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The Price of Freedom: A Story of Courage and Faith in the Face of Danger
Determined to escape to freedom, Simon and Wesley faced danger and hardship fleeing from Romania to Italy. But their nightmare began in earnest when they crawled into a container full of ceramic tiles that was headed across the ocean. Baking in the heat for days in a shipyard, surviving a tremendous storm at sea, suffering from lack of oxygen, and then the agony of thirst, Simon and Wesley both came close to death. The Price of Freedom is the miraculous story of how two young men cling to their faith in God, as they struggled to stay alive against all odds.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
September 8, 2013
This non-fiction story encompasses the human spirit and the will to survive more than any story I have ever read.
The book caught my attention during an episode of Dragon's Den, where they pitched their book for publication. To tell you how this book had an impact on the Dragons, even hard-ass Kevin O'Leary shed a few tears.
These young men (Gospel singers) told of their trials and tribulation, escaping Romania and traveling under treacherous conditions, where each breath and a sip of water was like the greatest gift they'd received in their lives.
They sacrificed and risked their lives so that they could make a better life for themselves, traveling in conditions that were unbearable and life threatening.
Even their darkest moments, when they thought they would all die, they never wavered in their faith, questioned why they had to suffer or even wallowed in any self pity.
They did what they needed to do to remain strong, and believe in each other and themselves to overcome challenges that most of us will never (thankfully) have to face.
The story grabbed me from the beginning and kept me mesmerized until the last page. I also checked out their music, and in their musical talent, one can feel their strong faith, courage, compassion and empathy they have for human life and how they treasure the things that most of us take for granted on a daily basis.
This is a POWERFUL story and one I highly recommend.
What is the price of freedom? It's high, but as you read this book, you will see how worth it is for these young, extraordinary men.
These men are the unsung hero's and how lucky are we that they survived to tell their story and inspire us in so many ways.
The book caught my attention during an episode of Dragon's Den, where they pitched their book for publication. To tell you how this book had an impact on the Dragons, even hard-ass Kevin O'Leary shed a few tears.
These young men (Gospel singers) told of their trials and tribulation, escaping Romania and traveling under treacherous conditions, where each breath and a sip of water was like the greatest gift they'd received in their lives.
They sacrificed and risked their lives so that they could make a better life for themselves, traveling in conditions that were unbearable and life threatening.
Even their darkest moments, when they thought they would all die, they never wavered in their faith, questioned why they had to suffer or even wallowed in any self pity.
They did what they needed to do to remain strong, and believe in each other and themselves to overcome challenges that most of us will never (thankfully) have to face.
The story grabbed me from the beginning and kept me mesmerized until the last page. I also checked out their music, and in their musical talent, one can feel their strong faith, courage, compassion and empathy they have for human life and how they treasure the things that most of us take for granted on a daily basis.
This is a POWERFUL story and one I highly recommend.
What is the price of freedom? It's high, but as you read this book, you will see how worth it is for these young, extraordinary men.
These men are the unsung hero's and how lucky are we that they survived to tell their story and inspire us in so many ways.
October 25, 2010
The Price of Freedom is an amazing book about two young men escaping from Romania. I saw these men in concert and they told their story there but I had to buy the book too. Actually, what was so amazing about this story, that it only happened 10 years ago. The fear these boys felt when the were crossing boarders from Romania to Hungray and then Italy, I only thought that this happened in Russia, over 40 years ago. The story follows Simon and Wesley as they flee from Romania, and then to Italy -- and then they pay a man to find a ship container full of ceramic tiles heading for Canada. God protects them every step of the way. It is truly a miracle they survived. www.freedomsingers.com
August 27, 2016
"Every young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty knew from early childhood that they would be required to go into the army to give one year of their lives in military service. … it was the young men with strong Christian beliefs who faced the worst danger in army life. Many gave up their faith in order to make it through their term of service.
Those who clung to their beliefs, like Simon's brother Stefan, were regularly ridiculed, mistreated and beaten, sometimes fatally. Stefan had landed in the army hospital after one of his beatings. While still recovering from his injuries he had chosen to escape from Romania. He'd paid the dangerous price of freedom, risking prison and death, rather than return to his duties in the army" - The Price of Freedom, p. 16,17.
The Price of Freedom begins with 18-year-old Simon, Stefan's younger brother, having recently received a conscription notice himself, running away from home in order to avoid the same fate as his brother. We follow him as he jogs, walks, hides, watches, waits, sneaks, crawls, even crosses a river on the underside of a bridge. In this way he makes his way through Romania, Hungary, and Austria, finally reuniting with Stefan in Italy five weeks after he sets out.
