The Daily Signal - Christian Who Survived Assassination Attempt in Communist Romania Issues Dire Warning to US

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

A Christian who faced persecution for her faith in Communist Romania in the 1980s and barely survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by dictator Nicolae Ceausescu warns that the undermining of parental rights in the U.S. today echoes Ceausescu's totalitarian government. "It's the same system that the socialists use in order for parents to be put in jail that the students, kids, will be taught in school to report their [parents] to school," Virginia Prodan, a human rights lawyer who grew up in Communist Romania but came to the U.S. after President Ronald Reagan secured her release, tells "The Daily Signal Podcast." Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Wednesday, March 6th. I'm Virginia Allen. A Christian who faced persecution for her faith in communist Romania in the 1980s has a warning for America. Virginia Prodan warns that the undermining of parental rights in the U.S. today echoes the totalitarian government of communist Romania. Prodan is a human rights lawyer who did grow up in communist. Romania, but who came to the U.S. after President Ronald Reagan secured her release. She sits down with Tyler O'Neill on today's podcast to share her story and explain her warning to the United States. Stay tuned.

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This is Tyler O'Neill, a managing editor at The Daily Signal. I'm honored to be joined by Virginia Proudan, who is originally from Romania. And, you know, you have a really interesting story. Just briefly walk us through. You know, you grew up in Romania and you were representing Christians who are being persecuted. Well, I grew up in communist Romania during the dictatorship of Nikolaya Chalcelsko. And I remember as a child watching my parents outside of the home, being politically correct and giving up all the rights that the communist government asked them to give,

hoping that tomorrow will be better. But also I watch them inside of home whispering how horrible the government was, and they were convinced that the government will take more rights tomorrow. So I see the similarity here in America that people are fearful of the government more than fearful of God. and I will tell you that if you read my memoir, Saving My Assassin, you can find it on my website, virginiaprudanbooks.com, you will understand how dangerous that is. Also, you will understand how dangerous is when you don't stand up

because your kids, your relatives, people around you are watching you. And as a Christian, if you don't stand up for Christ's value and trust God, but you are fearful of the government, you will go on that path of destruction, destruction of your old life and destruction being part of the destruction of the system that we have here in America. Christ said, if you are not with me, you are against me.

So we have to be very careful. I watch that as a young person, and I realize how many people, because of the fear of the government, how many people were silent, and Romania was transformed from a capitalist country into a socialist communist communist country. Romania was conquered not only by fear, but also by the Russian boots with the sympathizers of the socialism and by the silence of people. What I see in America is if we don't speak up, our country, our free country will be conquered by our fear.

We will be the ones that will give up our rights. And also by the fear, and also by the fear, of the government, by the lives of the government, the government will give us everything. No, God is the resource for everything in our lives, and also by the power that we give the companies in America to do whatever they want with our rights. So it's time for us to stand up. I will share with you, and if you read the book, you will find out even more information how detrimental is for us as Christians not to speak up. So you talk about the need for Christians to speak up and you're drawing parallels to Romania when you grew up to the United States today. I think that the fear among Christians of the government is a big factor.

But are you seeing concrete abuses of power that mimic Chochescu as well? Yes, I see. I see that. But also it's not only fear of Christians. It's fear of pastors that don't preach what God says. about family, mother and father, what God says about your job or election or give the government what is the government and God what is God. It's a fine line that you have to teach. And if your pastor doesn't teach, go to the other church that will teach you exactly what the Bible says and so forth. So I see what you mean by abuse. I believe that those pastors abuse the gospel. They don't

preach the gospel and they are afraid of people in their congregation that they might lose the money or donation. Again, we are not the resources for churches or for anyone. God is the one who provides. Also, I see... When I mean government and society, what parallels do you see between the United States today and Romania when you were growing up? First of one of the parallel is the fact that the government tries right now in America like I have never seen. I have been here in America for 35 years. So I see now, especially with the new government, absolutely amazing. Never in the history of the United States, the government will work to teach children from a young age prostitution and to teach children values against what parents values.

are to control and even at the point where they want to do things with children at school that the parents will not be allowed to find out. It's the same system that the socialists use in order for parents to be put to jail, the students, kids will be taught in school to report their children to school. In some states here in America, we already have that. This is this needs to be stopped because there is no way out. God is a God of faithfulness, but if we don't follow him, he will allow us to go on our crooked way and support the consequences. Why? Because he is sure that we with wounds with pain and suffering. It will be a time when we will run to them. Look at the Old Testament, New Testament, when he allowed his people to go on their wicked way. And then he said,

and then you will know that I'm God. There is no need for us to wait until that time. We have to stand up. We have to make sure that we respond to the need. I will say to you, I suffered persecution in Romania. I was beaten, torture, put under house arrest. The government sent a killer to kill me at home. That's the reason.

