Jesus Led Me All the Way

By Sadie May Free MA

Although author Sadie May Free was raised in the church, she didn’t know she needed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. At age twenty-six, she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior and began a journey that would include over fifty years of mission work in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. In Jesus Led Me All the Way, Free narrates the story of that sojourn.

This memoir offers a testimonial of her moment-by-moment walk of faith, training teachers, building relationships, and teaching children. It is the story of God’s protection, faithfulness, and provision to meet every need. It encourages believers to have a bigger picture of who their heavenly father is as well as presents the gospel for the unbeliever to be saved.

Praise for Sadie Jesus Led Me All the Way

Sadie May Free’s book “Jesus Led me All the Way” is a story of grace and submission to the will of God, as this young lady leaves a promising corporate career in the U.S.A. to honor her new found faith in Jesus Christ, only to be led to regions of war and danger overseas. More than five decades later Sadie May’s bold witness for Christ and her desire to see others come to know Him as Savior remains as strong as ever. Sharing the love of Jesus with children has given her a place of honor in this life and in the life to come. “But Jesus said, Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 NKJV. I trust you will journey with Sadie May through her life of joyous adventure and find yourself echoing her theme, Jesus Led Me All the Way.

—Pastor of the author’s home church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664207783

Sadie May Free MA

Sadie May Free, MA, earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. She accepted Jesus Christ as her savior at age twenty-six. The Lord called her to live by faith, and she served him in the inner city through street, jail, and rescue missions. Free began mission work in the United States and later across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. She has more than fifty years of sacrificial service as a missionary.

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Copyright © 2020 Sadie May Free, MA.

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people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized (King James)

Version of the Bible (‘the KJV’), the rights in which are vested in

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permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0777-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0776-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0778-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919388

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/12/2020

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Jesus Led Me All The Way

Recordings With A Friend

Church

Searching For Meaning

Working Years

Experiences Before I Came To Know The Lord

Salvation Freedom

Dad’s Retirement Party

Learning And Trying To Be Faithful

Inner-City Riots

Pastor Nurtured Me/Tithing And Offerings

Living By Faith

Two-Weeks Notice On My Job

Bus Tickets

God’s Guidance

Serving The Lord During The Summer

Special Meeting/Institute

Back To The Ghettos

Dream/Overseas Missions

Bible School Was Required

Deputation For Overseas Work

New Missionaries Ready For The Field

Language Learning

Communication Between Missionary And Support Team

Prayer Cards

Language Aptitude Test

Lost Passport

Country One

Culture Shock

Language Program

Culture/Wormy Rice

Culture/Bathroom

Culture/My Apartment

Political Unrest

Time In The Villages/Leaving The Country

Evacuation Via Another Middle East Country And Europe To The United States

Back Surgery

Country Two

Country Three

Country Four

Moving Literature/Airports

Country Five

Country Six

Country Seven

Country Eight

Country Nine

Country Ten

Flannel Boards

Wedding Experiences

Mom And Extended Furlough

Could It Really Be Back To College?

Go For My Graduate Degree

Transitions While Caring For Mom

Knee Surgery

Mom Going Home To Be With The Lord

Radio Broadcast, Packing Party, And Airlines

Reuniting With My Language School Instructor

Experience In The States

Going Back Overseas/

Materials In Another Language

Translating Materials For Adults

God’s Plan—My Struggle

Debriefing Back In The States

Back Overseas/Getting The Translation Team

Translator

Typist

Grammar Checker And Editor

Distributor

Conclusion

Excerpts From Sadie’s Email Updates Sent Out Over The Years

Sadie May Free Recognition

Advice And Inspiration

Prayer Is Exciting Communication With God

How To Have A Quiet Time

Bible Study For Christmas

Lessons From The Camel

Now That You Believe, What’s Next?

Learning To Depend On The Lord

Spiritual Warfare: Living A Victorious Life In Today’s World

The Good Old Days

Unexpected Surprise

Recap And Closing

About The Author

First, I would like to dedicate this book to my family. My sister and I have a very close relationship, for which I praise the Lord. She has seven children. When these children were growing up, most of the time I was serving the Lord overseas. They never really knew who their Aunt Sadie was. Telephone calls were sometimes up to five dollars a minute, and I never knew whether my mail made it back to the States. We didn’t have computers, Skype, internet, FaceTime, or things like that back then. It is my prayer that through this book, my family will get to know me better and understand why I wasn’t there to share so many things of their childhood and teen years with them.

