James Patterson’s Journal—The Story of The Congregation of Andria Church During The Dark Time (Patterson’s Tale #11)
(Click HERE to read the previous CIVILIZATION’S INTERREGNUM columns.)
PRECIOUS RELICS FROM THE PAST COME TO LIGHT FOR THE FIRST, AND LAST, TIME FOR SOME OF THE PEOPLE OF ANDRIA VILLAGE
“Pastor Lee stopped beside one of the old fireplaces—the one on the left as the room was entered, and explained that soon after he had come to Andria with his family in 2372 he had shown Pastor Torash these objects. Both of these men had then worked on installing a secret hiding compartment next to this fireplace, so these objects could be preserved into the future. He counted down exactly 16 bricks from the top inside brick on the left side of the fireplace. Next to very old wood paneling that had been on the walls longer than anyone knew, Lee used his battle knife to pry away that brick from the others, revealing a small metal ring, which he pulled. Suddenly a part of the wood paneling snapped open, revealing a compartment about 6 feet high and 3 feet wide. Inside were the objects that Lee wanted us to see.
“There was a large metal box inside this compartment, kept shut by several clamps. He explained it was an old military style storage container that had been in his family for several generations. He opened the six clamps and removed the lid. He took out the first object that was wrapped in soft old fabric. Lee removed the cloth and we saw our old wood cross that had always been up front during services. He explained that it had been in his family longer than anyone knew, having been passed down the generations to him, and that it had been taken long ago from a very old church in Richmon known as the “Liberty Or Death” church that had some special connection to the formation of the country that had once existed over the whole continent. We all touched our cross one last time, causing us much weeping, for it somehow connected us to our Savior and to our unknown past.
FLAGS OF ANCIENT MEMORY ARE SHOWN TO PASTOR LEE’S FAMILY FOR THE FIRST AND LAST TIME
“Our pastor then unwrapped four very old flags, each of which was sealed in some kind of clear plasto material I had never seen before. He first showed us an old flag that had many white stars in a field of blue, with 13 alternating red and white stripes. Lee explained that it was the national flag of the old United States of America, the country that had once existed between the two great oceans. He explained that he was certain that the 54 stars represented the individual states of that country, but he didn’t know what the stripes represented. The next flag was the same “Cross of Saint Andrew” flag that was painted on the hallway wall of our church. He handled it reverently as he explained that patriots in Filly had taught him that this was the flag used by General Rober Tely during the ancient Tyrant’s War, and that it had been considered for centuries to be a symbol representing honor and resistance to tyranny.
“The other “Cross of Saint Andrew” flag appeared to be very old, and was sealed much more securely than the other flags. Dirty and badly stained, it had several holes in it. Our pastor explained that it was possible that Rober Tely himself had seen and used this flag. The last flag he called a “Jesus Flag”. It was blue and white, with a red cross in the middle. On its bottom someone had printed the words—“IN THIS SINE WE ARE VICTORIUS”. We all looked at each other, wondering just how victorious we were going to be, facing an enemy who was determined to eradicate all Jesus Followers. Lee must have sensed what we were thinking, for he told us to always trust our Heavenly Father, no matter what. He kissed the old Jesus flag, and then we all did the same. He placed these objects back into the metal box. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he went into his small office and brought back a big plasto sack. He read us the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews from his old Bible, then closed it, kissed it, and put it in the sack. Then he sealed it with sticky, and put it carefully into his big metal box, closed the clamps, and placed the box back into its secret compartment. He told us that Edrood knew of these items and their hiding place, and now we did also.
“Our pastor instructed us to tell no one outside of our family about the objects or their hiding place. As he pushed closed the panel, he bowed his head and prayed to our Savior that someday in the future, other Jesus followers and other patriots would use them as symbols of resistance against some future tyranny. We all were weeping as we left our Old White Church, for to all of us our future looked bleak and the end of our earthly struggle seemed very near. For most of us, it was.
“We stood outside under the still beautiful portico, the columns still stately and towering over us. Rachard told all of us how much he loved us, and how he was so proud of each one of us. He assured us that our Savior surely was pleased with our lives of service, love, and dedication to Him and to His Word. He told us again that he was going to stay with the Jesus followers of Andria to his last breath, and would never leave us. He asked each one of us to consider what we were going to do if the worst happened and the beasts had us cornered. He told us to tell only our Savior what we planned to do, and no one else.