Work. That's the reason the book is called Saving My Assassin. And by the grace of God, I shared the gospel. I am alive. I was 82 pounds under 5 feet tall, 20-something years old, and I'm alive and share what God has done through me, change Romania from a communist country to a democratic country, and dictator Ceausescu, who had power and government and money, he is dead for 35 years. He was killed at Christmas Day in 1989 by a firing squad. What I am telling you is this. God has in his hands our lives and the lives of the evil one,

even in the government, a dictator or a government who wants to turn us against God. I want you to be confident that God will allow the evil one to work for a time, and it's always for our good. I understand that right now, if you are under persecution, you don't understand the good. But Romans 828 works, and one day you will understand that no matter what and what they're going to do to you, God is in control, he will protect us. I'm not God, I'm not Holy Spirit. I don't know if God will protect me or you for dying. But I want one, for one thing I'm sure that here, standing up for Christ or in heaven, I'm more than conqueror like you. We are not losing. We are not losers. We are conquerors in Christ. So there is no reason for us to be fearful, no reason for us to doubt what's going to happen. If the government takes your job, God will provide something else. You will find in my book, Saving My Assassin, how God put open doors, circumstances when I was in Romania. Yeah, I want to go to that.

When you were in Romania, how did you first get involved in representing Christians, and why did that lead Chochescu to want to murder you? As I mentioned before, I had in my heart watching my parents being so fearful of the government, I realized I felt like an insecurity on one hand. I am nobody's child. Nobody's going to protect me. My parents are too fearful. I am not a human being in the eyes of a government.

But on the other hand, I notice like a fire in me, a desire to find a truth. and be courageous and speak the truth because I realized that there is a truth. They knew the truth because they were whispering the truth inside of home. So somehow I thought, because I had in my relatives, in my family, lawyers, and when we had a reunion as a kid, I noticed that they were answer to the question that people had, but whispering. And somehow in my mind I said, you know what? I found a way you have to be a lawyer to learn the truth.

and then have the courage to speak up the truth. So I went to law school. And I want to tell you that when you go to law school in a socialist country or any school, you don't decide for yourself. The government decide if they allow you to go to school. And I will tell you, you will find more information in my book. But let me give you an example. During communists in Romania, in order to be allowed to go and take the test to law school,

school, they are looking for three things in your political fault, and the government will keep for everyone. And those three things were, number one, if my parents ever organized a revolt against the communist government, if my parents were ever reported by their own children that they said something negative about the government in the home, and the third thing, if my parents were Christians. And I passed that test. I want to stop for a minute here and address your audience. Where in your life you think that you don't have? I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I didn't grow up in a Christian family. You will find out even more that there is a worse situation that I grew up. Look what God has done. He brought to me and he made me unstoppable in him. Make a time right now and give to

your Lord what you think that you don't have and watch him performing miracles in your life. He changed Romania through me and he wants to change America through each one of us. And when you became a barrister,

what sort of law, how did you speak up that pushed Romania in the right direction? I graduated from law school and maybe for a year or two every single day I will go to court room and full of enthusiasm, I will think,

wherever I learn, I will put in practice. And one day, I came so disappointed at my office because I realized I can't find the truth. I put my briefcase on my secretary's desk and I look at her and I said, I can't find the truth. I don't want to be

a lawyer anymore. And I'm not a quid I'm telling you. She looked up at me like, what are you dreaming? Where have you been? Come to reality. And she gave me three files and she said three people will come to see you one it's already in your office so i walk in my office and it was a client i have been working with him for a year and i remember this client was full of joy full of peace and full of confidence

make me crazy anytime anytime he was in my i thought this man it's crazy in a land of joyless land he was joyful. In a land of lack of peace, he was peaceful. When nobody had the confidence, he had confidence. There is no solution that this man is crazy. So I thought about fixing him, but I never had time. I always was having other clients. So here I am in my mind and in my heart. Where is the truth? Why I can find the truth. So I walk into my office. I sit at my desk and I'm faced with joy, peace, and confidence. So I hear myself pointed at him and saying, I wish I had in my life what you had in your life.

