Enslaved, Saved and Then He Forgave

I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, and the least of all the faithful.

--from St. Patrick´s autobiography, The Confessio

Hear our Belfast born friend, Rachel, tell the story of St. Patrick by clicking
here.

Enslaved, Saved and Then He Forgave

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

These words could be written because centuries earlier, Patrick returned to Ireland to bring the people Christianity.

I say return, because he had spent time there already, against his will.

Return as a free man. As a teenager he’d been brought to Ireland as a slave. After years of tending sheep he was told in a dream to escape, and so he fled to his native England.

A number of obstacles could have blocked his vision to evangelize Ireland - fear being among them. Once enslaved once by pagans, he could fall captive again.

Were there also resentments and powerful prejudices to overcome? It was only the power of salvation in his own life helping him find it in his heart to love his captors.

Truly, he must have considered his captivity a blessing because by it, he found Christ.

The slave uprisings of history are recorded, such as Spartacus in ancient Rome and Toussaint Louverture of the Haitian Revolution. We give less attention given to slaves’ influence on their masters, but the stories are there nonetheless.

The book of Genesis records the story of Joseph, sold to slavers by members of his own family. In Egypt, he rises to prominence in the government and helps to stave off starvation because God gives him the interpretation of Pharoah’s dream about seven fat cows and seven skinny cows. Moses came to a position of influence in a much different way, later discovering his roots, falling out of Pharoah’s favor and leading the exodus of slaves from Egypt.

Much lesser known is the servant girl whose master, a leprous military commander named Naaman, had been instructed by a prophet to wash in the Jordan River seven times. It was the servant girl who'd encouraged him to see the prophet, and when Naaman did as instructed, his leprosy was cured.

Today, estimates are that half a million people are affected by trafficking every year. (Click here.)
That is only in Europe. There is also the sex tourism industry in Asia and the child armies of Africa.

In the horror and dehumanization of slavery, the human spirit can survive and has survived. And as Patick’s life illustrates, God’s redemptive power is not weakened in a slave’s life. He can bring beauty even from slavery.