UNSHACKLED! Audio Dramas

Emiline’s childhood is miserable, so she marries at sixteen. Her husband, Fred, begins to change after the birth of their second daughter. He treats her badly. Her brother, Bob, talks to her about Jesus before he dies at nineteen. Then two baby sons die after birth. Her husband becomes abusive and she runs around to get even. Finally, after the birth of a son, she divorces him. She meets Orville, a new Christian who also dies, and she puts Christ in the center of her life. She hears “Unshackled!” and goes to Pacific Garden Mission for help.

Phil is saved at age ten and shows evidence of God’s life within him. He tries to reach his girlfriend, who had never gone to church. After graduation he joins the Marines – just before Pearl Harbor. His letters home encourage his parents. Then in 1943 the letters stop for six months. His parents worry but go to Pacific Garden Mission to help at the Servicemen’s Center. Finally, in November a letter comes from Phil written before his death. His dad, who narrates the story, begins a ministry using Phil’s last letter about God’s grace to reach others.

Known for his ability to drive men up the rigging of sailing ships by the sheer force of his physical prowess, “Rowdy” ships out of New York and other ports around the world. Sailors are afraid of him. He fights off death and danger – even beating his former ship’s captain within an inch of his life. Then through the testimony of some of his former shipmates in the Water Street Mission of New York, he comes face to face with Jesus Christ, Who turns this fearsome hulk of a man into a winsome witness to the saving power of Christ, showing there are no cases too tough for God to reach.

Five-year-old Mollie comes to Jerry McAuley’s rescue mission in New York City to hear the music. Her mother is a drunk who yanks the children out of the meeting. The McAuley’s pray for the family, and one night seeks help when their drunken father locks them out. Maria McAuley ministers to Mollie’s mother as she recovers from delirium tremens. The woman then comes to a service and gives her life to Christ. Within months the woman lies dying of tuberculosis and asks that the funeral be held at the mission.

Daughter of Bohemian immigrants, Violet finds Christ through her father’s involvement with Pacific Garden Mission. However, the few years of her life covered by this story are filled with sorrow, disappointment and tragedy. Yet Violet emerges “happy as a sunflower,” because of her unwavering faith in Christ and her belief that God makes all things work together for good in the lives of His children.

As a child, Bruce sees his police-officer dad steal and decides it’s okay. He quits going to mass at age sixteen but works hard. He marries Shirley who is an atheist, and they move to Florida, then Arizona, where he works for a major hotel chain. He begins taking things home from work. Then his young nephew dies, and Bruce is faced with mortality. He starts reading the Bible, goes to church and is saved. Shirley resists but soon gives her life to Christ. They have a prison ministry. Shirley dies in 2001, but Bruce remarries and continues the prison ministry full-time.
(Bryan O’Reilly #1858)

Dominic works in the family pizza / bar from age six. He lifts weights and boxes to gain strength. Money is all-important. He attends all-boys church school, goes to college and falls in love with Lynette, a nurse. They marry and have two daughters. Dominic achieves success in international banking but loses his wife. The bank files for bankruptcy the same week. He wanders aimlessly on the streets, meets a Christian surfer, reads the Bible and gives his life to Christ. Now a writer and artist with a ministry to the homeless.

Bryce’s family is an alcoholic who batters the family. Parents divorce when Bryce is fifteen. He joins the air force but stays in trouble, attempts suicide, goes AWOL. At home his mother refuses to take him in, and he and friends commit burglaries. Grandfather urges him to turn himself in. He spends eleven months in jail, reads a book about peace with God, is discharged from the air force. When he gets in trouble at home, he violates probation and leaves the state, going to see his father in Florida. There a witness leads him to Christ. Still facing a warrant for his arrest as first part ends.

Bryce tells his alcoholic father about being saved, but his dad rejects the gospel. A month later his dad is killed in an accident. Bryce marries Kim. They take their baby daughter back to Michigan where he is arrested for violating probation. The judge lets him go, but when officials come snooping, Bryce panics and they run back to Florida. He confides in his pastor who persuades him to go back and turn himself in. The pastor drives him, and they stay with his mother. When Bryce avoids prison, his trust in God is established. Both his brother and his mother profess faith in Christ.

Harvey grows up in London, goes to school at Westminster Abbey but finds the chapel service stiff. He hears the gospel at a Bible camp and gives his life to Christ. His parents want him to study law and he does for two years. Then Billy Graham comes to Manchester and Harvey drops the study of law to assist in setting up the crusade. He meets Sylvia, goes to the U.S. and she follows. The two marry and witness at Pacific Garden Mission.