June ‘94

The last time Ruth and I breached the Iron Curtain was in 1985, entering Russia from Finland. The guards, who literally took our car apart with screwdrivers and wrenches, found everything (we hadn’t tried to hide anything) except one Bible in my hip pocket. A few days before, an American couple coming in from Finland, with only two Russian Bibles, had been arrested and deported. Beside Bibles we had gospel tapes, a combination shortwave radio receiver, tape recorder and duplicator, nearly a dozen heavy fur coats (it was August and we were from California) for the wives of imprisoned pastors, etc. It seemed ludicrous to attempt to pass a Soviet border with such obvious contraband. I made no “positive confession,” but offered a seemingly foolish prayer that today’s “faith” teachers would label “negative”: “Lord, I’m the worst ‘smuggler’ in the world. They have everything in their custody, but please take it through, not for our sake, but for the sake of those who desperately need it.” Suddenly, without explanation, the guards gave everything back and waved us on!

        Dave Hunt, The Berean Call, June 1994