"Moma!  Papa!" he shouted as he slammed the front door, "Guess what happened to me today?"  He excitedly told them, "Jesus came into my heart and filled me with joy!  My teacher also read a Bible verse to us that said we need to trust in Jesus so that our faith will grow more and more."  

Late that night Rasca woke up with a fright.  He could hear the sound of explosions in the distance.  He ran to his window and gazed in amazement at distant flashes of gun fire and bomb bursts.

"Well then," replied Moma, "Now we need to ask Jesus to help us."  So Moma prayed with Rasca, "Jesus keep Rasca safe and help him not to be afraid."  She kissed him and sternly said, "Now Moma and Papa need to go out and find out what we must do.  Go back to bed in the meantime."  And so Rasca climbed back up the stairs again and into bed.  He prayed, "I know You will keep me safe Jesus!" and pulled the blankets over his head.

He ran down the stairs and slid under the staircase just as the scream of a falling bomb grew louder.  Rasca cried, "Jesus please save me!"   He felt the ground heave under him and it became pitch dark as the lights shattered.  He trembled with fear the walls of the house around him collapsed as with a loud crash.  He coughed as a cloud of dust covered him and yelled as planks from the stairs creaked and then fell on top of him.

The fireman carried him outside into the cold night air and laid him gently on a stretcher.  An ambulance then took him swiftly to a makeshift hospital where a doctor bandaged his cuts and bruises.  "You can sleep here tonight," the nurse kindly told him.  Rasca lay back in the bed and whispered, "Thank You Jesus, You certainly heard my prayer tonight!"

The day came when someone ran in and shouted, "The Germans are coming!   Run for your lives!" The warden herded all the refugees into the street and told them "You must flee or you will be captured or killed!"  People panicked as they took their few belongings in their arms and hurried away.  Rasca gathered up a blanket and parcel of food that someone had given to him and put then into an old pram that was lying on the pavement.   He then followed the fleeing people down the road and out of the village.  "Now what will happen to me?" he wondered.

Worse was to come, when he heard the dreaded rumble of tanks and then the screech of brakes as a convoy of soldiers appeared.  Rasca quickly scrambled into the ditch again and crawled through into a wheat field that lay beyond.  Fortunately he found a haystack and hid inside it just as the soldiers began to search and arrest people.

Rasca was suffering, but his faith in Jesus was growing.  He saw that Jesus was helping him through all the bad things that were happening to him.  Could Jesus help him now?  Should he run or would he be shot?  You will have to come next time to find out!

He and the others were forced to march at gun point all day.  He grew miserable as the day became colder and rain began to fall.  As evening came, they eventually reached a railway station.  "Into the truck," ordered a captain and Rasca wearily pulled himself into a stinking cattle truck.  The people continued to be crowded in until they were packed like sardines in a can.

At last they came to a concentration camp where they were hustled inside and divided into groups.  Rasca was put into a large wooden hut.  His heart fell as he discovered that his bunk had missing planks where previous inmates had burned them for firewood.  Next day they were ordered out as a work party and had to help unload ships at the docks.

He saw suffering every day as the people grew weak from hunger and were beaten if they slacked off their work.  One day Rasca met a man called Petro.  They spent much time together and became great friends.  But, the day came when Rasca also got sick.  He lay shivering on his bunk from cholera and was too weak even to lift his head when Petro came to feed and nurse him.

The guards had killed many of the weak and sickly prisoners in the gas-chambers.  Would he be next to go?  He was so weak!   Later that night they heard guards coming towards their hut!  "Quick Rasca!  Hide and I will tell them that you died," whispered Petra.

Rasca held his breath as a pair of jackboots landed right by his face!   He thought of his favourite verse, "Remember your growing faith and trust in God."  But, dust tickled his nose and he was going to sneeze!   And you will have to come next time to find out what happened!

Rasca crawled out from beneath the bunk and sneezed loudly several times.  He threw his arms around Petra and exclaimed, "Whew, that was close!  Thank's Jesus, You kept me from sneezing!"

Soon all the prisoners heard it too and rushed to the gate.  As they crowded round, a jeep drew up and a grinning soldier climbed out.  "The Yanks are here!" he shouted and the prisoners began to cheer.  They were free at last!  The Americans took over the camp and now there was plenty of food, and even chocolate and ice-cream!

Just then a nurse came bustling into his ward.  "You have to leave now," she ordered, "You are well and we need your bed for other patients!"   Rasca walked sadly out of the clinic and as he went slowly down the steps he almost fell over when he saw a smiling Petro standing at the bottom!

Gratefully he prayed, "Thank You Lord, now I really know how much You love me!  You have looked after me and given me a new home and parents!  And You have made my faith grow more and more, just as Your Word said it would!"

God bless.