Second, I would like to dedicate this book to my brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that through this book, you will have a bigger picture of who your heavenly Father is. I pray that you will really believe He cares about every detail of your life, all the big things down to the smallest details. I pray that you will grow in your Christian life as you read how He led, guided, cared for, and provided for me day after day as I, a single woman, served Him across the United States, Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. I pray that He will increase your burden for reaching others, especially the children, for Christ.

Third, I would like to dedicate this book to those people who don’t know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. I know what it’s like to seek the answers to give you peace and a hope for living. I pray that my testimony will speak to your heart. I pray that you will realize that you are special, that God has made a place within you that will never be filled with anything other than Him. He will give you lasting hope, joy, and peace. I pray that you will realize you are a sinner and that God loves you. In that great love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sins. Jesus died and rose again and lives in heaven. It is His desire that you will ask Him to forgive your sins, to come into your life as your Savior and to be saved from your sins. Then and only then will you have the assurance that when you die, you will go to heaven. I pray that you will make that decision today.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE I would like to thank for the making of this book. First, there are those on both sides of the globe who for years were after me to write of the faithfulness of God as I served Him across many countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. I would like to thank all my faithful prayer partners and donors, who have enabled me to continue serving. I would like to thank the mission I serve with. It’s leaders and coworkers have stood with me, prayed for me, and given guidance, leadership, and encouragement for over fifty years of serving with them. I am thankful that they have stood firm on the Word of God, have never changed their message, and are continually sharing the gospel to reach every child, every nation, every day. I am thankful for the leadership team who read the manuscript and gave corrections that needed to be made for the security of our ministry and workers in these countries.

Then there are those people who worked closely with me in putting this book together. They are each precious prayer partners and friends. Thank you to one for your encouragement and challenge when you said that I have walked where angels fear to tread. I needed to write about it and could do so better than anyone else. When was I going to start writing? You would be willing to help me. Thank you for helping to get some of the manuscript, especially the email updates, into the computer and manuscript. We spent long nights working on it. Thank you for your prayers.

Thank you to another who is a member of one of my supporting churches. For several weeks we met together when I recorded story after story and experiences about my life and the ministry the Lord had called me to. Thank you for the hours you spent on your computer, taking what was recorded, putting it into the computer, organizing it, putting titles on the different sections, and sending it to me. Thank you for the excitement you had as well as for your encouragement and prayers.

Thank you to a precious friend who, although we had many computer challenges, faithfully did the editing. Only the Lord knows of the many computer challenges we had during this time and the weeks it took to get this project completed. Thank you, friend, for your prayers and patience, and for not giving up. You have been a great encourager to me.

Thank you to another wonderful friend, who helped me type, read, and reread the manuscript, making corrections, additions, and deletions. This project has taken many months. Although sometimes it could have been very frustrating, you stuck with me through the thick and thin of getting it all done. Thank you as we have laughed, worked, and prayed together.

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INTRODUCTION

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THIS STORY HAS BEEN IN the making for many years. For years, as I have traveled and lived by suitcase across many countries, people on both sides of the globe have asked me whether I was writing my story. They were seeing firsthand how the Lord was opening doors for sharing the gospel, especially with the children, and training teachers. They saw how the Lord was leading, guiding, and protecting me as I traveled across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. They saw how He was caring for me, a single woman, in many dangerous areas and providing to meet my every need.

After some years, I knew the Lord wanted the story to be written. It’s not my story. It is His story, and it is now history. Unbeknownst to me until recent years, five of my prayer partners felt many years ago that someday a book would be written about my life. They kept every one of my prayer letters, newsletters, personal notes from me, and later email updates. Three of them gave me their files the last time I saw them before the Lord took them to glory. The other two gave them to me as this book was being written. These files have been a tremendous resource. In fact, I was told that I shouldn’t try to put everything in one book because I have enough stories and experiences to write several books.

