Thirty years ago this month the Berlin Wall came down. Within days, communism had fallen in Eastern Europe. This week we’ll hear how these events affected Christians living behind what had been the Iron Curtain, from two eyewitnesses.

Petr Jasek grew up behind the wall as the son of a pastor in Czechoslovakia, and saw the dramatic changes first-hand as fellow Christians celebrated opportunities they’d never imagined under communism. He will talk about those exciting days in his country, and how the legacy of persecution still affects the Czech church today.

Merv Knight is the co-founder of VOM-Australia and a long-time associate of Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM’s founders. He’ll share how VOM responded to the wall’s fall, immediately swinging into action to take aid and Bibles to brothers and sisters in newly-freed nations. At the time, many thought that the window of freedom might not remain open for long. Christians that VOM workers found were desperate for God’s Word and thrilled to have access to Bibles and other evangelism tools.

You can hear Petr share about his imprisonment in Sudan here. You can hear Merv share about his experiences with the Wurmbrands and the early days of VOM’s ministry here and here.