THE PRICE OF FREEDOM – A BOOK REVIEW
Wow! It’s all I can say after finishing The Price of Freedom, A story of faith, in the face of danger by Simon Ivascu and Wesley Pop and co-authored with Bev Ellen Clarke.
I started reading The Price of Freedom after lunch today and finished it a few hours later. I just could not put it down. What an amazing testimony to the faithfulness of God.
Two young Romanians, facing army duty in this Communist country, tell of their escape from their homeland in search of freedom of worship. Simon, hoping to find this freedom in Italy with his older brother, Stephan, endured many dangerous ordeals in his quest to cross the guarded border from Romania into Hungary, from Hungary into Austria then from Austria into Italy. His friend, Wesley, a couple of years later found his way to Simon with a Black Market travelers permit. Though his trip to Italy was much easier than his friend’s in that he was taken all the way by car, he was then unable to find a job or accommodation once he arrived. Simon was able to live with his brother and found work though he was an illegal resident.
When it became clear than neither Simon nor Wesley could chance staying any longer in Italy (they both had papers stipulating they had to leave the country in 15 days), they began to search for ways to escape to a safe country. The Price of Freedom is the story of how these two young men were put into a container to be sent by ship to either Australia, India, the US or Canada. Their frightening journey takes them from what seemed an interminable delay before the container was stored in the ship’s hold through a terrible storm, from soaring temperatures and lack of oxygen to knowing they had used their last bottle of water with an unknown number of days still ahead, from fear of dying in that container to finally trying to make their presence known to the ship’s crew.
Simon and Wesley had been singers in Romania. They sang in their church and at conferences. But in the army they would not have been allowed to practice their Christian faith. They would have been cruelly beaten and roughly treated not only for their faith but just because that is how the soldiers are treated. They could have died before their time was completed. The possibility, through their ordeal, was always of being caught, jailed, sent back to prison in Romania and still having to put in their army time. But the possibility of freedom was greater, and so they willingly endured what most of us could not endure. They did not consider the price of freedom too great to gain freedom of worship, and God was with them and brought them through.
They seemed more dead than alive when they were finally able to make their presence known, but they were encouraged by the kind treatment they received from the ship’s crew. After more hardships and trials once they landed in Canada, they now enjoy the privilege of Canadian citizenship. And they are part of a gospel quartet, Freedom Singers Canada, singing the praises of their God and spreading the gospel message wherever they go. They have been rewarded for their willingness to endure all these things, and they have proved that the price of freedom is never higher than we can pay.
Check out their web site for more info.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for proof that miracles still happen today, to anyone who needs encouragement to endure whatever hardships they are going through, and to anyone who wants to be blessed by the testimony of these two young men who were willing to pay The Price of Freedom.
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Hi there, I was just wondering if this book is out for purchasing. If it is, how much does it cost?
Hi Natalie. Thanks for reading my book review. Yes, it is available through their web site for $20.00 (that price is a limited time offer evidently).
Imagine a couple of guys who went through all of that and to get a book deal with over 3 million books sold on opening day is just incredible. These guys really deserve it. They only asked for $100.000 in advancement money even though they didn’t need it because 3 days after the book was released, they received a check for ten million dollars. They are in process of writing another follow-up book as well. I don’t think it will do nearly as well, however it still would be interested to follow-up on them with there new fortunes.
Thank you for dropping by for a visit to my blog. I really appreciate your comment. Yes, I think it would be interesting to follow what they are up to now. I haven’t checked their web site lately. I’ll have to take a few minutes to do that.
I watched the dragons den and seen these men – wow what a story they have to tell – I love it and hope to buy the book. God bless them all and good luck guys
Marjorie, it was so nice of you to drop by. Thank you so much for leaving your comment. I hope you will read the book. It is well worth it. I hope you will visit again and browse around the site. There’s lots more to see and read. God bless.
just watched a rerun of the dragons Den and was very impressed with the men from Romania especially since my daughter in law is Romanian, I tried to access their website but was unable to do so, where can I get a copy of the book?
Thank you for reading my review and leaving a comment. I’m sorry you couldn’t access their web site. I tried both from my link and also from the link on Dragons den and it didn’t work either. They may have changed it or taken it down. The book is available at: https://www.springside.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FSPF-B for $19.95. Amazon has it but they are asking the outrageous price of $141.00!
Diane, I have a question for you: have you thought about a movie after the book?
I am sure a movie would have a great impact with such a stirring story. I would love to see it done. I don’t know whether they would even think about doing it, though, as their ministry seems to be singing. I’m sure that if it is feasible their agents would look into the possibility. I have personally never seen these young men, but just reading their story makes me think that people need to hear it (or see it).
I saw the Dragon’s Den show. Where can I purchase the book?
Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I just updated the link to the Freedom Singers web site. Here is the link to their store where you can purchase the book. http://www.freedomsingers.com/store.html Have a great day.
Hi Diane,
The history of the three Romanians is very touching indeed. There is a detail though people do not know.
Romania is no longer a communist country since December 1989. Since then, everybody in Romania would have access to a passport so they can travel freely…
As somebody who spent most of his life in Romania, I find some exaggerations in this story: “But in the army they would not have been allowed to practice their Christian faith. They would have been cruelly beaten and roughly treated not only for their faith but just because that is how the soldiers are treated”
I am a Christian myself and did my military service before 1989, during the communist regime, but I did not have any issues related to my Christian faith…
They left Romania sometime in 1997, long after Romania started its journey towards democracy…