Jackson was distraught for the rest of the day. He went through his classes without giving anything much thought. He went to work that afternoon, but his work was sub-par. He hoped to be encouraged when he went to the church meeting that night.
Jackson went back to the Longs’ house before the meeting to work on homework. He was exhausted and decided to take a short nap before going to church. When he awoke, he looked at the clock. He had overslept! He was thirty minutes late for the meeting. He quickly got up, looked at the map to see where that night’s meeting was, and left.
As Jackson was walking towards the house, he saw someone running towards him. It was Sophia. He started running to her. When they finally met, she was out of breath, but clearly disturbed.
“Break-in … taken … found out …gone.”
Jackson had heard all he needed to hear. After Sophia had caught her breath, she explained to Jackson what happened.
“I had followed my parents from a distance because I wanted to hear more about the Bible. I knew what my parents had told me, but after you joined I wondered if there was more I didn’t know about. I was nervous, though. After they went inside, I waited near the house for a while. Just when I had worked up the courage to try and join the meeting, a squadron of police cars drove up and knocked the door down. They took everyone who was inside. My parents are gone.”
Jackson wanted to see this for himself. He went to the house. The door of the house was wide open, all the lights were off, and everything was quite inside. Jackson entered the house cautiously. He saw signs of a break-in. He saw that books had been removed from the bookshelves and that chairs had been left in haphazard positions.
“What do we do now?” asked Sophia.
“I don’t know,” responded Jackson.
They stood there in silence for a moment, then they decided it would be best if they went home to gather their thoughts. As they were walking, something occurred to Jackson.
“Did you see Mr. Evans at the meeting?” Jackson asked.
“No, I didn’t. He’s not a Christian, is he?” Sophia responded.
“No, but he pretends to be one. I bet he’s the one who reported the meeting. That dirty, lying, snitch….”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Jackson,” added Sophia.
Suddenly, Jackson saw a figure at the end of the street. It was Mr. Evans. As Jackson and Sophia walked towards him, he began to run. Jackson began to run after him. The old professor was no match for the high school senior, and within a moment, Jackson had caught up to Mr. Evans and tackled him.
“Did you report the meeting?!” Jackson yelled.
“What do you mean ‘report the meeting’?” asked a terrified Mr. Evans.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Everyone was taken. If I hadn’t been late, I would have been taken too!” responded Jackson.
“I swear, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
Calming down, Jackson realized he had acted rashly.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Evans. I shouldn’t have attacked you like that. But why did you run?”
“I saw two shady figures coming towards me. This is not a very safe neighborhood, you know.”
“Yes. I know. But if you weren’t the one who reported the church, who was it?” asked Jackson, hoping Mr. Evans could provide guidance.
“I can’t know for certain, but earlier today your friend, Noah, asked me about laws relating to Christianity. I told him that any home found to contain a Bible is seen in the eyes of the law as a terrorist headquarter. That seemed to pacify him, and he left without a word. I noticed later in the day that he had a very conflicted expression on his face, which, in retrospect, would be consistent with the face of one who had or was about to betray his friends.”
“That makes sense,” Sophia added, “Noah is one of the few people I know who could hate Christianity more than he could love his friends.”
Jackson felt momentary regret. If he had been more careful about spreading the Gospel, maybe the church would still be around. The moment passed as he remembered that Christ had commanded him to spread the Gospel, regardless of the cost.
“Well, regardless of who told on the church, what do we do now? The Longs were providing for Sophia and I, and people will start to wonder what happened to Mr. Rallison at work,” said Jackson.
“I have completed my research,” said Mr. Evans.
Jackson was filled with rage.
“Is that all you care about? Some of my closest friends are going to be imprisoned, and all you can think of is your research? Did these people mean nothing to you?”
“I must confess that the reason I came tonight was because I was beginning to become interested in Christianity on a personal level.”
“Should we try and save me parents?” asked Sophia.
“No,” responded Mr. Evans, “they wouldn’t want us too. They would want us to submit to the authorities and continue the church.”
“Well, I guess we have no choice but to continue. Will you two join me? You have both expressed interest in Christianity.”
Both were silent. Mr. Evans spoke first.
“Yes. I am ready to give my life to Jesus.”
“Me too,” added Sophia.
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