YAAAY! But I'd completely forgotten about this incident. I'd read If I Perish in English before, but this part slipped my mind until I read it again in Japanese awhile ago.
On p. 552, Ahn is terribly frightened at what could possibly happen to her when the powerful men come to the prison the next day to settle her case. She chides herself for her timidity, but she can't help but cower in fright. Why can't she be like some of those other brave martyrs she's seen? But torture scares her silly. That night, God gives her a dream--I won't spoil it by giving details--instilling her with utter confidence.
The next day, the highest commander of the visiting brass, enraged at the female prisoner's "defiance", slams his fist down on the table and commands her, as a faithful ambassador of the great nation of Imperial Japan, to submit and obey. Ahn, however, instead of shrinking back in fear, had been sent secret bolstering from Heaven the night before. Without a split second to lose; she runs up to the same table; slams her fist down on it as well, retorting, that as a loyal servant of the God Who created the Heaven and all things in it, she cannot submit to ordinances that break His commandments!
Needless to say, everyone in the room was taken aback at her response, and for awhile didn't know what to do. After a moment, that officer told Ahn that it was the God she served Who had saved her that day. He asked the head jailer not to be too harsh with this prisoner, then had the court write up instructions to ensure they would not do so.
I must keep reading. To give me incentive to read even in Japanese, I abbreviated the chapter headings of Part 2 of the book as well as the number of pages per chapter and wrote it on the back of a bookmark my sister Joyce gave me, and crossed it off whenever I finished a chapter.
That commander just helped me finish Part 2, so I sketched a Kawasemi and made a makeshift bookmark on which to write the last 8 chapter title abbreviations plus the Epilogue to mark off. It's nothing fancy, but it should last 55 pages of reading, don't you think?
