Smuggling Bibles and What I Learned

In the 1980s, Jeff helped smuggle Bibles into the Soviet Union. In this episode, Jeff shares about that experience and the incredible people he met there who had such great faith and such great dependence on God that their witness still impacts his life today.

Snippet from the Show
“I encountered people who gave so much even though they had so little.”

The Plan

In the 1980s, Jeff received an opportunity to work with an amazing group of men that were affiliated with an organization called Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler. Historically, this group would smuggle Bibles into countries where the Bible was not legal. Jeff joined this group in order to help smuggle Bibles and medical supplies into the Soviet Union.

The Journey

Upon arriving in the Soviet Union, Jeff felt quite nervous. He was fully aware that the Bibles in his bag were not necessarily permitted. Well, it happened. Jeff was stopped by airport workers and taken to a small room where the workers began to go through his luggage. The Bibles were discovered. Jeff was questioned. Jeff innocently explained that he was only there to teach literature. Eventually, most of the Bibles were taken from him and Jeff was permitted to leave.

The Encounter

After rejoining the others, they spent a few days in Moscow until the day they were meant to rendezvous with a contact. After a discreet meeting, the group was driven to a location outside of the city. They were directed to a building that looked abandoned. Inside this building, the group came across a congregation of several hundred people, and these people were singing. They were praising God.

Teaching and Listening

For the next week, Jeff was taken from one underground church to another. He had never taught more in one week than he did then. The people he met wanted to hear the Gospel. They wanted the Scriptures opened up for them. Jeff also listened to the people. He heard their stories. He listened as they shared about the incredible suffering they had endured and continued to endure.

After that trip, Jeff reflected on his time there and the people he met. The witness of faith he encountered is one that he has never forgotten.

---