So how did the writing of this book finally come about? I kept a copy of my newsletters, plus I wrote down different things that happened. For security when I was traveling extensively, I didn’t feel I could keep a journal. I kept praying about writing my autobiography and even took a writer’s course to help me start getting things written.

Finally, one night I received an email from a prayer partner of many years. She was in a leadership position at one of the Bible schools I attended. It said, I have walked where angels fear to tread. When are you going to start writing about it? I will help you in any way I can, but you need to do this because no one else could write it like you could. You have walked it, lived it, come through many dangers and scary situations. You have seen the Lord open doors, protect you, and provide for you. Your story needs to be told. Other believers need to be encouraged by how the Lord has cared for you. They need to have their faith strengthened and the picture of who their heavenly Father is enlarged. I told her I would try to get started. That was in October. I continued being very busy in the ministry. Unfortunately, unless you really make writing a priority, it just doesn’t happen. So I wasn’t writing.

Then the last Sunday in January came. I was going to share the ministry I was involved with in one of my supporting churches. They had their regular services followed by pizza and salad for lunch. Those who wanted to hear the missionary stayed for lunch, after which time I would share. While others at our table were gone to get pizza, one lady leaned over to me and said, Sadie, I have something to tell you. I have never had many heroes in my life, but you are one of them.

I said, Don’t ever put me up on a pedestal or call me a hero. I am a sinner just like you are, saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I am trying to be faithful in my walk with Him and in the ministry He has called me to.

She said she didn’t mean it in that way, as me on a pedestal, but that she had seen me over the years and watched my faithfulness to the Lord and in my testimony. She asked me whether I had ever thought about writing my story. I told her yes; I had for years, and so many people had asked me to write it. I said, Would you like to help me?

She was a bit shocked and said she would talk with her husband; they would pray about the matter and get back to me. I know it was the Lord who had me ask her about helping me. After one day, she called me and told me she would like to help me. We started meeting that Wednesday morning. She had a recorder, and we prayed; then I would record. We met this way almost every Wednesday morning for several months. She took the recording, typed it into her computer, organize it, and sent it to me.

The prayer partner who had talked with me about walking where angels feared to tread visited me. We worked long hours, going through all my email updates and newsletters from the files people had kept, going back over forty years. Getting them in chronological order took hours. The Lord helped us, and as we prayed, He gave us strength to keep going way into the nights because she had only a few days with me.

I knew my pastor’s wife was a busy person, but I asked her if she could just read some of what I had written. I knew she was also a good editor. She said she wouldn’t have time to do the editing but would gladly try to find time to read some for me and give her thoughts. Well, she ended up being the editor and has done an amazing job. She has helped me rewrite. She gave several comments and suggestions, and she spent countless hours helping me and editing. The enemy fought hard, and we had many computer challenges along the way, but we finally got the editing finished.

I am thankful for the leadership team of the mission I serve, who prayerfully read the manuscript. I appreciate their meeting with me and going over corrections we all agreed needed to be made. These corrections included omitting all country names and my name as the author. These changes were made for my security and the security of our ministry. For security of the author identification, the mission name is omitted, and the publisher requested omitting the names of any other individuals who had helped in getting this book written, the names of those who wrote endorsements, and the names of other locations and identifiers, where one could recognize me as the author.

The lady who works with me in the office helped me over many months with typing and checking the manuscript. There were writing, rewriting, and making numerous corrections. Hours and days went into months. We prayerfully went through over fourteen hundred pictures to decide which ones should be included. Unfortunately, because of security and my using an alias name, pictures of me— including teaching children, training teachers, or posing with my family or friends—couldn’t be included.

I thank the Lord that after much prayer and many suggestions of an alias name to use, the Lord led me to settle on Sadie May Free. The S in Sadie reminds me of the salvation I received when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. My life, which had been a real mess at the time, was completely changed with a new life in Christ. May is the month I was born. The M reminds me of the many miracles I have seen the Lord do over the years and across the globe. Then Free came from John 8:32 and John 8:36, which say, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free and If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. These were the verses the pastor preached on the Sunday I received Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Savior. The F reminds me of the life of faith the Lord has called me to live. I am grateful to my church family and other believers who have been praying during this entire process of getting the book written. So there you have it.

