Neerskov RISKED Prison to Assist God’s Family
[Above: Cover of one printing of the book that recounted Neerskov's thrilling story.]
IN THE 1950s, Hans Kristian Neerskov was a stiff, self-righteous Danish Lutheran. He understood the plan of salvation in theory, but not in experience. One day an obviously drunken man boarded a bus Neerskov was riding. The drunk lamented what a sinner he was.
Now here was a man who needed Christ! Neerskov assured the man he was blessed: Christ had come to die for sinners. The man believed and became sober on the spot. Witnessing the transformation, Neerskov also believed and was transformed. Afterward he studied and became a pastor. He developed a deep concern to provide copies of the Scriptures to Christians behind the Iron Curtain.
At first, he and his associates mailed Bibles, but when Communist censors caught on, they returned the books and arrested the intended recipients. Early in the 1960s, Neerskov and others began to visit Communist countries in person, taking Bibles with them. Although the eyes of customs inspectors and border guards often seemed shut so that they did not see the precious books even when they lay in the open, many other times Neerskov was arrested.
Yet he experienced events that can only be described as miracles. Rene Hartzner and Neerskov visited Bulgaria. They had not told anyone, not even their wives, where they were going or who they hoped to meet. They had no way to contact pastors in Sofia in advance, but had two addresses. Unable to decipher Slavic street signs, they did not know where to go. A nineteen-year-old girl approached and asked if they needed help. They told her the street they were looking for. She insisted they give her a house number. Reluctantly they gave the address of a government-registered church. “Praise God!” she said. While she had been praying, the Lord had told her to meet and guide them. Her name was Sonya.
After church service, she took them to the home of another pastor. That pastor not only knew they were coming but knew Neerskov’s name. How? Because his nine-year-old daughter had received a vivid dream in which she had seen the two Danes sitting in the balcony of the registered church, one with a handkerchief in his pocket, a feature she had not been able to stop talking about, never having seen anyone dressed that way before. Recognizing a message from God, the pastor and his wife had prayed and received confirmation right down to Neerskov’s name. These and other events are recounted in Secret Invasion by Hans Kristian and Dave Hunt. (He did not give his full name in the book or on its cover because of security concerns.)
One of many other moments of divine intervention mentioned in the book occurred when Neerskov miraculously survived a serious stroke that left him paralyzed on one side of his body. Praying while in that paralyzed state, he had a strong sense Sonya was in trouble and that he, an incapacitated man, was to go get her. Later that day he received a phone call saying Sonya was in trouble and asking him to bring her out of Bulgaria. As foolish as it seemed, Neerskov obeyed the call. God not only delivered Sonya, although she had no passport, but also miraculously healed Neerskov at a crucial moment. God still intervenes for those who love and serve him.
Despite arrests, Neerskov could not be deterred from his mission of taking Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. He also sought to deliver Bibles to Christians in Muslim lands, prompting Iran to put a price on his head. Neerskov, however, lived to be 84, dying on this day, 31 March 2017.
—Dan Graves
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Almost as soon as Bibles began to be printed, their producers had to smuggle copies past hostile governments. William Tyndale, one of the early translators of the English language Bible, had to find ways to smuggle God's word into his native land. Watch William Tyndale: Man with a Mission at RedeemTV.
William Tyndale: Man with a Mission can be purchased at Vision Video.
Other Events on this Day
- Apphianus was tortured for trying to end an emperor's idol worship
- REMARKABLE VAN DER KEMP DENOUNCED SLAVERY AND PROMOTED CHRIST