This year on vacation we visited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home and George Washington’s Mount Vernon home. Both of these Founding Fathers of our country owned slaves. Visiting their estates includes presentations on the history of slavery and seeing the places where the slaves lived.

Some slaves had it better than others, but still it was miserable being a slave. Slaves were only permitted to enter the big, beautiful house when they were working there. Their living quarters were vastly different from those who were free. Fear was a constant presence in their lives, used to keep them working and prevent them from escaping. They were viewed and treated as property, not as people.

Most of those who were captured and brought to the Colonies as slaves hadn’t heard about Jesus before they came. Christianity had a long history in Northern Africa but hadn’t made many inroads in the interior yet in the 1700s.

The slave masters often sought to forcibly make the slaves Christians. The human spirit generally rebels against something they are forced to believe. But somewhat contrary to human logic, the good news of Jesus took root in the hearts and minds of many slaves.

The slaves found hope in the good news they were loved by God. They were valued by the Lord as people of great worth, no matter their skin color. “God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation” (Acts 10:34). “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith … There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26, 28).

The story of the Exodus; of God hearing the cries of the Israelites when they were slaves and setting them free, especially brought comfort and hope to those 18^th century suffering slaves. “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them’” (Exodus 3:7-8).

The gospel getting through to slaves, in spite of the frequent cruelty and hypocrisy of the messengers, does not mean the heart and nature of the messenger is insignificant. It does show the power of the gospel. It is “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). The gospel of Christ can penetrate through barriers and bring hope where it seems impossible. It reached into the hearts and minds of many of those slaves, and while their bodies remained bound, the gospel set their souls free.