It is my prayer that the Lord will use this, His story, to be a blessing to you and other believers across the globe. Also, I am praying that, if you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you will receive Him into your life. I pray that my testimony will speak to your heart and that you will see your need for Him.

Prayerfully,

Sadie May Free

Matthew 18:14

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JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY

I’VE BEEN THINKING A LOT about how the Lord has led me throughout my life. I love the hymn Jesus Led Me All the Way. I can truly say it is true of my life.

Some day life’s journey will be o’er

And I shall reach that distant shore,

I’ll sing while ent’ring Heaven’s door

Jesus led me all the way.

Jesus led me all the way.

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

Jesus led me all the way.

If God should let me their review

The winding paths of earth I knew,

It would be proven clear and true

Jesus led me all the way.

Jesus led me all the way.

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

Jesus led me all the way.

And hitherto my Lord has led

Today He guides each step I tread,

And soon in Heaven it will be said

Jesus led me all the way.

Jesus led me all the way.

Led me step by step each day;

I will tell the saints and angels

As I lay my burden down

Jesus led me all the way.

By John W. Peterson

© 1954 John W. Peterson Music Company.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

When I first came to know the Lord, I had no idea what Jeremiah 29:11 says. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. As I look back, every day I can pray, Thank You, Lord, for the thoughts and plans You have for me, because my life is in Your hands. Wow, I had no idea of the plans He had for me!

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RECORDINGS WITH A FRIEND

My Childhood

I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR my childhood. When I look at children today, I see so many homes that are broken—children being raised by grandparents, one or the other parent, or someone other than the parent. The situation just breaks my heart. This makes me appreciate my childhood and home life much more. I am from a big city in Michigan, not one of the suburbs. I have one sister, who is three years older than I, and no brothers. My mom was home until the Second World War. That was when a lot of the men went into the military for the war. A lot of the women left the home at that time. They went to work in the factories. That was what my mother did. I remember the first day I came home from school, and Mom wasn’t there. I cried because it was hard going into an empty house. My mom had always been there to greet me with loving arms and give me a little snack after school. I remember that day well. I remember that every night when my dad came home from work, we had our family supper together. We would talk about all the things that had happened in our lives that day. It was wonderful.

When I was in elementary school, I lived just over a block from school. In those days kids weren’t bussed out of their neighborhood to some other location to go to school. I was in school with other children in our neighborhood—the same children we played with out on the streets after school. Today I don’t even know in most neighborhoods whether it’s safe for children to be playing outside. Of course there are many other activities available for children after school, so I don’t know how often children are outside playing. I don’t know how well they even know other children in their neighborhood. Many children are bussed to schools that aren’t in their neighborhood.

I am left handed. In elementary school I had a teacher who took the pen out of my left hand and put it in my right hand. She would swat my knuckles a little, because in her mind I needed to be right handed. To this day I am left handed, so her method didn’t work. It worked only when she was coming. However, when I was serving over in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia, I realized that in many places the left hand was considered unclean. It was used in connection with bathroom details. I learned at that time to write with my right hand. I learned to do many things with my right hand. Now, if needed, I can get by writing with my right hand.

I started playing the piano and clarinet in about the third grade. I took lessons for both. I sang in the choir and played in the band at school. Some of my fondest memories of being in school were being in the band, marching at the football games, playing in band concerts, and singing in choir concerts. I sang in the choir at church. My sister also took piano lessons.

Our family attended church regularly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a church, as I remember, that taught I needed to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, be saved, be born again, or whatever term you want to use. I thought I was a Christian. I know our whole family would have told you we were a Christian family. We had good morals, prayed before we ate our meals, highly respected the Bible, and were honest, good people. We were in church every Sunday. We attended Sunday school. My mom and dad didn’t just take us and drop us off. Our whole family was in church and Sunday school on Sunday morning and for midweek services. Those were the days when most of the churches had services on Sunday morning and Sunday evening as well as Wednesday night Bible study and prayer meeting. I was very active in the young people’s group and eventually became their president.

