Participants:
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC202126S
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00:01 Written Canada...
00:02 >> Can you take us back to the 00:06 miraculous story of your 00:09 escape as a family? 00:11 >> We need to lay plans to 00:14 escape, but it was easier said 00:16 than done. 00:17 Had we been caught there, I 00:19 would not be sitting here and 00:21 telling my story. 00:22 When we get to heaven we want 00:24 to ask which one of the angels 00:26 were sent. 00:27 It'll be interesting. 00:29 >> They wanted to take you 00:31 back, but you were stuck. 00:33 >> We had no country. 00:37 ♪♪ 01:19 >> Welcome to It Is Written 01:21 Canada. 01:22 Thank you for joining us. 01:24 Our special guest this week 01:26 again is Jacob Hiebert, a 01:28 successful businessman, 01:30 pastor, and administrator, 01:32 who lived during World War II 01:35 under the rule of communism, 01:37 when being a Christian 01:39 was illegal. 01:40 >> Though it was illegal to 01:42 practice Christianity, that 01:44 did not stop Jacob and 01:45 his family. 01:47 We are so excited for Jacob to 01:49 continue sharing his 01:50 miraculous story with us. 01:54 >> Jacob, welcome back to 01:56 It Is Written Canada. 01:58 >> I'm pleased to be with you 01:59 again today. 02:01 The next step was packing 02:03 everything up and going to 02:05 university. 02:06 Now, I had been out of school 02:08 for a number of years and I 02:11 was not used to the university 02:14 schedule. 02:16 There was reading, my first 02:18 class I had to read 40 pages, 02:20 fine print every day and then 02:23 came that first exam and I 02:25 said, "Lord, you've gotta 02:27 help me." 02:28 I remember opening the text 02:30 book and reading the 40 pages 02:33 and I closed the book and I 02:34 didn't remember a thing 02:36 I had read. 02:37 So I read the 40 pages again 02:40 and closed the book. 02:42 I couldn't tell you what 02:43 I read. 02:45 I said, "Lord, if this 02:46 continues, there's no way I 02:47 will make that exam." 02:50 So I studied very hard 'til 02:52 deep in the night and the next 02:54 morning I got up at 4:00 and I 02:57 studied and studied 02:58 and studied. 02:59 This was a history class. 03:01 I mixed up some of the dates 03:03 with events and I said, 03:05 "This is hopeless." 03:07 But I prayed and I said, 03:09 "Lord, I have done my best, 03:11 I couldn't do anything more. 03:14 You've gotta help me." 03:16 So as I went into the class, 03:19 just before we knelt down and 03:21 prayed, we said, "Lord, it's 03:23 all up to You." 03:25 So I went to the class, I 03:27 looked at the paper and I 03:29 remember the teacher saying, 03:31 "We're going to have a word of 03:33 prayer before you start. 03:35 For those of you who have 03:37 studied, we will ask the Lord 03:39 to help you remember what you 03:41 studied, for those of you who 03:43 didn't, there's no hope." 03:45 Well, I knew I had studied and 03:48 so the exam papers were 03:51 passed out. 03:53 As I looked at the first 03:54 question, the answer came just 03:55 like a flash, the second 03:57 question likewise, and the 03:59 third and so forth and I was 04:00 just amazed. 04:02 And needless to say, at the 04:04 end when I got my results 04:06 back, I was at the top end of 04:08 a class of a hundred students. 04:12 God had certainly performed a 04:14 miracle and the start has been 04:16 made and now I was ready 04:18 to go on. 04:20 >> Jacob, I just loved your 04:22 book, we have a copy of it 04:23 right here with us, Freedom's 04:25 Journey, and when I started 04:28 reading it, I had a real hard 04:30 time putting it down. 04:31 So can you tell us what 04:33 prompted you to write 04:35 this book? 04:37 >> As a minister, I would 04:39 share several parts of this 04:41 experience in my sermons and 04:44 quite often people would say, 04:47 "You've gotta write this 04:48 in a book." 04:49 One of the motivating factors 04:51 was my children and my family. 04:54 There were many who were 04:56 discouraged quite often and 04:57 they felt, "Does God really 05:00 care? 05:01 Does He-- will He always 05:03 answer us? 05:04 How will it fair for us in the 05:05 end time and before Jesus 05:08 comes," and so forth. 05:10 And so I felt that I needed to 05:12 share this with our believers. 05:15 And so I started writing the 05:17 book, I wrote about three 05:19 chapters and then last year in 05:23 the winter time, I decided, 05:25 "This is it, I have to finish 05:26 the book." 05:28 So I finished it in 2020 and 05:34 this year in January it came 05:36 off the press and I was 05:38 delighted to do that and since 05:40 that time, I want you to know 05:43 that I do not feel that I am 05:44 the hero of the book. 05:46 As I was writing the book, the 05:49 writing flowed and I knew that 05:52 God was leading. 