Fred Bailey was a slave to a farmer in Maryland. After a severe beating for no reason, the teenager decided to escape.
Fred slipped away one night, hid in a field, and fled to Baltimore where there was a community of free blacks. Fred had learned to read so he joined a local literary society, pretending to be free.
Fred met Anna, a free black woman, who became his friend. Because Fred was considered a fugitive, he was in constant danger of being discovered and returned to slavery. Anna decided to help.
If Fred could cross the Maryland state line into Pennsylvania, he would be in free territory. Anna was poor and illiterate but also intelligent and shrewd. She devised a plan.
At the time the U.S. Navy had a mix of white and black sailors who often docked in the Baltimore harbor. No one questioned their identity or authority.
Anna used most of her savings to have a naval uniform made and tailored for Fred. She then did the one thing that could make the plan work. She used her remaining money to buy shiny brass buttons.
Naval officers were known for their brass buttons. They were the only men in Baltimore who wore them in public. Anna reasoned that if Fred wore brass buttons, no one would question him. She was right.
Fred wore the uniform with the shiny buttons across the border to freedom. Anna’s plan worked.
Fred later changed his name to Frederick Douglass, became an evangelical Christian, married Anna and became the most famous African-American civil rights leader in the world.
But all this happened because Anna gave up everything she had to help Fred. Her total commitment made everything possible.
Totally commit yourself to what God has called you to do and watch the miracles start.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength.” NIV
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