If you are a "baby boomer," then this article will probably mean more to you than if you are possibly a "generation-Xer". I am a baby boomer and happened to be born D-Day minus four. For you history buffs, you would certainly know that D-Day was June 6, 1944. If you back up four days, then I was 4 days old when they hit the beaches of Normandy in France. This of course was the day the Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to begin the invasion of Europe to liberate millions of freedom-loving people from the oppressive Nazis. The movie "Saving Private Ryan" was cast in this setting and time frame.

After WWII, the "Cold War" followed and for approximately 40 years we stood off the Russians around the globe at many flash points. No place however was it more evident then in Berlin, Germany. As you remember, Berlin was the city where WWII ended and the city was carved up into four sectors by the allies. It was called the city where "East meets West." There was the Russian Sector, the French Sector, the British Sector and the American Sector. The whole city itself was 110 miles inside Communist East Germany. It was here in the American Sector that we lived for three years in the "BK" days (before kids).

We served in Berlin from 1977-1980 at the height of the Cold War. While serving in Berlin, I attended a local prayer breakfast and met a dedicated Christian man who had connections with the underground church in Communist East Berlin. The Christians worshiping in Communist dominated lands do so at so great a cost. If they are found they can, and often do, spend years in prison, with their families left to forage for a living without the main bread winner.

Here is where you and I come in. The Scriptures tell us that to always be ready at any moment to share your faith.. What was needed in Berlin was someone to drive their car at night alone loaded with Bibles and Christian literature through the Berlin Wall to the suffering church in East Berlin. This was to be done by going through the infamous "Checkpoint Charlie" which was controlled on the Western side by the American forces and on the Eastern side by the Communist guards.

This meant that you had to go to an appointed place in West Berlin, load your car with several boxes of Bibles and Christian literature and drive at night under the watchful eyes of the East German guards to an appointed spot, and under the cover of darkness unload the contents of the boxes and return. Since the guards saw the boxes go through the checkpoint, they looked for them when you returned, however they were not suppose to physically come into your car to search the car. Of course they weren't suppose to have erected the Berlin wall either!

Each time they would see four boxes going in and the same "empty" four boxes going out.

In lands of Christian oppression, like China, North Korea, Cuba, and in the Middle East, no literature can be printed unless it goes through "official censorship." This of course means no Christian literature will be printed: no Bibles, no courses for pastors or congregations, no seminars, no Bible study material, no children's books, no records, no tapes, nothing related to Jesus of Nazareth.

This particular night I had a load of Bibles and literature and the drop point was to be a garage on the outskirts of Berlin. This particular night it was very dark and very cold as were many nights in the Berlin winters. I drove to the appointed garage and as I approached at the pre-arranged time, the garage door opened and as I drove in, the garage door closed behind me.

In situations like this you just pray and do what God tells you to do. As I got out of the car, this very large man came up to me and in his broken English kept saying "praise the Lord, praise the Lord." He also kept giving me these Russian bear hugs over and over. I thought my rib cage would cave in at any moment. He shook my hand several times and he looked at me and tears were running down his face. We hugged again and pointed toward heaven and I drove back through Checkpoint Charlie and back to my praying wife. Always be ready to act on behalf of your faith in Christ Jesus. Always pray that "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." I will one day meet that man and we will discuss that night all over again.