As a young attorney under dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s ruthless totalitarian reign in communist Romania, Virginia Prodan received a divine calling in the form of an assassin sent by the regime to end her life.
In her formative years, Prodan hungered for truth and was drawn to practicing law as a way of uncovering truth and justice. However, professional pursuits alone did not satisfy the desire of her heart, and her search for truth continued until she met a client who was curiously filled with joy under the heavy hand of oppression.
“This client always puzzled me because he was full of joy in a joyless land and peace in a peaceless land,” said Prodan. “I thought he must be crazy.”
Finally, one day, Prodan admitted to her client, “I wish I had in my life what you have in your life.” Her client inquired whether Prodan ever went to church, wrote down the address of his church on a piece of paper, and invited her to attend.
“And I hear myself saying yes,” Prodan recalled. “[It was] the craziest thing that a lawyer in socialist Romania could say, a month after the dictator declared himself God and required citizens of Romania to worship him alone.”
That Sunday, Prodan attended her client’s church, where the pastor preached boldly from John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
“I realized I was looking in all the wrong places: law, books, and judges’ decisions for the truth,” Prodan said. “I came to realize the truth is Jesus Christ. And He became so real to me that day I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.”
From that point forward, her professional life began to change. After her conversion, Prodan defended several fellow believers who were facing imprisonment for practicing their faith. These cases involved individuals who were persecuted for transporting Bibles and Christian resources across the Romanian border, doctors who lost their medical licenses for writing Bible verses on prescriptions, and pastors and members of private underground churches.
“I understood and accepted His mission for my life to defend Christians and human rights cases. Quickly, Christians began coming to me to defend them,” Prodan said.
As a sought-after legal advocate for persecuted Christians, Prodan became a target of Ceaușescu’s secret police and suffered harassment, assault, and brutality at the hands of government officials.
“Many times, I woke up to find my tires slashed. Clients, friends, and family were threatened. My daughters and I were held under house arrest for almost a month. I was kidnapped, bullied, pushed into moving traffic, and beaten by the secret police,” Prodan said.
As the persecution intensified, so did the bounty on her head. The most significant test of her faith came one evening as she was finishing her workday.
“Dictator Ceaușescu sent a so-called client to my office late in the day, exactly when my assistant was ready to leave,” said Prodan. “My legal assistant introduced him to my office, and she left. The minute he heard her leave the office, he pulled his gun and held me at gunpoint, saying, ‘I’m here to kill you. You have failed to heed the warnings you’ve been given,’ he said, aiming at me. ‘I’ve come here to finish the matter once and for all.’”
With her heart pounding, Prodan sensed clear direction from the Lord: Share the Gospel.
“I shared the gospel with my assassin, and he accepted Christ,” said Prodan. “I was just obedient to the Lord, and my killer walked away a saved brother in Christ.”
Prodan tells the full story in her gripping memoir, “Saving My Assassin: The True Story of a Christian Attorney’s Battle for Religious Liberty in Romania.”
“I should be dead and buried under an unmarked grave in Romania,” Prodan reflected. “However, I am not, because God had other plans.” Today, she challenges Christian leaders to proclaim the Gospel boldly, defend religious freedom, and resist the influence of communist and socialist ideology.
“We are ambassadors of Christ. We died with Christ. We live for Christ, and we represent Christ,” said Prodan, reminding Christian communicators of the urgency of their work. “Christ gave us the mission to share the Gospel, so we must take on this challenge.”
Prodan quoted Revelation 3:2: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God,” adding, “It is time for the American people to turn from our wicked ways and to repent and let God heal this land.”
A resident of Dallas, Texas, after being exiled from Romania in 1988 and granted political asylum by President Ronald Reagan, Prodan is an outspoken contender for human rights, freedom of religion, and religious liberty. Prodan is an NRB member and member of the President’s Council.
“If God was able to use me, a five-foot-tall woman, imagine what he can do with your ministry, organization, and network if you are obedient,” said Prodan. “Listen to His voice.”
To learn more about Virginia Prodan Ministries, click here.