MOST OF THE JESUS FOLLOWERS IN ANDRIA VILLAGE REALIZE THEY ARE ABOUT TO BE MASSACRED BY THE ENFORCERS
“That was the fateful night that our pastor had planned a service to celebrate The Lord’s Supper, as commanded by our Savior so long before. We had celebrated that Sacrament many times in the years that Rachard Lee had been with us as our pastor and our role model, and they had usually been joyful events. This evening was different. As our Jesus Sect members came up to the old church there were no smiles—no friendly greetings as had been usual. We were now down to about 46 adults still alive, and 6 or 8 teens of all ages, plus 11 children. About 15 of our pagan friends came to be with us, even though Pastor Lee would not permit them to take the elements with us. He did tell them how much he loved and respected them, and most of us told them that we were happy they were with us. As it turned out, this was the last time most of us would be together in this life, and our pastor rejoiced when three pagan men and one pagan woman told him that the were now Jesus followers and wanted him to baptize them, which he did by praying and pouring water on their heads.
JAMES PATTERSON IS ELECTED AS AN ELDER OF ANDRIA CHURCH. THE FINAL “LORD’S SUPPER” WITH THE MEMBERS OF ANDRIA CHURCH IS CELEBRATED.
“Only one of our elders had survived the attack by the Democratan military force, so Pastor Lee asked me if I would agree to serve the church as a Ruling Elder. I hesitated, then I agreed. He asked the remaining members if they would accept me as an Elder, and they all raised their hands in the affirmative. This was the first time (and sadly the last time) that I assisted in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at Andria’s Old White Church, and I was humbled. I had much difficulty in trying to not break out into weeping, and the others seemed to understand. Pastor Rachard Lee, great man of God, a patriot’s patriot, wonderful husband and father, and the greatest leader of men I have ever known, looked at us, tears flowing from his eyes, as he broke off pieces of a bread loaf and gave them to both of his Elders. He recited the events at the very first “Last Supper” from memory as we passed the bread from believer to believer. He then did the same for the two cups of fermented berry juice, praying over them as he had for the bread. By the time he served the elements to both of us, and we to him, we were all weeping without shame, for we all knew that this would probably be the last time we did this until we did it for the blessed first time with our Savior in Heaven. And so it was.
“Suddenly we heard a disturbance outside of the building—shouts and screams and weapon fire. The Jesus Sect members of our militia were guarding the outside, while the others were on guard in and around the village, so we were sparsely guarded that night. Then we heard much automatic rifle fire, then more screaming, and more ominously, we heard the strange sound of discharging of blaster weapons. Several of our militia ran into the church, shouting that the Democratan military was attacking us. At least ten of those brutes burst into our building right behind our men and opened fire on them, killing or wounding all of our militia. Our people in the big room began to try to run out the back door, but enemy troops were there, blocking our escape. As we all stood in that big room awaiting our fate, Pastor Lee told us to not fear, for this day we would be with our Savior in His Paradise. I put my arm around Leah and one of my grandsons, and the rest of our friends put their arms around each other, awaiting the inevitable.
“It came in the form of around 15 Democratan troopers, but it was their leader that caused all of us to gasp in shock and surprise. In the dark green uniform that would become the nemesis of our people, with the patches and emblems of what was a “Colonel” in the new Democratan military, stood none other that one of our former pagan villagers—the brute named Lamash Kalmark. He was being called ‘colonel” by the others, and how he had risen to that high rank, let alone even being in the Democratan military, was a mystery to us, for he had long been known to have despised the government and its Overmasters and Enforcers. He had disappeared from Andria for the previous seven months or so, and we had assumed he had relocated to another area.
THE ENFORCER BEASTS KILL ALL OF JAMES PATTERSON’S FAMILY AND HIS JESUS FOLLOWER FRIENDS, AND ALMOST KILL HIM.
