It was 1976 and I was planning to take 6 New Testaments with me into East Berlin. Brother Darby, our courier, was horrified. Eventually he agreed when I accepted that he went ahead of me through Passport Control and that I was on my own.
The church leaders I met were reserved and cautious, you could sense their fear. However, when I gave them the Bibles, they knew it wasn’t a Secret Service trap, and apologised. One came forward and gave me a bear hug! With tears in his eyes he said ‘the Word of God is very precious to us and we need more for our people’.
I remember one of the underground churches was somewhere in a suburb of East Berlin. We were dropped off some distance from the house where we were meeting, we each had to arrive separately. ‘We are marked people, we meet in secret to avoid arrest’, they told me. I could understand why they said the Word of God was precious to them when they showed me several handwritten sections that they had copied to share with others.
It was nearly midnight when we had to leave to return to West Berlin, before our day visit pass expired. That visit left an indelible mark on my life. Their faith, devotion and love for God’s Word made me realise how small my faith was compared to these dedicated people.
To God be all the glory for His work through the Mission.
Billy, Emeritus President of Mission Without Borders International, pictured with his wife Rose
Return to all stories