Stories of Christian suffering and how the charity Aid to the Church in Need is helping them leads many people to deep their own faith and to become benefactors as well. The foundation has 350,000 benefactors in more than 23 countries around the world. Elisabete Mota Barbosa, a benefactor from Brazil, tells ACN how faith, and learning about the experience of persecuted Christians, helped her endure unimaginable suffering in her own life.
My husband and I went through a life experience which would have been impossible to endure from a merely human perspective. Our two only children were diagnosed with a degenerative and progressive disease that affects the central nervous system. If we had not built our spiritual home on the Rock that is Jesus Christ, it would certainly have collapsed. It was our faith that sustained us during a Calvary that lasted nearly 15 years.
These were long years of seizures with screams, contortions, fainting, and more. Sometimes both of them would have fits at the same time, and we wouldn’t know who to help first. Yet, in the midst of this chaos, I never ceased with my daily personal prayer. This was where I found the oxygen to stay alive and standing, like Mary at the foot of the cross. I always had Our Lady as teacher, intercessor, and model.
I have so much to praise and thank God for throughout these long years of suffering, especially the supernatural grace He gave me to prepare my youngest son, Pedro, for his journey to heaven! Filipe, the eldest, fell asleep and never woke up. With Pedro, it was different. My husband and I were by his side in that hospital room when I realised his time had come. I held his hand tenderly and whispered to him: “My son, do not be afraid of this moment; you are going to a special place where there is no pain or tears, only joy and praise to God. You will meet your brother, whom you loved so much here on earth; you will be embraced by Our Lady in a way your mother never could; and you will receive the crown of victory from Jesus Christ Himself. Soon, mummy and daddy will meet you both again.”
When I said the last word, he took a deep breath and departed serenely into the Father’s arms.
It was in this context that I had the grace of getting to know Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The stories in the Echo of Love newsletter transported me to the scenes of unimaginable cruelties and persecution against Christians. While feeling the pain of so many frightened, mutilated, and orphaned children, my own suffering was lessened. I remember once reading about a burn victim child who needed financial help for treatment, and I felt overcome by a wave of deep compassion, as though it were my own child. I dropped everything to make a donation. From that moment on, we never stopped supporting ACN.
By Rodrigo Arantes.