He looked up at me and he said, do you go to church? And I stare back to him thinking, I knew you are crazy. I don't know what I asked you this question. I didn't see any connection between what he was saying. So he wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to me and said, this is address. our church. Would you come to our church? And I hear myself again saying, yes, the craziest thing that a lawyer could have said a month ago, the dictator declared himself God. And he required all of us

to worship him alone. And here I am saying yes. And you know why? Because I was desperate to find the truth. And that Sunday, I was in front of his church with my girls. And he was there with his family and he walked me into his church. And the pastor came, opened the Bible, and read, Jesus Christ said, I am the truth, the way, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. Imagine that the church was big, the church was quiet, everybody was looking at the pastor or the Bible they have.

Imagine that somebody would say, what? That was me. Because for the first time in my life, somebody said, Virginia, I am the truth. The truth is not a notion in the law book. I am the truth and God, Christ came real to me. And that day I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. And also I understood that he was the one who put the desire to find the truth in my heart.

To find him. And also I understood that he had a mission for me to defend Christian and human rights cases. And I never look for a case. people will come to me to defend them. Because at that time, I didn't know that I was the only lawyer. I defended Christians, doctors, that will give the prescription to their patient and also a Bible verse to encourage them. And the government will take them to court, threatening them to revoke their license and put them in jail.

I defended young people, Christians, who will take Bibles from one church to another for vacation. school because according to the most favorite national status that america give it to romania not only economic benefits but also the benefit to receive bibles from america and western civilization also for the missionary to come to romania but guess what socialist works on lies that law was never publicized was never nobody taught us about that law in law school i had to search and the good Lord helped me to find. You will find it in my book. That's the way it looks. So I use this law. I make copies and I even make copies for the lawyer, for the judge and the prosecutor where when I defend Christians. But the more I defended Christians, the more I became a target for the

government. I want to say to your audience, there were time in my life as I walk with the Lord and defend Christians, as he gave me that mission. And when God gives you a mission, you are in fire. Nobody can move. I'm telling you this. All I remember seeing were people taking me, Securitate, the guards of the dictator, taking me to interrogation, beating me, heading my head on the table, being full of blood, hitting me on the wall. It was very hard to breathe, doing all kinds of crazy things. But you know what? God was doing. Later on, I found out when I met President Ronald Reagan that made. While I was there, seeing only what the evil one was trying to do in a powerful way,

God was doing amazing thing without me knowing. My cases became part of United Nations reports on human rights violation, part of United States Department of State reports on human rights violation. Christian magazine and radio station and television will publicize all over the world what I was doing. and this way God using me expose the dictator to the entire world. So why I am telling you this? Because I want you to be confident that when you see only the evil one screaming at you, threatening you that you will take your job or will take your kids or will put you to jail

or wherever they will threaten you, remember that God is working behind the scene. We're supposed to walk by faith, not by sign. One day you will find out, remain faithful. That's the message that I have for you. And the dictator did even more. The reason why the book is called Saving My Assassin is because he was desperate. The American government and President Ronald Reagan wanted to take from him the most favorite national statue. Instead of giving what he was supposed to give us because of that, he will build his palace.

He will build his palace. keep us starving to death and keeping us, you know, with the securitati, putting everyone who will not agree with him to jail and so forth. So you can imagine how upset he was that I was defending Christian. So he decided believing that he built the best plan to kill me. And he sent a client to my office. And because they had microphones everywhere. they knew about my whereabouts. So he came really late in afternoon. My assistant had only the time to let him come to my office,

and she said, I need to live to pick up my kids. So when he heard that she closed the door, he took his gun from his jacket and pointed to my face and said, I'm here to kill you. I am not your client. And he was screaming and he was saying that because he took this assignment, will be honored to, elevated to the honor to be number one in dictator's rank and so forth. I believe with all my heart what he said, that he will pull the trigger and I will die.

