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Taken
Captive
Mary
Draper Ingles is a Southwest Virginia legend.
She lived in Draper’s Meadow near present-day
Blacksburg, Virginia, with her husband, William, her
two sons, and other relatives and friends.
Her life had been difficult but very pleasant
until one horrifying day…
It
was a Sunday in July 1755, the second year of the
French and Indian War, when a band of Shawnee Indians
attacked the tiny settlement where Mary and her family
lived. While
her husband was out in the field harvesting grain,
23-year-old Mary was taken prisoner by the Shawnee
along with her sons, Thomas, 4, and George, 2, and her
sister-in-law, Bettie Draper.
The other members of the community were killed.
The
Shawnee raiders took their captives to their town
where the Scioto and Ohio Rivers meet, near
present-day Portsmouth, Ohio.
Then Mary was separated from her children and
sister-in-law and was taken 150 miles up the Ohio
River near present-day Cincinnati.
There, Mary resolved to escape and make the
journey home.
Mary
and an elderly captive from Pennsylvania known as
“Mrs. Stump” fled the Shawnee encampment and began
the arduous journey home.
These brave pioneer women ate walnuts, hickory
nuts, and wild grapes for nourishment.
They also slept in hollow logs or hollow trees
trying to find some protection from the cold.
Mary and Mrs. Stump later parted company, but
Mary was determined to reach her home, so she pressed
on through the uncharted territory although she was
experiencing intense physical and emotional pain.
Following
the Ohio, Kanawha, and New Rivers, Mary at last
arrived in early December – alone, famished, mostly
naked and nearly frozen.
Adam Harmon and his two sons were harvesting
corn in their field when they heard Mary’s cries and
brought her to safety.
Mary’s
journey has been commemorated in books and movies
entitled, “The Long Way Home.”
Her epic journey home took 43 days and spanned
hundreds of miles. Through her incredible
determination, courage, and physical stamina, she was
finally reunited with her husband after being
separated nearly five months, and lived to be in her
eighties.
Like
Mary, WE have been taken “captive” by sin! We
have brought our captivity upon ourselves through our
own wrong choices (John 8:34). And the wages of our sin is certain DEATH (Romans 6:23).
Unlike
Mary, WE cannot free ourselves! We
cannot and make our way “home” by our own strength
and determination.
We need someone to rescue us!
Because
of His great love, God sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue
us from sin (John 3:16).
On the cross, Jesus died to pay the price for
our redemption (Ephesians 1:7).
Through Jesus, we can have forgiveness and we
can follow Him all the way “home” to heaven (John
14:6).
YOU
can have forgiveness and the hope of a
heavenly home if you will: believe
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from sin in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Him before men (Rom 10:9-10), and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Then,
as a child of God, if you follow Jesus faithfully, He
will lead you home (Revelation 2:10).
Don’t
YOU want to go home?
Jesus is THE WAY!
Trust and obey Him today.
--
David
A. Sargent,
Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Information gleaned from “The Pioneer
Spirit” by Bill Baskervill in The
Roanoke Times, 11/1/95.
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