Sitting in a Dark Room

We have chapel every Tuesday and Thursday while we are here in Ireland. Typically, we have a speaker come in from one of the local churches or something like that. But for a few weeks all our small groups are taking a turn leading one. This morning, chapel was led by Kelsey's small group.
We arrived at 11:30 like usual and sat down, ready to see what they had planned. Emily Day started it off by reading a story of a family of Christians in Columbia. It was told from a little girl's point of view who saw her parents shot by an anti-Christian rebel group. It was heartbreaking. Then she pointed at 7 people in the group. "You. You. You. You. You. You. And you. Come with me." They all picked up their Bibles and walked out. Then another Chandas did the same thing. There were only a few of us left. Emily Guebert rose and said, "The rest of you, come with me." We walked out in silence, Bibles in hand. But we were stopped at the door by Lexi. In a very serious voice she said, "Is that a Bible? Give it to me! I don't ever want to see you with one of these again." We then walked around the building and ended up in a darkened room. The only light in the room was a small candle held by one of the other girls in the small group. We then worshiped in hush whispers and read portions of the Bible that they had managed to smuggle in. We all jumped when in the middle of the reading when someone pounded on the door.
The whole thing was really intense but really good. It was so interesting to simulate what the underground church is like. It made us appreciate the freedom we have to worship freely in America and Ireland. We concluded our time by praying for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering persecution. They amaze me! I pray my faith is as strong as theirs and if it is ever put to the test I will stay committed.