One in a Thousand

Volume 3 1989

The West German missionary director of “Light in the East”, Erwin Damson, is widely regarded as an authority on the East European churches.

Mr Damson testifies:

“There is a great unsatisfied demand for Christian literature. Only one in a thousand Soviet citizens has a Bible.”

Commenting on the present “Glasnost”, Damson warns that Soviet leader, Michael Gorbachev, is “not a friend of the churches.” Gorbachev needs the support of the churches in order to implement his policies. Moral standards in the USSR are so low that he cannot do without Christians if he wants to raise the ethical and economic standards. Describing the communist leader as “cold blooded”, Damson explained:

“He has now as much power as Stalin, but he has achieved it more quickly.”

The unrestricted power of the secret service KGB remains as frightening as ever. In spite of this, however, Damson sees the situation of the churches in the USSR as much better than in other Eastern bloc countries, for instance, Rumania or East Germany.

As the Ukranian Christian declared:

“There are many good words coming from Moscow about religion, but the reality is very different.”