My knee was shaken. My face was shaken. I hurt my heart in my ears. I believe my heart, my face was red because I felt like I was in fire or something. In all this noise, I heard the whisper of God. shared the gospel. And I thought, I'm going to die. I'm going to go to heaven. That's my last opportunity. And then I look at the man in front of me that I knew that he is a need of Christ. Even as he didn't know that. And I started to share the gospel. I will advise you to read and to see

exactly how I share the gospel with him. And as I shared the gospel with him, his shoulders relaxed. He put the gun on the table. He noted several times. And to make the story short, he accepted Christ right there in front of me. I remember he said, Virginia, I will come to your church, but I will come as a secret police. I'm not, but I am going to be your brother in Christ. I stood on that chair, I don't know how long, pinching myself and thinking, I'm alive, I'm not dead, and he is my brother. Shortly after that, President Ronald Reagan found out about what happened, and he picked up the phone and called the dictator, and he said, I will give you the most favorite national status for one more year if you let Virginia to come to the United States today.

President Ronald Reagan was so afraid that the dictator will find another way to kill me. But the dictator said, I will let her go in a month. He organized another plan to kill me, but God did not allow him. When I came to the United States of America, in 1988, I didn't know one word in English. I knew five languages. I had with me two girls under 10 years old, and I was pregnant with my son. My husband came with us, but shortly after that, he left us and never returned, and I was left with three kids, not English, no money, no friends.

But I had a powerful God. I learned English, not as fast as my kids, and I went to law school again at the SMU Law School in Dallas, Texas. I opened my law firm because in America you can do whatever you want. You can open your law firm on the right side, on the left side, wherever you want. In every city that you want or you understand to be. I wrote my book. People say I couldn't put it down, reading it. And I am saying, I came to this country without knowing English, and I'm writing a book,

people cannot put it down. If the Holy Spirit was not working with me and through me writing by this book, I don't know what happened. I raised three kids as a single mom. My first daughter graduated from SMU, my second daughter from Harvard Law School, and my son from United States Air Force Academy. They are successful people serving the Lord. This is the best country in the world. absolutely the best country, and you have not heard the last news. As I was practicing law in my

law office, in Dallas, Texas, one day I came to my office and my assistant said, you have a new client, and I invited him to wait for you in your office. And I went, I listened to presentation of his case and everything, and as he presented the case, and I was thinking, this is a good case, I can take his case. But when he finished, the case, he turned his attitude into, he was very upset. He looked at me and said, Virginia, don't you recognize me? And I was thinking, who's this man? And I said, no, and he showed me his securitate ID. And I realized that I was in front of my assassin one more time. And I believe that he recognized that I was living again, that terror. My face maybe turned red. And very fast, he started to

share with me what God is doing his life. I will share just one thing. He's a pastor now. And I share with him what God is doing in my life. And I said, I'm writing my book and he asked me to allow him to write a chapter in my book. And today

you can read a chapter. Only God can do this. I want you to know that there are many of my readers and supporters that said that they read his chapter three times. Why? Because he explained in a very, very, very describing and very good way how the socialists lied to him and captured him with free, free stuff and made a monster out of him,

following people, killing people in their home house to look like a suicide or plenty documents for the socialist government in their home in order to arrest them later. and so forth. And he was supposed to do that in order to keep the job or to go up on the rank. But he also explained how God redeemed him and what he is doing now. And I want you when you think and when you have in your face, I'm addressing to your audience, when you have in your face someone who maybe is screaming, someone who is violent to you and someone who maybe has, you think it has a power of a boss or something. someone, I want you to know that that person is a need of Christ. And look at them like I look at my assassin that he pointed gun to me.

And listen to Christ and see what God is guiding you. He is using you as a co-worker with Christ to change the life of that person. The Holy Spirit will help him to turn. And if not, you will be a puzzle in that person. life and somebody else will be a puzzle but i want to say it there is no great honor that to suffer for christ and with christ i experience persecution and i know that is true as a human being to be honest with you i don't want to go again through persecution because it's hard it's physically for our body and for our flesh it's hard but spiritually you will i have to tell you even if you consider me

I will share you this. You will hear God, you will feel his presence, and I am telling you, I can even smell God in my presence, because you will become so close to him, and you will feel his presence and his love. When these interrogators will hit me by the wall, and it was very hard for me to breathe, you know what? They had no idea. They were put. pushing me in the loving arms of Christ, who was between me and that wall. And that day, I learned the smell, the love, and the compassion. Not only for me, because Christ was said to me, tell them that I love them.

