Christian trudged to the church he pastored as rain drummed on his umbrella. His pant cuffs grew increasingly damp from his splashing boots.
Is this really worth the effort, he wondered. Only a handful of people attended the Monday night prayer meetings, which he’d established several years prior at Church of St. Nicholas.
And yet the faithful few who came demonstrated such hope, Christian always felt uplifted by the end of each gathering.
Encouragement of any kind was in short supply. Times were difficult; everyone was suffering except the government elite and their cronies.
In the third year of the weekly prayer sessions, Christian felt compelled to invite fifty people to his church to discuss the oppressive circumstances of their country. More than six hundred came, and subsequently, attendance at the Monday prayer meetings also grew.
Such a large crowd didn’t slip by the attention of authorities. They discouraged religious gatherings, but assumed that prayer meetings were harmless.
Attendees began bringing family and friends. Over the next few years the church started to fill to overflowing. Eventually eight thousand people gathered every Monday night, praying for peace in their land and throughout the world.
Other churches around the country organized their own prayer meetings. Some attendees would walk the streets afterward, carrying candles and praying or singing as they went.
The authorities finally ran out of patience with the demonstrations. They barricaded the streets around the Church of St. Nicholas to discourage attendees. Instead, the congregation grew.
The next step included peaceful protests. Thousands of people participated. And even though hundreds of demonstrators were beaten and arrested, they weren’t deterred.
Numerous threats were made; some lost their jobs. One woman reported that government officials took custody of her children for a while, due to her participation in what they called an extremist group.
Worse yet, the protesters were threatened with death. And though many admitted to fearing for their lives, they did not back down.
“Our fear was not as big as our faith,” Christian explained later [1].
One night, after an hour-long service at St. Nicholas Church, Christian led the people outside to join a crowd of approximately 70,000, all gathering from various churches. Each one carried a candle and marched through the city chanting “we are the people” and “no violence” [2].
All along the way, long rows of armed police watched their every move. More soldiers manned tanks, waiting for the order to disperse the crowd with murderous force.
But the order never came. Afterward it was revealed that government officials persuaded their leader to leave the protesters alone.
One of the demonstrators gave a soldier a lighted candle. He put down his weapon and accepted it. Others followed suit. “Soon all the soldiers had lowered their weapons and joined with the protestors” [3].
In the following weeks, the prayerful, candle-carrying crowd grew to 120,000, then 300,000, and finally 700,000.
A crowd such as this must have gathered.
The country’s leader resigned, knowing that without the army to back him, he had become powerless. Soon the whole regime resigned, unable to fight against the power of prayer and Light.
One month after the tide-changing protest, a government spokesperson mistakenly announced in a public broadcast that a monumental change was about to take place. Citizens would be allowed to travel freely, effective immediately [4].
News spread rapidly, reported across the world. Thousands of people soon gathered at the symbol of their thirty-year oppression, a barrier that had divided them into east and west: the Berlin Wall.
Harald Jager, commanding officer of the border guards that night, called his superiors to find out how to deal with the gathering crowd. He received no orders.
“People could have been injured or killed . . . if there had been panic among the thousands gathered at the border crossing,” he declared afterward. “That’s why I gave the order: Open the barrier” [5].
And so, on November 9,1989, thousands flowed through, celebrating and crying. Others climbed over the barrier, chipping away at the wall with hammers and pickaxes. Bulldozers and cranes soon made quick work of dismantling the entire structure [6].
Thirty-four years ago today, that menacing wall became rubble, and a tyrannical regime miraculously toppled with it.
And it all began with Pastor Christian Furher and a handful of praying saints.
Christian Furher (1943-2014)
[1] https://contemporarychurchhistory.org/2014/09/reflection-on-pastor-christian-fuhrer-of-the-nikolai-church-in-leipzig/
[2] https://embracingbrokenness.org/2020/10/prayer-and-the-berlin-wall-by-charles-buttigieg/
[3] http://storage.cloversites.com/worldhistoryinstitute/documents/WHI_03Mar014_Journal_4.pdf
[4] https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/this-day-history-nov-9-1989-berlin-wall-falls-cold-war-victory-us-allies
[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50013048
[6] https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
Additional Source: http://www.godgossip.org/article/did-a-prayer-meeting-really-bring-down-the-berlin-wall
Photo credits: http://www.commons.wikimedia.org; http://www.pxhere.com; http://www.rawpixel.net; http://www.picryl.com; http://www.commons.wikimedia.org; http://www.pexels.com; http://www.nara.getarchive.net; http://www.picryl.com; http://www.commons.wikimedia.org.
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I love “The rest of the story” It’s the real important part
Ah yes–Paul Harvey! This is a story he likely told in one of his broadcasts. And I couldn’t agree with you more, Gary. This WAS the important part of East Germany’s liberation–PRAYER. (An important reminder for us in our times!)
Such amazing faith… wow 😯 May I be just a little faithful
Amen, Brenda. All we need is faith the size of a mustard seed!
