Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

er mission work in Western Europe for which they were receiving financial support. Brother Andrew eventually became too well known at border crossings, but he aampee organized a small mission entitled Open Doors. Soon this mission an others like it had grown into professionalized organizations. The largest mission to Eastern Europe, Underground Evangelism, has provided the generic name for all such undertakings. Underground Evan- gelism began in 1960 after a young Pentecostal missionary, L. Joe Bass, made a trip to Yugoslavia and became concerned about the needs of ee European Christians. Bass organized a small mission which he and his wife struggled to keep alive until they had a godsend. In 1965 two missions in Sweden obtained the deportation of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and his family for a good-sized ransom.”° Richard Wurmbrand had been in prison as a preacher in Romania. He reported his experiences to the American Senate, took off his shirt to show the scars from torture, and made headlines. Joe Bass persuaded Wurmbrand to join his mission, a shrewd fi- nancial move. Within a year the organization became too small for both men and Wurmbrand set up his own work a few blocks away in Glendale, California. Richard Wurmbrand’s mission, named Jesus Christ to the Com- munist World, quickly became Underground Evangelism’s major competi- tor. Both published gruesome pictures of torture, of secret church meetings in the forest or elsewhere underground, plus glaring headlines. Wurm- brand’s paper was called The Voice of the Martyrs. . Also in 1967, Brother Andrew’s story was printed under the headline- catching title God's Smuggler. The book has circulated widely and contributed to the dramatic upsurge in interest in East European missions. Richard Wurmbrand became a prolific writer; his best-known book, Tor- tured for Christ, appeared in many languages. Other stars were aoe by Underground Evangelism. Best known were Haralan Popov (Torture for His Faith) and Sergei Kourdakov (Forgive Me, Natasha). Patterns of Ministry and Organization * Soon a developing pattern of ministry emerged. The primary activity described in the publicity (even if it seldom became the largest budget Assessment of East European Mission Societies 397 item) was Bible smuggling. Missions competed in claiming high rates of achievement, but often the high figures included all pieces of literature printed which included small tracts. Bible smuggling began by simply tak- ing a carton or two of Christian literature in an automobile and hoping that the border authorities would not check the luggage. That is still standard procedure in many East European countries, but in the Soviet Union cus- toms officials are more thorough. Mission societies have therefore been forced to become more creative in their methods, Diversion prints a picture of the dismantled door panel from an automobile, behind which literature had been hidden. Many o