UNSHACKLED! Audio Dramas

Having grown up in southern Illinois, Charles leaves home to escape the restraints of his father and make changes in his life. However, he finds himself enslaved to the vices of Al Capone’s Chicago. Later, living in Detroit, he opens his own speakeasy. After numerous encounters with the law, he attempts to take his own life during a struggle with a cop. “Out of the blue” he decides to attend churc...

Emiline’s childhood is miserable, so she marries at sixteen. Her husband, Fred, begins to change after the birth of their second daughter. He treats her badly. Her brother, Bob, talks to her about Jesus before he dies at nineteen. Then two baby sons die after birth. Her husband becomes abusive and she runs around to get even. Finally, after the birth of a son, she divorces him. She meets Orville,...

Phil is saved at age ten and shows evidence of God’s life within him. He tries to reach his girlfriend, who had never gone to church. After graduation he joins the Marines – just before Pearl Harbor. His letters home encourage his parents. Then in 1943 the letters stop for six months. His parents worry but go to Pacific Garden Mission to help at the Servicemen’s Center. Finally, in November a lett...

Known for his ability to drive men up the rigging of sailing ships by the sheer force of his physical prowess, “Rowdy” ships out of New York and other ports around the world. Sailors are afraid of him. He fights off death and danger – even beating his former ship’s captain within an inch of his life. Then through the testimony of some of his former shipmates in the Water Street Mission of New York...

Five-year-old Mollie comes to Jerry McAuley’s rescue mission in New York City to hear the music. Her mother is a drunk who yanks the children out of the meeting. The McAuley’s pray for the family, and one night seeks help when their drunken father locks them out. Maria McAuley ministers to Mollie’s mother as she recovers from delirium tremens. The woman then comes to a service and gives her life t...

Daughter of Bohemian immigrants, Violet finds Christ through her father’s involvement with Pacific Garden Mission. However, the few years of her life covered by this story are filled with sorrow, disappointment and tragedy. Yet Violet emerges “happy as a sunflower,” because of her unwavering faith in Christ and her belief that God makes all things work together for good in the lives of His childre...

As a child, Bruce sees his police-officer dad steal and decides it’s okay. He quits going to mass at age sixteen but works hard. He marries Shirley who is an atheist, and they move to Florida, then Arizona, where he works for a major hotel chain. He begins taking things home from work. Then his young nephew dies, and Bruce is faced with mortality. He starts reading the Bible, goes to church and is...

Dominic works in the family pizza / bar from age six. He lifts weights and boxes to gain strength. Money is all-important. He attends all-boys church school, goes to college and falls in love with Lynette, a nurse. They marry and have two daughters. Dominic achieves success in international banking but loses his wife. The bank files for bankruptcy the same week. He wanders aimlessly on the streets...

Bryce’s family is an alcoholic who batters the family. Parents divorce when Bryce is fifteen. He joins the air force but stays in trouble, attempts suicide, goes AWOL. At home his mother refuses to take him in, and he and friends commit burglaries. Grandfather urges him to turn himself in. He spends eleven months in jail, reads a book about peace with God, is discharged from the air force. When he...

Bryce tells his alcoholic father about being saved, but his dad rejects the gospel. A month later his dad is killed in an accident. Bryce marries Kim. They take their baby daughter back to Michigan where he is arrested for violating probation. The judge lets him go, but when officials come snooping, Bryce panics and they run back to Florida. He confides in his pastor who persuades him to go back a...

Harvey grows up in London, goes to school at Westminster Abbey but finds the chapel service stiff. He hears the gospel at a Bible camp and gives his life to Christ. His parents want him to study law and he does for two years. Then Billy Graham comes to Manchester and Harvey drops the study of law to assist in setting up the crusade. He meets Sylvia, goes to the U.S. and she follows. The two marry...

Abuse displaces love in Gary’s family. His parents drink; his father beats him; he is a poor student who becomes a bully. He joins the air force, marries and has two children. His wife leaves him as does the second wife, who makes life miserable for him. In desperation he cries out to God but isn’t obedient. Then he finds a good church and is discipled. He learns to trust in the Lord and witness b...