A short time later Simon's younger acquaintance Wesley Pop also sneaks away to Italy to avoid conscription. The young men meet in Italy and renew their friendship.
But life in the free world is not at all what they expect. Because they are both in Italy illegally it's nearly impossible for them to find work, landlords don't want to rent to them, and the attitude of the Italian people is cold and suspicious. Eventually both receive notices that they must leave the country within 15 days or face jail and deportation. Desperate to leave but not back home, they consider all means of escape and end up in a shipping container. A story that is harsh to this point, now becomes deadly.
The events are told alternately from Simon's and Wesley's points of view. Co-writer Bev Ellen Clarke's use of creative non-fiction techniques makes the book read like a gripping adventure. I found it both hard to put down and hard to read because its descriptive style had me right there in that dark, airless container on those bundles of ceramic tile with Simon and Wesley, facing lack of oxygen, heat, thirst, sea-sickness, and starvation while heading to who knows where?
However, the inclusion of wonderful coincidences and amazing answers to prayer transform this book from a story about the resilience, tenacity and courage of the human spirit (which it is) to more—a story about prayer, faith in God, and miracles.
Obviously the young men survived. Simon and his brother currently live in Kelowna B.C. and are part of the singing group Freedom Singers (I enjoyed their singing this summer at the Gospel Music Celebration in Red Deer, Alberta).
This true story did more for me than just than illustrate God's care for His children and entertain. It also opened my eyes to the plight of refugees giving me worthwhile insights for these refugee-filled times. Highly recommended.
October 24, 2021
So good. Gripping.
September 23, 2025
An interesting story of how desperation for a better life is fulfilled through enduring hardship after hardship through faith. The two men's journey to find a life of freedom is one that forces them to face challenges that many would find insurmountable. Yet even when things looked lost, they always managed to persevere.
June 23, 2016
You can't argue that this is a compelling story and a wonderful testament to human resilience, but Simon and Wesley should have had a more professional ghost writer tell their tale, and a far better editor. Still, despite those flaws, the book is worth reading for the story alone. The Christian message might make it a little hard for some to swallow, but if you look past that, there is a tale worth reading about. Just happy that both men survived and are thriving in their new homeland.
October 15, 2012
The story is super interesting. The problem was the elementary writing style. But wow these guys went through a lot!
Read
November 10, 2017Intriguing story, but despite having read it years ago and being related to the co-author in some way which I can't recall, the bad copy-editing stands out in my mind so much I have to mention it.
December 13, 2019
Rant:
And here we have the story of two men who ran away from their home country, broke several laws, were 'job stealing vagrants', destroyed not a small bit of property and illegally immigrated to Canada without knowing a single word of either English or French.
Dont worry though, it has a happy ending where they got welcomed with open arms because they are White and Christian.
Look, normally I try and keep my book reviews about the book itself. But the hypocrisy of some of the groups and relatively leading people in their communities who praise this book with one hand while denouncing people IN THE SAME SITUATION because they are 'not white' is actually staggering. And I couldnt get it out of my head the whole time I was reading this.
Thoughts:
Now that ive thoroughly pissed a few people off...
The partial biography really is a story of courage and faith, and it was moving in its own way. These two went through a lot but came through it in the end with their strength of character intact. And where I might give certain communities a good lambasting for *reasons* now and again after reading their story I have nothing but respect for the people themselves who survived this journey and told their story.
Mechanically its written in this.. really weird third person limited way. They use their own names a lot as they explain the story, but the rest of the writing is told as if they had used the word 'I' or 'we' instead. And its.. just a little off. Given, english is NOT their first language (its not even their second) so im giving them a lot of leeway here and in the end its perfectly functional.
Otherwise one major point (to me..) in its favour is that it kept its roots in their faith, but unlike a lot of christian literature they never broke out into a sermon, or metaphorically falling to their knees in religious bliss overcome with the glory of The Lord and all that. They acknowledge and are proud of their faith but they keep it grounded and real and it just.. comes across the way I think Christians should more often. If that makes sense.
As a bonus I got to learn a bit more about Romani culture here with a sprinkle of post cold war Eastern Europe, and where it didnt dive to deep it provided a few welcome insights to that world.
I guess in the end, pretty much every non-petty complaint I really have about the book is based on some of the communities that praise it. So.. pretty good? Not one id go out of my way to recommend, but I enjoyed it and am glad to have read it.