What an amazing and astonishing testimony and I have never heard this before!
Isn’t it amazing? I came across a brief telling of the story a number of years ago in Philip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing about Grace. I thought the anniversary of the wall coming down would be a good time to learn more. I’m so glad I did! It’s such an inspiring story of the power of prayer.
This amazing and inspiring story gives me such hope for how we can defeat the hate of Hamas in these times, Nancy. We must pray, show solidarity as Christians, support our Jewish brothers and sisters, and shine God’s eternal light to dispel the darkness of evil. Let us never give up hope and trust that God will put all to rights in His time. But let us serve Him and His kingdom to bring about that peace only He can give.
Blessings!
AMEN, Martha–well said. I agree with you 100%. This story gives us hope for what prayer can accomplish in our time. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)!
I have never heard the background to this amazing event of the Berlin Wall coming down. We lived in Germany in 1989 as my husband was a military pilot. I was in a hospital in Hanau for some testing, pregnant with our youngest son, when the wall fell. It was really a surreal and wonderful time to be there. Our son was born on Dec. 17 in Hanau. Now to hear the rest of this story is so encouraging. What difference we can make today in this world if we follow the example of Pastor Furher! I love the verse you shared from Psalm 44:3. Thank you for this great blog, Nancy!
How exciting to have been in Germany when this amazing event occurred! And I believe as you do, Patty: we can make a difference today if we follow Pastor Furher’s example. We must pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1)!
Nancy, thank you for sharing this inspiring story that I had never read. Prayer changes things!
Amen, Pam! As I said to Patty above: We must pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1)!
What an amazing story. Wow!
Isn’t it amazing?! It proves once again that NO situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem, is beyond God’s power to redeem. Hallelujah! May we persevere in prayer as that handful of people at Church of St. Nicholas who began seeking God for peace in their land in 1982.
Thank you for sharing the details of this amazing story of faith. This post brought tears to my eyes!
It IS a heart-touching story, Linda. Praise God for this miracle (that some of us were privileged to see on television) that proved his sovereign power. All things ARE possible with him!!
Great story behind the story. Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Jean!
I love remembering that era in recent history! (Recent = within my lifetime and memory🤣)
There is NO inconsequential act of obedience. We got to see the outcome in this case but even when we don’t see it, obedience makes a difference.
The fall of the Berlin Wall seems like recent history to me also, yet it was more than half-my-lifetime ago! You’re so right, Michele. We don’t always get to see the outcomes of our actions, our prayers. But obedience is ALWAYS the right choice. God has even promised: there is great reward in keeping the decrees of the Lord (Psalm 19:9-11)!
This is a powerful backstory of the Berlin Wall’s demise. Thank you for sharing it. I was not aware of the details that led up to its destruction. I would love for this historical nugget to be taught in public schools-in any school!
I’m surprised this story didn’t fly around the world, from church to church and from Christian to Christian, after these amazing events. But it wasn’t until years later, while reading Philip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing about Grace (p. 123), that I first became acquainted with the miraculous collapse of the Berlin Wall. You’re right, Nancy: such events as this SHOULD be taught in our schools!
This is great Nancy! I had heard snippets of this story but never the entire account. Thank you for providing it in full. I had to smile at the assumption by the authorities that prayer meetings were harmless. There is so much to be learned from these faithful prayer warriors.
Agreed, Beth: Accounts like these should fuel our prayers for our times. God can do the impossible again!
Love these stories of faith you share!! Thank you for writing, Nancy!!❤️
You’re welcome, Alicia. I love learning about such events as these also. This particular story greatly encourages me to pray with greater passion and hope for our world today!
What a great and true example of how God works when one’s faith is bigger than one’s fear! How inspiring to read this. I never knew the whole story. You know how much I appreciate these historical posts. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Cheri. While completing the research, I greatly enjoyed learning the details of this story also. And yes, may we also become prayer warriors whose faith is bigger than our fears!
I cried as I read this. What a wonderful reminder of the power of prayer and of God’s people joining together to seek His face in faith. Why do we not speak enough about prayer? Seeking the power and presence of the Lord is what we need to do. This was a powerful reminder of what is truly important. Thank you.
You’re very welcome, Dayle. Prayer does indeed change things. This story proves just how big that change can be, if we’re faithful, hopeful, and passionate in our prayers. We mustn’t lose heart!
mmm … candles, prayer, and song go together. a trio of blessings, each one adding to the joy of the other.
In this case, the trio of blessings preceded events no one could have predicted!
I was in my late twenties when the Wall came down, and somehow didn’t fully appreciate the significance of the event at the time. It wasn’t until I visited Germany many years later that I began to understand the depth of the moment. Thanks for this important “prequel’, Nancy. It seems the power of faith doesn’t always get its due.
No doubt you have a greater understanding than most of us, Dave, having visited Berlin yourself. / Lots of truth in that last statement of yours. It’s disheartening that the power of faith is often ignored, that God is not given credit for the mighty acts he performs.