By Abigail Robertson
Virginia Prodan doesn’t hide the fact that she should be dead. In her book, Saving My Assassin, Virginia shares the incredible story of death staring her in the face, and how she fought back with nothing but the word of God.
“I am not a hero, God gave me this mission and I was a tool in God’s hands,” Virginia tells CBN News.
As a 23-year-old human rights attorney, Virginia took the Romanian communist and socialist regime she lived under to court to defend her fellow citizens’ rights to religious freedom, and it almost cost her her life
“The government, socialist government, it’s a government who will establish a system where the government is your God, not Christ,” explains Virginia.
Christians Thrown in Jail During Ceauscescu’s Rule
During dictator Nicolae Ceauscescu’s rule in the 1980s, Christians who were found in possession of Bibles or shared Christ with others were thrown in jail, even though the country had religious freedom laws on the books.
“I was told in those interrogations that those laws weren’t in the books to protect Romanian freedom of religion and freedom of speech, they were in the law books of Romania for the western civilization to believe that we have freedom,” recalls Virginia.
But Virginia proceeded to use those laws to fight the government, anyway.
“Later on I found out that when I was in the courtroom facing the judge and the persecutors, behind me there were representatives from America, from France, Israel, all over the western Europe who would take notes and send it to their government,” says Virginia. “For that reason, I’m alive and not dead because God protected me.”
Virginia Catches the Attention of Western Media
Virginia caught the attention of western media like Radio Free Europe and Voice of America.
“The government had to let me be present at this, otherwise they had to respond where is she, what is the situation and so forth,” explains Virginia.
The Government’s Response: Beating and Torture
Outside the courtroom, however, the government took its revenge by beating and torturing her.
“I remember full of blood, full of pain as many of them were hitting me I looked straight up to them and I said I don’t like what you’re doing, but God loves you and I choose to love you, and they had to turn their faces because they were crying,” recounts Virginia.
And through it all, Virginia was winning her religious liberty cases – then came her biggest test.
“It was so risky that when I received this assignment I said Lord, you give them a chance to actually pick up the gun and kill me,” says Virginia. “I received documents that would prove that the dictator was lying, continuing to lie to America.”
Trusting in the Lord – Virginia accepted the risky task of getting the documents to the Americans.
“I took the job and later on created a pocket in my suit and I put the documents there with the intention to give it to the American embassy the next day because I had a case and I knew that they would be in the courtroom,” explains Virginia. “They took me and they interrogated me, but that day they forgot to search me.”
The Government Sends and Assassin to Her Office
Because of that miraculous oversight, Virginia was able to hand off the documents that eventually made it to President Reagan – infuriating the Romanian dictator.
“He decided to send a ‘client’ to my office, the assassin,” details Virginia. “He said to me I’m not your client, I’m here to kill you, and he pointed the gun to me, and I thought ‘I’m going to die’.”
As the assassin screamed at her – Virginia fought back the only way she knew how.
“I looked at the man, and I started to share the Gospel. He was just a human being like me looking for the truth like I used to look many years ago,” recalls Virginia. “As I shared the Gospel with him I noticed, I looked at the man who screamed a few seconds ago, melting under God’s power.”
The Would-Be Assassin Leaves Her Office a New Man
Remarkably, instead of taking Virginia’s life, he accepted Christ.
“He left my office as a free man, indeed, and as a brother in Christ and our lives will never be the same,” she continued.
Virginia goes into greater detail about her inspiring testimony in her book –which even features a chapter written by her would-be assassin on the remarkable transformation that led him into a life of ministry. Virginia currently lives in the United States and is working as a human rights attorney.