And here we have the story of two men who ran away from their home country, broke several laws, were 'job stealing vagrants', destroyed not a small bit of property and illegally immigrated to Canada without knowing a single word of either English or French.
Dont worry though, it has a happy ending where they got welcomed with open arms because they are White and Christian.
Look, normally I try and keep my book reviews about the book itself. But the hypocrisy of some of the groups and relatively leading people in their communities who praise this book with one hand while denouncing people IN THE SAME SITUATION because they are 'not white' is actually staggering. And I couldnt get it out of my head the whole time I was reading this.
Thoughts:
Now that ive thoroughly pissed a few people off...
The partial biography really is a story of courage and faith, and it was moving in its own way. These two went through a lot but came through it in the end with their strength of character intact. And where I might give certain communities a good lambasting for *reasons* now and again after reading their story I have nothing but respect for the people themselves who survived this journey and told their story.
Mechanically its written in this.. really weird third person limited way. They use their own names a lot as they explain the story, but the rest of the writing is told as if they had used the word 'I' or 'we' instead. And its.. just a little off. Given, english is NOT their first language (its not even their second) so im giving them a lot of leeway here and in the end its perfectly functional.
Otherwise one major point (to me..) in its favour is that it kept its roots in their faith, but unlike a lot of christian literature they never broke out into a sermon, or metaphorically falling to their knees in religious bliss overcome with the glory of The Lord and all that. They acknowledge and are proud of their faith but they keep it grounded and real and it just.. comes across the way I think Christians should more often. If that makes sense.
As a bonus I got to learn a bit more about Romani culture here with a sprinkle of post cold war Eastern Europe, and where it didnt dive to deep it provided a few welcome insights to that world.
I guess in the end, pretty much every non-petty complaint I really have about the book is based on some of the communities that praise it. So.. pretty good? Not one id go out of my way to recommend, but I enjoyed it and am glad to have read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2023
The story itself is quite good. It tells of how two young Christian men from Romanian, fled the country to Italy and then to Canada to escape religious persecution.
My problem is with the writing. It goes back and forth between the two perspectives, which is fine, but it gets really repetitive sometimes. Some things had too much elaboration, while other things that could have used more were glossed over.
I found the writing style uninteresting, it didn't draw me in at all. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to them, not because it was being told in an intriguing way. Their story is very interesting, I just wish they could have found someone to do it justice.
Another very minor nitpick is the formatting of the book itself. Sometimes when their was a photograph included, the rest of the page would be left blank. It's not a big deal but it really bugged me personally.
My problem is with the writing. It goes back and forth between the two perspectives, which is fine, but it gets really repetitive sometimes. Some things had too much elaboration, while other things that could have used more were glossed over.
I found the writing style uninteresting, it didn't draw me in at all. I kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to them, not because it was being told in an intriguing way. Their story is very interesting, I just wish they could have found someone to do it justice.
Another very minor nitpick is the formatting of the book itself. Sometimes when their was a photograph included, the rest of the page would be left blank. It's not a big deal but it really bugged me personally.
February 11, 2020
This book was a real page turner!! I was riveted from the start and couldn’t put it down. I’ve reread it a few times already! I cried and rejoiced with them. I also had the privilege of meeting Simon, Wesley and Stefan at a concert and hearing them sing, and listening to them tell their story in person. I think I’ve been to 3 of their concerts now, theirs is a truly inspiring story of survival, faith and courage on their journey to freedom.
Check out their CDs, the Freedom singers.
Check out their CDs, the Freedom singers.
December 31, 2020
This book was recommended to me by my neighbour Edna Edwards. I was originally going to return it but it wasn’t long before it became a page-turner I couldn’t put down. Had a bit of a slow start but the section in the boat (the meat of the book) was a riveting story.
December 29, 2021
Found this book used at a thrift shop. Started it and could not put it down till it was completed the next day. The courage and faith these boys had to leave their homes and journey with all its challenges to an unknown land is incredible.
January 25, 2018
Very inspirational! These men payed not only a high price for their freedom, but also for their integrity.
June 3, 2018
Amazing true story. I didn't realize the repression that still exists in some european countries. These men were brave!
December 5, 2018
I was held on the the seat of my chair following Simon & Wesley on their adventure to escape Romania. Their faith held them steadfast all the way to the end.
A must read.
A must read.
February 10, 2020
True and captivating story.