And I do remember saying, I don't like what you are doing to me, but I want you to know that Christ loves you and I choose to love you. And they would turn their heads because they were crying. Christ's love wins every single soul. And there is no great honor to allow yourself to be obedient to the Lord so he can use you. God change Romania through me from a communist country to a capitalist country to a democratic country. God wants to use us today, each one of us. I want to talk a little bit about, again, the parallels between modern America and

the Romania you remembered. Just because some of the things you described, the people losing their jobs for their faith, like I think today in America, we don't have an outright automatic hostility to Christianity as Christianity. What we have is the almost supplanting of Christianity with this idea,

with, you know, largely the LGBT movement, and it's often in the name of inclusivity and love, when in reality it's excluding and demonizing those who disagree. Yes. First of all is, I need you to make sure that you know who you are in Christ. When you learn who you are in Christ, you will know that you are. You have value in Christ's love, and you do not have to look for the value of people around you. You are crowned with honor and glory from the most high for the God Almighty.

So you have that. I thought my kids this for a younger age. Because when somebody is saying something negative or excludes you, remember that you are loved, that Christ died for you. He values your life in such a way. So in order for you, many times I, if you come to my office or if you come to my home, everywhere you will find cards with Bible verses. I have even a card from Bible verses where Christ said, Woman, do you believe that I'm able to do this?

And when the evil one comes to me with all kinds of attacks, I go to that Bible verse and I say it loud, and I said, Lord, I believe that you can do this and you evil one get out of here. You have to know the Bible. You have to know who you are. and how much you need Christ. You also have to understand that it's a spiritual battle.

You don't have a battle against your boss or against your neighbor or something. Show them as much love as possible. And most of all, you can find a way to show them love when they are in need. They maybe were rude to you. They maybe were mean. But let's see that they were sick or they were in a special need. run, run to help them. Because God opens that door to show them what a Christian is about.

And look to help them without any recognition from their heart. Or them up. Another way is make sure that you don't wait for someone else to stand up for the truth. You are the one standing up. Go and be involved in a school, your school where you're, you. your children are. You know, City Hall, support, if you want to support, support a Christian senator, congressman, or run forth.

Do whatever it takes right and support. Speak out about what you believe. Support your pastor. If you see a pastor that doesn't preach or preach against, pray first to see if God opens a door for him to listen to what you said. If you feel that he closed his card to the Lord, go and find another church that preaches the gospel. So you don't support. And others will say, but if he remains at this church, I will remain.

So make sure that you understand that in many, and I heard that in many states right now, we almost have spies like we used to have in Romania. People that will come to church not to listen to the gospel, but to be to report. But I want you to say something because I have that experience. I never knew who is the spy around me. But you know what? I pray and I said, Lord, thank you for bringing them here. You never know what the gospel can do with their souls.

So don't act like negative or something. Just pray for them, show them love and do what God asks us to do. So I believe that we, because Christ in us is the solution to the world, we have the solution. And not only that, but we are the military, the soldiers, God's soldiers in this world, and we are under the army of the general, Jesus Christ, who never lost a battle. Here or in heaven, we are more than conquerors. We are victorious. Why should we be afraid? I understand that fear is a normal emotion. But there is a difference between feeling fear, presented the fear to the Lord.

David said when I'm afraid, I trust you, Lord. And it's a difference between feeling fear and letting yourself being conquered by fear. You destroy your life. And I know God can do it if you allowed him to do it. And your life will never be the same. Let me tell you something.

The wildest dream that you have about your life are rubbish compared with a dream that Christ has for your life. no matter the circumstances you are right now, no matter the darkness that you see, he's the Lord of Lord. And the Bible tells us that generation after generation will talk about the Lord. The end is not here.

The end of the story. We know we've read the revelation. And the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Yes, exactly. Well, thank you so much, Virginia. I think we probably both need to get going, but where can people

find your book and hear your story. Okay. They can find my book, Saving My Assassin at Virginia Pradhanbooks.com slash products slash book. You also can go to this website and you can put their questions if

you have to contact us and we were happy to help you or if you want to invite me to speak at your group or if you want to respond to any questions that you might have. I'm here to help you. I have been in your shoes and God brought me here. My book says and starts with, I should

be dead, but God had other plans. And the plan is for me to be here to tell you what God can do in one person. And also the plan is to help you in this walk because I walk with Christ. And I will be honored to help you. Well, thank God. You are here today and we're able to give such an inspiring message. And thank you so much, Virginia. Thank you for having me. And thank you for everything you are doing because you gave me an opportunity because you have a platform to reach people that I cannot reach. It's a different audience. So I really praise God for your work for everything you are doing. Praise the Lord.

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