Sammy's Writings
Bibles to Russia (Page 1)
To Russia with Love
When Harrell Canning casually asked if I had a passport I had no idea that his question was the beginning of a journey to what Ronald Reagan had referred to as, "The Evil Empire". But God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. Harrell had been invited to distribute Bibles in Russia, but didn’t have a passport, and my passport had expired.
We made a trip to the passport office to get one for him, and to renew mine. As it turned out, he didn’t get to go -- but I did. It was an opportunity of a lifetime! Taking the Word of God to people who for so long had been deprived of it.
As I told people I was going, though I didn’t have the funds to do so, people from California to New England began sending some money to help me. Soon I was eagerly boarding a plane in Charlotte to meet the other team members in New York.
The flight took us to Moscow, initially, via Helsinki, Finland. We picked up Bibles at the airport in Helsinki, and were soon in the city known for its history, atheism, and caviar.
The airport was a pathetic monument to communism. A dark example of the fruits of oppression. There were soldiers everywhere, along with sad-faced Soviets, and a bathroom that wasn’t fit for human use. I made the best of our first steps in Russia, however, by giving candy bars to the soldiers, and the poor lady who slowly pushed a mop across the floor.
We stayed at the Cosmos Hotel in Moscow, and it wasn’t too bad. We were given hotel passes in exchange for our passports, while we were there. We quickly learned that Russians were eager to trade items of theirs for things we had from America. Button down collared shirts were of special interest, as was perfume.