“His pagan former friends were staring at him in disbelief. Then they began accusing him of treason and treachery, and selling his honor to the enemy. He merely smirked at them and all of us, then began to laugh in their eyes, which must have infuriated the pagans with us, for suddenly they all rushed toward him with the obvious intent of killing him if they could. The brutes with him smiled and began to fire on our pagan friends, then on all of us. Pastor Lee took out his old hand gun from his pocket and started firing at our attackers. But there were too many of them, and their had rapid fire rifles. My Leah was one of the first to be hit—I watched helplessly as two bullets tore through her chest, killing her instantly. This atrocity seemed to happen as if in a dream—I heard the screams of our people—I saw my two daughters, their husbands, and three of my grandchildren being blasted into eternity. Suddenly I felt burning in my shoulder and one leg, and I fell to the floor screaming in pain. My last view of Pastor Lee was of him throwing his empty hand gun at his attackers as three or four of them fired at him, killing him instantly.
“From the floor I saw those brutes grab my two granddaughters, as well as another teen girl, and drag them out of the room. They were screaming and trying to resist, but they were overpowered. I cried out to God to help them, but in the shooting and screaming in that room, my cries seemed useless. At that point I must have lost consciousness, for as I regained my senses I could hear the enemy soldiers bragging about how many of us they had killed. Three of them were going from body to body on the floor, stabbing their victims in their stomachs. If they cried out or screamed, as two or three did, they were shot in their heads. They eventually came to me, lying face down in a pool of my blood. One of them stabbed me through my back. The pain was the worst I could ever have imagined, and for a split second my body wanted to scream in pain. But I knew that I must be still and silent, so I screamed silently in my mind, trying to focus on my Savior and on my Leah’s face. I must have convinced them I was already dead, for they moved on to the next body on the floor.
“I heard that beast, Kalmark, ask one of his men for a count of the dead. I heard a man tell him that they had a body count of 61 adults, teens, and children dead. I heard that brute tell his men that they had done “a good job”, and he promised to “buy them some beer” when they returned to their base. I lay there on the floor, with blood pooling all around me, afraid to move for fear of alerting those killers. Soon there was only silence, and I slowly raised my head. My vision was blurred but in the dim light of the few fatwax candles still burning, I saw the carnage that our persecutors had done. My body was weak, and the pain from my stab wound was a constant knife trying to rip me apart. I managed to crawl over to my Leah. Her eyes were still open, but she wasn’t breathing. Despite my pain I kissed her lips one last time, and closed her eyes with my fingers. I didn’t have the strength to do the same for the others, so I slowly crawled toward the back door, finally leaving our blessed Old White Church building for the last time.
“I crawled out into the woods in back just as I heard trucks pulling up at the front of our church. I heard men yelling to hurry and load all the bodies into the trucks so they could be taken to the river and dumped. I wanted to weep but I was in too much pain to do so. Suddenly I heard the screams of young women coming from the woods somewhere off to my left, and I prayed to God to end their misery and degradation swiftly and take them home to Him. I recognized one of them as my oldest granddaughter, but all the screams stopped in a few minutes as I did my best to crawl through the brush and trees. I was getting so weak I was having trouble moving my arms and legs, when suddenly I came upon one of the main trails which led through this part of the forest and down into the village. I tried to stand, and finally I managed to get to my feet, but I was only able to take a few steps when the extreme pain caused me to fall down right on the wound in my leg. This time I did scream in pain, and then I lost consciousness.
NEXT TIME: Elder James Patterson gets nursed back to health by a Jesus Sect couple. He begins to write his journal, and plans to hide it for people of the future to hopefully discover. The Enforcer enemy almost finds and kills him in the forest, but he evades them. He comes across a small group of Jesus followers hiding in a cave, all that remains of the Andria Church, and becomes their spiritual guide. As soon as they are strong enough, they all agree to leave the Andria area and spread out as far as they can, telling as many of the oppressed of Democrata as they are able about our LORD and Savior, Jesus the Messiah. He seals his journal in a moisture proof metal box and buries it under the Old White Church, where over 300 years later it will be discovered by Christians, who have became dominant in the free constitutional republic of Democrata and who threw off the tyranny of the Supreme Council. Ad Dei Gloriam--To God be the glory!
