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Twenty years ago, the most hideous symbol of communist oppression in Europe was taken down. The Berlin Wall - the Berliner Mauer.
Nearly thirty years ago I stood at that wall and looked over into the country of East Germany. I took this picture from the lookout point of the Military Police at Check Point Charlie.
That day, I stood on the sidewalk for an extended period of time watching the Soviet officers travel in and out of the east. I took it all in and it made a life-long impact on me. If you weren't around back then you may not remember how it felt. Politics were different.
In the Soviet sector of Berlin, which was occupied by the French, British, United States and Soviet Union, each with their own sectors, control was established on every level. Stalin channeled directives (mandates) down from Moscow to Berlin where both property and industry were nationalized (taken over by the government), and a form of political correctness was established. If statements or directives deviated from the party line punishments were doled out, sometimes harshly.
There was compulsory Marxism-Leninism curriculum in schools where students were turned into ideological, militaristic citizens. An elaborate police state was created where the citizens were kept under strict surveillance by the Soviet SMERSH and later the East German STASI. People were afraid to speak in public for fear of being overheard and turned in.
Men and women longed to cross into the western sector even if it meant leaving their homes. Soon, that would be impossible as they were imprisoned behind that wall in 1961. The history is there for the reading.
Communism took the God-given freedoms of millions of people, replacing freedom with poverty, shortages, lack and few choices. Often, especially during the days of Stalin, people were deprived of life itself. Even the freedom of conscience was taken away. It was anti-social and a threat to the "people" if you were a Christian and the church was forced underground. Many believers died in prison.
As a young soldier in Germany I can remember not only standing in Berlin looking at the wall but I also served on the border, far from Berlin. I remember the snowy winters standing at the East German border where I saw the double fences, tank ditches, mine fields and guards with German shepherds and binoculars looking over at us. A few kilometers inward there was a division of Soviet tanks. They were keeping us out and their citizens in.
I've since met some of those same tankers. We live in Moscow now, the former center of Communism. We are building the church of the Lord Jesus Christ here because the Russian people want to serve God. I am thankful for what God has done.
Almost 30 years ago I desired to reach into the nations where socialism stole the God-given rights of humanity. Today, I am seeing the good news of Christ proclaimed throughout the former Soviet Union. Gott ist in der himmel und er lebt in ewigkeit! Jesus ist den herrn!