By Johnnie C. Godwin
Contributing Columnist, B&R
In September 2001, I was in Moscow at the Cosmos Hotel when my phone rang at 11 p.m. Surprisingly, it was Andrei — a friend we had met in 1989. Andrei urgently wanted to meet with me before he and his family would emigrate from Russia within 48 hours. We agreed to meet in a fast-food kiosk near the hotel; and I learned of Andrei’s plans to leave Russia for other countries in the free world. They could take nothing but a small carry-on. They had a few rubles, but rubles weren’t convertible outside Russia. I offered dollars, but Andrei said customs agents would take them at the border.
Besides freedom, Andrei needed currency that would be convertible in the free world — a currency he couldn’t get behind the Iron Curtain. Andrei had made a life-changing decision that was radical but essential for him. So we had prayer, and I figured my amen was the last we would ever see of Andrei and his family. But 31 years later, we are still in touch. And Andrei has a spiritual currency! [Read more…]