When I was a child, I was in several organizations. I loved to go to their camps. I did different things to earn badges to wear on the sash of my uniform. I was a leader for part of that time.

I had several jobs as an older child. While growing up during the summer, my sister and I went to camp for two or more weeks. The camp was located about two hours outside the city. For several years I was a camper. When I was old enough, I was a counselor in training and then became a counselor. Each cabin of campers had a counselor living with them. I had duties in swimming. All the counselors got swimming badges and cards. I was the director of the handicraft cabin. I had to plan all the craft items to make for the different age-groups. This responsibility was fun. I really enjoyed it.

During one week of camp, we had disabled children. They had many different disabilities. It was really challenging. I remember one day we couldn’t find one camper. She had Down syndrome and was very strong. Finally we found her under the handicraft cabin. She wouldn’t come out. She had gotten upset at some small thing. It eventually came to suppertime. A counselor stayed by her to make sure she didn’t move or run off. We got her out by bringing her supper to her. These were very special and interesting children. One of the children loved to stand and watch the water whizzing around when the toilet flushed. He got the biggest kick out of that. It was a privilege to have these precious special needs children at camp.

When I was a freshman in high school, we moved to Texas. My father transferred in his job. He was an engineer. We were there for one year. Because my sister was in her senior year of high school, she didn’t go with us. She stayed with some friends in Michigan.

Texas was interesting in many ways. When I first got there, I had a little difficulty understanding some of the things spoken. Most people in the United States have English as a basic language. There are different accents of the English language in different parts of United States. But God worked in all that.

I tried out for the band and got accepted. I played the clarinet and bass clarinet. This opportunity was very special because our band was a top band in the state. We were invited as guests to the bistate music festival. We competed individually and together as a band. It was a wonderful band trip. I was in band all during high school. When I look back, being in the band—even after we left Texas and moved back to Michigan—was really a significant part of my childhood. It brings back many good memories. At the end of one year, we moved back to Michigan and into our same house, which we had rented out. In addition to band, I was on student counsel, the field hockey team, and the swimming team during high school.

As a child, my life was full of activity. I tend to be an outgoing person. I made friends easily. Since my mother was working, I learned to cook. I had to start cooking supper when I got home from school. My mother took professional classes in cake decorating. She was a wonderful cake decorator. She made beautiful cakes, even wedding cakes. I remember at Easter she had molds and made Easter bunny cakes. At Christmas she made special Christmas cakes and delicious fruitcakes. My mother enjoyed doing crafts. She was always making something. I think that’s where I got my enjoyment of crafts.

In our house when I was a child, the three bedrooms were upstairs. We had about ten stairs going up, a little landing, then I turned and went up another four stairs. At the bottom and across from the stairs was the piano. The piano was on the left side where the doors opened to a screened porch. If the door was open, it blocked the stairway.

One day when I was coming down the stairs and the door was open, I fell. My head went through the glass door. I was hurt. I remember my mother was upstairs crying. My father kept calling her and saying, Come on and get down here. We need to get this kid to a doctor immediately. I still have a scar across my nose. The Lord spared my eyesight that day. I could have easily been blinded. I know that when I was a child, I didn’t realize all the ramifications of that accident. As I got older, I realized that God had spared my sight. How different my life would have been if I had lost my sight that day. I have no idea what my life would have been like, but I do believe in Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

My mother was from Canada. She had been raised in a lumber camp. She told us many stories about cutting the trees down, cutting them into logs, and sending them down the river to their destination. She told us my grandmother had never known how many people would be at the lumber camp for a meal. She always just cooked a lot of food.

My father was from Scotland. He was the youngest of seven boys. His family migrated to the Unites States when he was a teenager. My parents met in the States and became US citizens. My sister and I are daughters of legal immigrants. We are the first generation born in the States. My father’s family were all very musical. There were seven boys and no girls. One of the boys had died back in Scotland. The other six boys played different instruments. My father played the piano, accordion, and saxophone. My mother played the piano and organ.

Music was a big part of our lives. Every year at Thanksgiving we had all my father’s side of the family at my uncle’s house. Every Christmas, they all were at our house. I remember that no matter how cold it was outside, our neighbors kept their doors open or came outside to hear all