Danny’s parents never marry. His father is an alcoholic, his mother a paranoid-schizophrenic who lashes out violently. His older brothers are criminals. Danny feels shame at his family yet likes the protection his brother provides. He finds a niche in football, an outlet for his anger. A girlfriend encourages him to learn to read and he goes to church with her. At a youth group Bible study Danny r...

Danny gets a football scholarship to college, but in his senior year he begins to party and gets hooked on methamphetamines. His older brother comes out of prison and has a bad drug experience, almost dies. He induces Danny to rob a dealer-friend. Danny confesses his complicity but becomes paranoid, afraid of losing his mind. He’s arrested and faces prison for receiving stolen property. He quits d...

Darren’s parents divorce when he’s six. His mother’s involvement with palm readers and horror movies confuse him although his father gets saved and takes him to church. Left alone, he smokes with a friend. His older brother plays in a band and Darren does, too, at age thirteen. Drugs and music consume his life. He quits school at seventeen and lives with one person after another. His dad takes him...

“Starla” grows up with parents who fight hard. She reads her father’s porn collection and develops an unhealthy attitude toward sex. In college she gets pregnant and her boyfriend arranges an abortion after which she is disillusioned. They break up and Starla drifts into the party life. Eight years later she meets a Christian who helps her understand God’s love. Starla receives Christ, drops her f...

“Hafiz” is born into an Orthodox Muslim family and memorizes the Quran. At fifteen he finds a Christian pamphlet and compares the Bible to the Quran. He believes in Jesus and his family throws him out. The persecution continues; he goes to a Christian tech school, returns to his home town and his family tries to kill him with poison. He recovers and begins traveling from one country to another—is...

“Hafiz” goes to Iran where he helps an Iranian Muslim know Christ. He finds no Christians in China so he returns home, where Muslims cause an accident that leaves him disabled for more than a year. When he can walk and work again, he buys a mini-truck and works as a salesman for a food factory. Repeatedly he is beaten and driven out when his Christianity is discovered. He marries and has children....

Dennis grows up in a permissive family. His parents send him to church, but he rebels, tries drugs in his dad’s pharmacy. Drops out of school and hitchhikes to Mexico. He goes to San Francisco and is arrested for drug possession. Back in Phoenix he gets hooked on heroin and resorts to burglary. Third arrest leads to drug rehab. He returns to San Francisco, marries and has children. He quits drugs,...

Doris is sexually abused by her brother’s friends and cousins, leading to guilt and shame. After she graduates she joins the U.S. Navy and does well. She hungers to know God but doesn’t know how to find Him. She marries another sailor and they move to Minnesota where his drinking destroys their marriage. She raises their three children, joins a singles group and begins bar-hopping. After many bad...

Norval grows up on an isolated farm and never meets his father, who suffers from Parkinson’s. He likes to live on the edge, gets in trouble with the law as a senior in high school. He goes to college, graduates and dates a girl. When they get carried away and she becomes pregnant, her family won’t let Norval see her, and she gives up the baby for adoption. He loses his job because of drinking and...

When Tommy’s dad nearly dies of a heart attack, he receives Christ as Savior and begins taking the family to church. Tommy rebels as a teenager, smokes, drinks with friends and cuts class. He falls in love at thirteen but the girl doesn’t love him. Disappointed at love and denied the chance to play basketball in high school, Tommy drops out. He steals, gambles and has several close calls with deat...

Mike is sixth child of ten born to Lakota Sioux Indian family. His parents are alcoholics and the court sends Mike and siblings to a religious boarding school for five years. Mike is moved to a different school where he skips and breaks into a liquor store. The court sentences him to training school, but then releases him. He goes to an Indian art school in Santa Fe but fighting gets him expelled....

Tommy learns to play guitar. His parents divorce when he is twelve, and he doesn’t see his dad for fourteen years. A buddy entices him to smoke, drink and use drugs, but Tommy gives up beer when he sees the consequences in his friends. His older brothers go their own way and Tommy’s girlfriend dumps him. He has a panic attack during a performance and says the name “Jesus”, which ends the attack. H...

As the oldest child of six, Bonnie grows up feeling rejected by her dad. Her grandmother is the only source of faith. At twelve she’s molested by a family friend and feels betrayed. Hooked on LSD at 14, she drinks at 16, passes out and her boyfriend molests her. She gets pregnant and they marry but party and fight. They divorce, and she takes their son. She continues to shoplift and deal drugs. Th...