Romania

Bible smuggling and translation

Michael smuggled around 800 Bible parts into the Eastern Bloc

On the smuggling trips, he experienced God intervening in a very concrete way.

By Søren Strømme Ehlers

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Top image: Michael Warning and the coordinator on a smuggling trip in the 1970s

Michael Warning was on seven trips for the Danish European Mission from 1975-1980, during which he brought an estimated 600 Bibles, 150 New Testaments and 60 Gospels of John to the Eastern Bloc. I meet him in Odense for an exciting talk about border barriers, persecution, prayer and God's concrete intervention.

How did you become a Bible smuggler for the Danish European Mission?

- I knew H.K. Neerskov. We went to the same church. I had learned to type in the ten-finger system on a typewriter, so he asked if I would like to work for him. That was in the fall of 1973. I typed, packed books and tracts and did other tasks. I also traveled around the country with Neerskov, where he gave lectures in churches and mission houses. I worked for him until the summer of 1974.

Later, the coordinator of the Danish European Mission's work in Eastern Europe asked me if I wanted to go on a trip where we would smuggle Bibles. I hadn't tried that before, but I said yes. We drove down through Europe to Munich, where there was a kind of base that organized the smuggling trips. There we got Bibles, which we took into Romania. We drove around the country and delivered them. It was a huge trip of about 3000 km. It took a huge amount of time to cross the border because every car was thoroughly searched. Our car was full of Bibles, but they were in some secret compartments that the customs officers didn't find.

What were the conditions like in the countries you smuggled Bibles to?

- On a trip to northern Romania, one evening we came down from the mountains to a small town to deliver some Bibles. The priest who was to receive the Bibles was very poor. His wife was so moved that she kissed us on the cheek and cried. It was very overwhelming. Our meeting was short because it was dangerous for them to meet us. If we were discovered, we could probably get out with the help of the embassy - but for them it would mean imprisonment for many years.

The Bible describes that faith, like gold, is refined in fire, and I found that the Christians behind the Iron Curtain had a fervent and devoted faith. Because of the persecution and resistance, their relationship with God was simply more fervent. Faith was their anchor in the midst of persecution.

Have you experienced God's tangible intervention on the trips?

- My friend and I were sent off to Moscow by plane. We were not given a contact person, but were told to ask God to show us who should receive the Bible parts we had brought. We were given the address of a registered evangelical church, but that was not where the Bible portions were to be delivered. Some pastors in the registered churches acted as spies for the regime.

Michael Warning's own faith was strengthened by meeting the persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain.

We went on a cultural trip where we had to look like ordinary tourists. We smuggled the bibles through customs in secret pockets in our clothes and some stuffed into our long boots. The customs officer patted us on the outside of our jacket, but even though it was full of books, he didn't notice them. On Sunday we went to a service in the registered church. It was packed. We sat in the balcony so we could look down on the people in the hall. Every time the pastor read from the Bible, people started writing down the scripture because they didn't own a Bible themselves.

Throughout the service, we prayed to God to show us what to do. At the end of the service, a man walked very purposefully against the flow and towards me. I prayed, "God, is he a friend? Can I trust him?" As he came closer and I could look into his eyes, I experienced God's peace very clearly. I felt God saying: "That's him. He is the contact you have been praying for." The man could speak a little bit of German, so my friend started talking to him and they walked out of the church together. I followed them from a distance until we were sure no one was following.

"When he saw the many parts of the Bible, he fell to his knees and gave thanks and praised God."

It turned out that the man had traveled all the way from Siberia. His son was a soldier in the army and he had traveled to Moscow with a large bag full of new clothes for his son. That afternoon he was to take the train back to Siberia. He showed up at the church with the empty bag. We passed some abandoned factory buildings and all three of us went inside. There we told him: "We believe that God has brought us together. We have something for you." Then we started taking off our coats and vests, and when he saw the many parts of the Bible, he got down on his knees and thanked and praised God. We put all the Bible parts in his bag and the zipper could just barely be closed. He told us that in Siberia there was a desperate shortage of God's Word and that only the pastor had a Bible. We had about fifty New Testaments and as many copies of the Gospel of John, which he brought home. For safety reasons we had to part again quickly, but we embraced in tears and, pointing to the sky, we said goodbye with the words: "See you sometime!"

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