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From: scc@mgweed.UUCP (Steve Collins)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: A M.P. Courier's Dramatic Story of Soviet Arrest
Message-ID: <9050@mgweed.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-May-84 08:33:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: mgweed.9050
Posted: Thu May 10 08:33:16 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 12-May-84 07:32:39 EDT
Organization: AT&T Consumer Products - Montgomery Illinois
Lines: 60


     I will be entering an article titled "A M.P. Courier's Dramatic
Story of Soviet Arrest!". This article was given to me by the
author with permission to re-print. The Article
is extremely long, so it will be submitted in 4 parts. I hope
it show you the attitude of Russia on the subject of
religion. Often you hear the statement of Russia having
an open mind and freely condoning religion. This article 
addresses the real feelings of the Russian government.

				Steve Collins

	AN ORCHESTRA WITHOUT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

     You have been so faithful in praying for and supporting this
work although some of you may not have been always kept up to date
with the latest happenings "on the other side." It's your intercession
and help that makes our work possible, and we, along with our friends
over there who cannot say it personally, say to you, "Thank you,
faithful Brother and Sister! The lord is lifted up, and people are
being drawn to Him! The job is getting done!"
     We make a lot of trips into the East, and the majority of them
are what we see as great successes. But, we are still in the
middle of a spiritual battlefield whose scope is beyond what we
could possibly imagine! One of our recent trips ended in what
some may call a "defeat," but was it really a defeat?
     We always pray over our literature befor we go that every piece
will come into the right hands; to exactly the right person to whom
God has chosen to receive it. This was the case before my last
trip to the Soviet Union. Although our vehicle was ingeniously
"built," we still must rely on God's grace and not just in our
intellect.
     Almost immediately after we arrived at the soviet border,
the highly trained coustoms soldiers proceeded to try and
dismantle the inside of our vehicle. My impression is that
they were possibly looking for something else, such as drugs, and
accidentally stumbled across the means of finding the literature
we had with us.

           ONE THOUSAND NEW TESTAMENTS DISCOVERED

     
     As one of them triumphantly produced a Russian New Testament, we
were immediately ordered to drive into the special garage where I
was separated from my two traveling companions. I was glad that I was
the only one who knew any addresses. The others would not be able to
tell what they didn't know. I think the guards were aware of this from
the start.
     I was given paper and pen and told to write "the whole story."
I gave them no other information that my testimony and my motivation
for doing what I did -- which was simply my love and concern for
my Christian brothers and sisters in the USSR.
     At first, as the KGB arrived, they were furious that I hadn't
"spilled the beans" yet. I repeated my testimony to all of them.
Occasionally, they would walk out in a huff, and someone else would
come in. It was not unlike the situation where, because of Paul,
the whole Roman guard where he was being held heard the Gospel!