challenged the greatest war power on the planet to a fight, and actually beat them (American Battlefield Trust, 2024)! It is certainly is a story for the ages!

Within that battle for independence are many individual stories of those who joined the fight or supported the effort through their acts of bravery. These included a wealthy silversmith, a printer and inventor, a farmer and landowner, a frontiersman, a brave leading general, and thousands of unnamed warriors who sacrificed so much to live free and worship as they chose (Norwich University, 2025). Behind it all was the Providence of Almighty God, who protected and nurtured this small group of renegades that shocked the world (Norwich University, 2025).

Yes, we Yankees revel in the freedoms that we have gained through these hard-fought battles and the many other wars for national independence our soldiers have fought against global tyrants. We often forget the dramatic costs of these struggles for freedom, with many lives lost, much blood spilled, all so that we could yell loudly in a public assembly or kneel silently in our churches without fear of reprisal.

Some of us have grown up in this environment having never been asked to fight against oppression as our forefathers did. I count myself as someone who for years enjoyed the rights and privileges of this freedom, but did not fully appreciate the cost of acquiring it or maintaining it. When my turn to serve came up during the Vietnam War, suddenly the draft ended, and I returned to my misguided ways of railing against “the man” and the oppression of the wealthy bourgeoisie – at least that is what we were told. As I grew into adulthood, especially when I worked within an inner-city factory, I had a front-row seat to some of the greatest risks others have taken in order to taste the freedoms that we take for granted. Here are some of their stories.

My annoying chaplain co-worker had escaped the communist oppression

We worked together in a large corporation. Let’s call him Anh. Anh was a local pastor and corporate chaplain who worked hard to recruit people from his demographic background to work inside the hot factory where I served as HR director and recruiter. Anh had an awkward accent of broken English, which made most of the home-grown Americans tease and laugh behind his back. He could be a bit annoying at times, pushing for his people and what he thought I should do in terms of recruiting and hiring them. Sometimes it was outright irritating. But that all changed when I really learned his story.

While this was some 20 years after the Vietnam War ended, the communist government established after the American withdrawal sought to reunify the country and stamp out any resistance (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 2025). Their efforts to “re-educate” people in the southern part of the country led to slaughter, prison camps and deplorable conditions for most of the southern population. Then with former soldiers and anyone viewed as suspicious, like members of the clergy, the government’s tactics were more severe (Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, 2025).

My annoying chaplain co-worker had escaped the communist oppression after his brother was put in prison for preaching the gospel. Anh and a group of over 100 refugees got into a very small boat and sought to escape the oppression by floating their craft to another nearby country where they might try to travel overland to the West. My co-worker and this mass of humanity drifted on the South China sea for 10 days until they were able to land in a neighboring country where they could then find their way to Europe and then ultimately to the US.

Freedom for him meant risking everything in order to come here to our country and to worship as he chose

Suddenly I had the deepest admiration for Anh for taking such extreme measures to live free and for what freedom meant to him. Freedom for him meant risking everything in order to come here to our country and to worship as he chose. I was humbled by the courage he had shown; and shamed by my own lack of appreciation for the gift I had to live free and worship without fear of prison or re-education.

Another story from the same era and that same part of the world involved an Asian gentleman with whom I also worked in another one of our factory locations. I will call him Savan. This gentle and sensitive factory leader also escaped the repression of communism that flooded the Indochina peninsula, evading the communist insurgence in Laos (Llewellyn, et al, 2018). Laos had a swift transition to socialism at the same time as Vietnam, with totalitarian leadership usurping the established government, and mass attempts to re-educate troublesome officials or former military leaders through “seminar camps” (Llewellyn, et al, 2018). There was also racial strife against ethnic groups within the country, which led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the flight of thousands of refugees (Llewellyn, et al, 2018).

Savan was part of the government transition in Laos during this difficult time. He came to the realization that his every movement was being watched, with cars parked near his home during the night. Not only was Savan a leader in the former government, but he was also a faithful Christian man who continued to practice his faith while the world around him dramatically changed. When things became so difficult that he feared that his life was in jeopardy, with a car of secret police sitting out front of his house one night, Savan and his wife and two children left their home with all the lights on and drove to the Mekong River bordering Laos and Thailand. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, the four of them swam across the river to escape being sent to a re-education seminar camp. They escaped because of his role, but also to pursue the freedoms that we so comfortably enjoy, in order to continue to practice his faith. At the time we worked together, Savan was very active in a local ethnic church in the city where the factory was located.

“When you are not afraid to die, that is when you become truly free.”

One more story of a courageous young man describes the abuse and threats to his life that he endured for his faith. It is similar to the previous stories, because it describes someone who gave up everything and was willing to risk it all to live what he believed. The gentleman in this story did not escape to America to attain his freedom, but eventually would come to receive his doctorate at the university where I teach.

Tariku (his real name) was born into a poor family in a small village in Ethiopia (Wilson, 2019). His birth father had three wives, and he lived with 12 half brothers and sisters. Because he was born with asthma and because his mother divorced his father, he was abandoned by his family and became an outcast in his village when he was only three years old (Wilson, 2019). Because he was abandoned by his mom, his father refused to raise him and sent him into the village where he lived to become a Shepherd. He was a broken young man who thought his life was over, even at a young age.

The government forced his father to send him to school at 10 years old. As he matured and built relationships, he met someone who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. That had a significant impact on Tariku, because after this young life of abandonment and abuse, he suddenly felt loved (Wilson, 2019). Becoming a Christian in this Muslim community was nearly a death sentence. He suffered tremendous abuse and ridicule, and at one point feared for his life.

When I heard him telling his story, the one thing that he said shook me to my core. This is really the essence of why I am writing these stories. When Tariku was threatened with death for converting to Christianity, he related to us that this is when he had to decide what he truly believed. He told us, “When you are not afraid to die, that is when you become truly free.”

That is really what all three stories have in common. These three men, along with thousands of others around the world over the last 2000 years, had to make a choice. They had to decide if they would hold onto their faith despite overwhelming odds against them; or be re-educated into the culture in which they lived.

Two of the three men saw America as a place where they could practice their faith, and they risked everything to come here; while one also lost the fear of death and truly became free in following his Savior. Jesus famously said to those who believed in Him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 ESV). In order to have true freedom, as Tariku said, you have to lose the fear of dying. When you lose the fear of dying to your present life, that is when you become truly free.

So we rejoice in the freedoms that have been given to us through the selfless sacrifices of brave men and women who, as the songwriter wrote, “more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life” (Roberts, 2023). These souls were willing to lose their lives in order to attain this freedom for us. But true freedom only resides in those who are not content with the current world, but willing to give up everything and cling only to Jesus. When you do that, you will realize true freedom.

Sources:

• American Battlefield Trust (2024). The Fighting Man of the Continental Army. 
• Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (2025). Vietnam After the War. 
• Llewellyn, J. (et al), (2018). Laos During the Vietnam War. Alpha History 
• Norwich University (2025). 8 Key Figures from the Revolutionary War. 
• Roberts, M.S. (2023). What are the lyrics to ‘America the Beautiful’, and what’s the patriotic song’s history? Classic FM: Discover Music  .
• Wilson, M. (2019). From Shepherding in Ethiopia to Earning a PhD in Leadership. The Christian Broadcast Network. 

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