We decided to spread the gospel in Communist countries. By what means? Only one is biblical. Paul writes that it was his purpose to save souls “by all means” (1 Cor 9:22). He who is choosy about the means of propagating the gospel is not biblical.

While we respected Communist laws, we interpreted them in our own manner or broke them. To give just a few examples, we threw thousands of plastic bags into the Bering Straits separating Alaska from the USSR, into the Black Sea near the shores of the Ukraine, and into the sea between the Greek islands and Albania. Each tightly sealed bag contained the Gospel in the local language or a brochure showing the way of salvation, and a piece of chewing gum to induce even the worst Communist policeman to open the bag. We also enclosed pieces of straw to make the bag float on the water. Waves brought the bags to shore. We had studied the currents in the sea to be sure they would arrive as we planned. The method worked.

When Albania opened up for religion recently, we met a man who had found such a Gospel, was converted through reading it, and from then on watched the shore to find others, which he distributed. Discovered, he spent nine years in jail for this “crime.”

We asked him, “Are you angry at us? If it weren’t for our activity, you wouldn’t have been in prison.”

He replied, “It was worth it.”

After nine years in jail for Christ, he was able for the first time to attend church, and he received a Bible.

We also flew the message of Christ in balloons from West to East Germany, from South to North Korea. People are saved by all means-even by poor means. The Albanian did not require a whole Bible, much less volumes of theology. He was saved by only one Gospel message, which sustained him for nine years as a prisoner of Christ.

As we grew, we smuggled in Bibles and Christian literature by land, by sea, by tourists, by diplomats, by any means we could devise. We also smuggled in printing presses piece by piece, which were then assembled and sometimes put to work literally underground. The work entailed tremendous risks, but the rewards outweighed them by far. We created bookstores, print shops, mission centers in Romania, Hungary, Russia, Ethiopia, China. We were relentless in our endeavors.

Wurmbrand, Richard. In the Face of Surrender. North Brunswick, NJ, Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998, p. 285-286. Www.persecution.com