Hi Folks
you might be interested in having a peek at what went on behind the scenes prior to & during the 'FALL' of the Berlin 'WALL'
It is certainly an interesting perspective that can give us a valuable lesson about the power of prayer, courage, peaceful protests & great
HOPE for the FUTURE
~ * certainly noteworthy is also the name co-incidence ~ Christian Fuehrer ~ *
*****
Peace Prayers Helped Bring Down the Wall, Says Leipzig Pastor
The peaceful protests that brought down the Berlin Wall began with regular evenings of prayers in the Nikolai Church in Leipzig.
Christian Fuehrer, who was pastor at the time, shared some memories with DW-WORLD.
DW-WORLD: On Oct. 9, 1989, exactly one month before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the largest impromptu demonstration ever witnessed in the GDR took place in Leipzig.
Some 70,000 people protested against the ruling SED, and the party was powerless to stop them. What was the trigger?
Christian Fuehrer: That's a very difficult question to answer. The Nikolai Church had been holding peace prayers every Monday evening since 1982, attracting lots of people who were politically dissatisfied and unable to voice their concerns.
Word of the peace prayers had got out.
On May 8, 1989, the authorities barricaded the streets leading to the church, hoping to put people off, but it had the opposite effect, and our congregation grew.
On Sept. 4, the day of the annual Leipzig Autumn Fair, western camera teams had been granted permission to film all over the city and lots of them had gathered outside the church.
When we came out, some of us unrolled our protest banners and managed to hold them up briefly before the Stasi (the East German secret police) tore them out of our hands -- and the cameras never stopped rolling.
You will find the rest of this inspiring story here:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3805080,00.html
Serving Freedom
and Liberty
