Jesus would leave, or I would wake up in the morning to find it had all been a beautiful dream. It was almost too good to be true. When I woke up next morning, Jesus was still there. I could feel his love flowing in and out with each heartbeat. Oh, I was the happiest person in the whole world. I just knew now that Jesus was with me. Together he and I could love Wings enough to make him well again. The little New Testament became so enjoyable to me to read. Each day I could feel the Lord speaking directly to me from each page. When Sunday came, I remembered what the Pastor said with a start, "O.K. on Sunday you can teach the five-year old girl Sunday School class." I was afraid. But I went. When I entered the classroom, every eye was focused on their new "teacher". I decided to be totally honest. Here I was, a woman of 31, afraid of five-year olds. So I smiled and said, "I am a brand new Christian. I have never taught a Sunday School class before. You probably know more about the Bible than I do so would you mind if we learn together and maybe you can help me get to know Jesus better?" They smiled and I felt better. We learned and grew together. As I searched the Word of God during the week in order to meet their needs and answer their questions, I did not realize that this wise pastor had put me in the best position to learn, by having me teach. This was the first among many lessons I filed away and used in years to come as I nurtured new believers in Christ. The Holy Spirit became my teacher as I read and studied the Word daily, taking it literally and applying it to my life. I believed it all without question. Each day when my husband left for his studies at the University where he was getting his Master's degree, I would let the Lord guide me. I asked the Lord’s advice on everything from planning meals to arranging furniture. At the very beginning, he showed me the reality of miracles by doing them in my life. I had not even noticed I had stopped drinking. I simply did not want to drink any more.
attacked by tanks. On the tanks or planes were American or British flags. It was easy to see how they came to view the western nations as oppressors. One of the deceptions used to recruit children into joining Young Pioneers Communist Youth is to make the early outings as a sort of campout, similar to Boy Scouts. The appeal is strong for young people to have such a holiday unaware of what they will be taught other than camping. I have various friends whose children, through indoctrination at school, became ardent communists and began to consider their own parents as enemies of the state. Many of them informed school officials of their Christian parents’ activities. This has resulted in torture and imprisonment for some. The division of families and causing children to turn against their own parents or husband against wives and vice versa, is some of the severest pain our brothers and sisters face on the other side of the Curtain. You might think that people who lived under the shadow of communism and oppression would be an unhappy group of people. They are not sour at all, although quieter and more serious. The Christians have a penetrating gaze, born of having to learn to size up people quickly. They have had to learn who their real friends are and trust God at times when they were unsure of the loyalty of friends and family. These experiences have molded and tempered them. There's not much flesh mixed with their Christianity and they have, for the most part, laid aside differences over minor doctrines and traditions. Their strongest asset is prayer. Once I knelt on a dirt floor alongside a woman whose home consisted in nothing more than two beds with straw mattresses, a simple stove, round table and two chairs with an oil lamp. Yet as this dear one prayed, it was like an angel choir. Her husband was not a Christian, in fact until he had become ill himself, he was her most outspoken critic as she served the Lord. Yet her prayer was all love, forgiveness and Jesus. Their empathy was beautiful. I remember sharing about the Satan worshipper who came to Christ and the whole church congregation broke into audible sobbing. I learned I had to be careful because they truly felt such compassion for their brothers and sisters in the West. When they told me they would pray for specific needs, I knew they would do it. I wondered if we in the West were as faithful to pray daily for the needs of our Eastern European brothers and sisters.