June 23, 2021
Read this back in 2020, I highly recommend!!!! Beautiful true story
What makes this book more memorable, is from personally meeting the 3 men from this book.
Please go read it!!!
What makes this book more memorable, is from personally meeting the 3 men from this book.
Please go read it!!!
January 27, 2025
good read... these 2 guys went through alot for freedom
July 17, 2025
A good story of courage and faith in the midst of danger and suffering
August 30, 2025
From Mom’s bookshelf. Interesting true story about illegal immigrants - stowaways.
September 11, 2013
More like 3.5 stars because of the writing style.
This story kept my attention to the end. The pacing was really good and I liked how the story included so much about their fears and their challenges including the ones regarding faith and doubt. The writing style took a bit getting used to, but it didn't take much from the story. I still felt like I understood what they went through when they risked their lives. All of the miraculous ways God intervened on their behalf was quite inspiring. I couldn't help thinking of Paul the Apostle and his many trials. For people who long to read about how God still does miraculous things on behalf of his children in modern times, this book would be the perfect way to give them that testimony.
This story kept my attention to the end. The pacing was really good and I liked how the story included so much about their fears and their challenges including the ones regarding faith and doubt. The writing style took a bit getting used to, but it didn't take much from the story. I still felt like I understood what they went through when they risked their lives. All of the miraculous ways God intervened on their behalf was quite inspiring. I couldn't help thinking of Paul the Apostle and his many trials. For people who long to read about how God still does miraculous things on behalf of his children in modern times, this book would be the perfect way to give them that testimony.
July 13, 2014
Saw these young men on a re-run of Dragon's Den this last year and thought it might be an interesting read for our book club. When we chose this book, I could not wait to read it. And ... I was not disappointed. Even though I already knew the outcome of their escape, I was kept on pins and needles as they traveled away from their families into the unknown. The story is compelling and the pace is appropriate. I look forward to seeing them, in person, as they travel through Western Canada this coming fall. I feel like they are a part of a greater family of which I would choose to be a part.
May 26, 2015
This is a "must read" book for all Christians who think we have it rough in the USA and are persecuted for our religious beliefs. I have heard people whine for many years how difficult it is to serve the Lord at their school or job or home. I have often said that we in America don't know what persecution is. This book is about two young men who felt they had to choose between their religious faith or their country. Their flight for freedom and the cost of obtaining is probably far beyond what most of us in America could even fathom. Simon and Wesley almost forfeited their lives in their search for religious freedom. I highly recommend their book.
December 23, 2016
Simon and Wesley were up for conscription into the Romanian army. They knew that as Christians they would face dire persecution. They decided to flee the country and lived in Italy for a time. Since they were illegal immigrants they constantly faced the danger of deportation. When the opportunity came to be smuggled out of the country on a container ship they accepted the challenge. It was astounding the dangers they faced but their faith in God carried them through. God miraculously saved their lives and were granted immigration status and eventually citizenship in Canada. This is one incredible story which makes the reader look deeper into their own personal life.
March 14, 2015
This book should be in church libraries rather than some of the fiction that passes for Christian literature.
Simon and Wesley braved many dangers and challenges as a price of freedom; freedom to serve their GOD, freedom to live without fear. Time and time again they had to acknowledge that GOD intervened with a miracle, saving their lives.
For local Goodreads friends; it is available from the FVPL system.
Simon and Wesley braved many dangers and challenges as a price of freedom; freedom to serve their GOD, freedom to live without fear. Time and time again they had to acknowledge that GOD intervened with a miracle, saving their lives.
For local Goodreads friends; it is available from the FVPL system.
February 12, 2014
I really loved this story. This is one of those books that when you finish, you just feel on top of the world. It is absolutely brilliant that this story is true, and even more brilliant that it turned out the way it did. A great piece of work for enjoyment, strengthening you relationship with god, and learning lots.
September 15, 2012
This is an amazing story of teenage boys fleeing persecution for their faith in Romania. The have an incredible story to tell...I thought the story just a little hard to follow, the timeline wasn't real clear. visit the wedsite at freedomsingers.com
March 18, 2013
Interesting story that many people who have lived in Canada their whole lives cannot imagine happening. It was an easy read and interesting story.
Saw this book being pitched on Dragons Den so I bought a copy :)
Saw this book being pitched on Dragons Den so I bought a copy :)
January 27, 2016
4* This is the riveting true story of Simon and Wesley, who escaped from Romania in 2000. This is not ancient history, my friends. The price of freedom almost cost them their lives in the hold of a container ship on the way to Canada.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews