For almost 250 years, Americans have enjoyed freedom: freedom of speech, worship, work, and the pursuit of happiness. These freedoms are guaranteed to America’s citizens in the US Constitution; and the three branches of government—executive, legislative and judicial—work together to certify that daily life in America can be pursued by its citizens without fear of oppression by those who rule over us.
Many, maybe most, of the world’s population, both past and present, have never enjoyed such privileges. Because of the inherent sin nature of mankind, warped and oppressive systems of government, foisted upon the masses and enforced by might, have too often ruled the day.
America has been an oasis of freedom. This is not to say that there are not those—some in high places—who have bought into the falsehoods known commonly as “socialism,” “communism,” and “totalitarianism,” who are working feverishly to replace free enterprise, capitalism, and a constitutional republic with their own devilish and despotic versions of “the good life.”
As part of my ministry while serving as “senior pastor,” I made several trips to various countries, either to visit missionaries that our church supported or to conduct limited evangelistic campaigns.
First, in 1989, it was my privilege to visit, with Natasha Vins conducting our itinerary, the Soviet Union—specifically Russia, beginning in Moscow, then to parts of what is now Ukraine, including Kiev, Kharkov, and finally St. Petersburg, formerly Leningrad. Natasha’s father, Georgi Vins, and many of her friends had spent years in Soviet concentration camps, simply for their faith in Jesus Christ and for their unwillingness to cease preaching the gospel.
The purpose of our trip was to visit churches whose members, and often pastors, had suffered severe persecution under the rule of communists. Dr. Ed Nelson, now with the Lord, was the other pastor on this trip, and he met often with these pastors, encouraging them in the faith. After that two- or three-week trip, Dr. Nelson initiated a project of getting Strong’s Concordance of the Bible translated into Russian, so that it could be distributed to as many pastors as possible in the now former Soviet Union. Shortly after that trip, the “iron curtain” came down, and visits to Russia and Ukraine by westerners became more common. I remember well, though, when we were visiting in 1989, the Russian believers often shared their belief with us that the “freedoms” they were then experiencing on a limited basis would not last indefinitely. And, today, those “freedoms” in Russia are non-existent.
So, since it is not uncommon to hear from some that what we need in our nation today is “more government controls and regulations,” I simply want to share a few things that I observed when visiting three of the countries that have been for decades under what is generally characterized as “communism.”
First, Russia. Early on in our visit, in Moscow, some Americans who had been living there, doing studies, invited us to visit a “supermarket” with them. It was an astonishing sight, more like visiting a food pantry here. There were not many shelves. Different items were in stacks on the floor. The warehouse-like facility was not very big; yet our hosts said this was the best, if not the largest, “supermarket” in Moscow.
After a couple of days there, it was not a stretch to observe that living in Moscow then, in the late 80s, would be like turning the page back to what it was like in America five decades earlier. It would not be a happy exchange. To say nothing of the freedom issues, life in Russia, under decades of communism, was not even comparable to life in a country that enjoyed freedom. One of our Russian hosts, who himself had been imprisoned in St. Petersburg for his faith, shared with us a “joke” that the Russian people passed around amongst themselves: “We pretend to work, and they (the government) pretend to pay us.” I asked a young adult in Kiev if he would like to come to America sometime. His answer: “Everyone in Russia would like to come to America.” So much for the benefits of living under communism.
The second country I want to speak briefly about is Cuba. In the late 1990s, my friend, Pastor Collins Glenn, now with the Lord, and I teamed up with an evangelistic team led by Evangelist Mike Crain, to visit the island that had been controlled by the Castro communists for almost 50 years. We were blessed to visit some groups of believers who, though not operating with uninhibited freedoms, were tolerated by the Castro regime. These precious folk were rejoicing in their walk with Christ. They exuded in their singing the joy of the Lord. They spoke, when asked, of the limitations there; such as the rationing of food—maybe an egg a month if available—per family. No one drove any car that was manufactured later that the mid-fifties. A rural family had Pastor Glenn and me for a Sunday dinner. The house was pretty much a shack. The wife served us what appeared to be the scrawniest broiled chicken we had ever seen. It was hard to keep the tears back as, not wanting to be ungrateful, we ate a piece of that chicken, which was no doubt the best meal that family would look forward to for months to come. So, people who shout the praises of communism, where everyone is fed by the government, should visit Cuba and just take a look around. We did very much enjoy our time with the churches that we visited there, and I could never forget the worship services where people lifted their hearts up in unabashed praises to their great God and Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Third, China. Ellen and I visited Beijing in 2016 with missionary Ron White. We could feel the oppression. Every time we left our motel room, there was a man standing in the hallway who, after a while, we assumed was keeping tabs on us. We lost any internet connection soon after checking into our room. But, we visited on Sunday a missionary who led a congregation of 100 believers, meeting in the second story of a high-rise apartment, occupying all the space of that second story. They met for worship in one bigger room, then had a meal together in another adjacent room. The members witnessed by passing out tracts on the street. They sang great hymns of the faith with exuberance, and told us that at one time they could not sing these songs out loud for fear of government oversight, so they “lipped” the words. It was a vibrant church; the missionary family provided a Christian school for the youngsters, much like a home-school here. Well, we were not surprised when we read, not too long after our visit there, that this missionary had been expelled from China.
So, I must conclude. Nothing in this post should be considered political. I write, though, as one who has observed the lives of believers in three different countries in widely differing parts of our world, which have lived and are living where the freedoms we enjoy, especially freedom to worship, are denied or severely restricted. Please do not be confused by anyone who says that what our country needs is more government regulation.
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Provs. 29:2)
YOU and GOD 