05:54 And so I take no credit for 05:57 this book and I feel that the 06:00 experiences we went through 06:02 were life-changing for me and 06:06 I hope that those who read the 06:08 book will experience the 06:11 same thing. 06:12 >> The book is entitled, 06:14 Freedom's Journey. 06:15 Why did you choose that title? 06:18 [JACOB] Freedom is relative. 06:20 I was born in a country where 06:22 there was no freedom. 06:24 In Canada we have quite a bit 06:27 of freedom. 06:28 There are many countries that 06:29 have limited freedom. 06:31 But I believe that all of us 06:34 are on a journey of freedom. 06:37 And there are two aspects of 06:40 this; we want freedom in this 06:42 world, but true freedom 06:44 actually is in God's kingdom. 06:47 In John 8:32 Jesus said He 06:52 wants us to know the truth and 06:55 the truth shall make you free. 06:58 >> Jacob, you came to Canada, 07:01 experienced freedom and it was 07:03 spiritual freedom, but it was 07:05 also political freedom that 07:06 you had experienced coming 07:08 here, but it was very 07:09 different from what the 07:11 Canadian kids experienced. 07:13 They went through a war, but 07:15 they didn't see war. 07:16 You saw war. 07:17 What was that like? 07:19 >> War was all around us and 07:21 every night when we went to 07:23 bed, we would not sure whether 07:25 we would be struck by bombs or 07:29 whatever happened. 07:31 And so one time a big bomb 07:35 fell just some feet from where 07:38 our house was. 07:39 All the windows were knocked 07:41 out and the crater was about 07:43 six feet deep. 07:46 Had this hit where we were, I 07:48 wouldn't be telling the 07:50 story here. 07:52 Later, when I came to Canada 07:55 and a plane would go overhead, 07:57 I would kind of shrug back and 08:00 my friends, they laughed at 08:02 me, they said, "What's the 08:03 matter with you? 08:04 Have you never seen a plane?" 08:06 The fact was I saw more planes 08:08 than they had and more 08:10 dangerous planes, but after a 08:13 few years my nerves healed and 08:15 I did not respond quite that 08:17 way anymore. 08:20 >> So, Jacob, can you tell us 08:22 a little bit more about your 08:25 early years living in a 08:27 communist country? 08:29 >> Yes, war was all around. 08:31 We were refugees and if you 08:33 understand the life of a 08:35 refugee, you never know, you 08:38 don't have money, you never 08:39 know where your next meal 08:41 comes from, if you had money, 08:43 most of the stores were not 08:44 open, at that time you 08:46 couldn't buy. 08:47 There were many times where we 08:49 had to resort to a very 08:51 humiliating experience of 08:53 begging for food. 08:55 And us children, we were the 08:58 best in doing that because the 09:02 people would not give to adults, 09:04 but they could not refuse 09:06 children, even the Russian 09:08 soldiers were kind many times, 09:10 much kinder to children than 09:12 they were to the adults. 09:13 And so we went through that. 09:15 I remember on this occasion 09:17 my aunt became desperately 09:19 sick and she was bed-ridden 09:22 for a couple weeks. 09:23 We were so thankful that we 09:25 did not have to move on on the 09:28 journey because many times we 09:30 would travel 30 kilometres 09:31 a day. 09:32 Our heals would be full of 09:35 blisters and we just-- I asked 09:38 my mother at this time, I 09:40 said, "Mother, when is God 09:42 ever going to give us a home 09:43 again of our own?" 09:46 My father-- my brother found a 09:48 little wagon and he fixed it 09:50 up and as we were going along, 09:53 every one of us had a little 09:54 bundle to carry and so I was 09:57 able to place that bundle on 09:58 the wagon and I had renewed 10:01 excitement and strength and 10:03 carried on, was way ahead of 10:05 the rest. 10:06 But every day was a new 10:11 experience and we were 10:13 fearful, yes, we trusted in 10:15 God, but fear was everywhere. 10:18 We could not trust anyone. 10:20 We had to be careful of what 10:22 we said because people at that 10:24 time quite often reported one 10:26 another for benefits with the 10:29 Russians and we did not wanna 10:32 go there, but God was so 10:34 wonderful in bringing us 10:36 through this entire experience. 10:39 My mother was, as I look back 10:43 on that now as an adult, my 10:45 mother was just fantastic. 10:48 Her strength never gave out 10:50 and she was a very small, 10:52 frail woman, my dad was a big 10:54 man like myself, but my mother 10:57 was frail and small. 10:59 But her faith in God and she 11:01 was a giant. 11:03 And so I owe a lot to her-- my 11:06 mother at that time. 11:09 She saw us through these hard 11:11 times and there's so much more 11:14 that could be said there, but... 11:17 ...war cannot be explained, 11:19 it has to be experienced. 11:23 It was after that that we were 11:26 getting close to Poland and, 11:29 again, I'd like to mention 11:32 that we never knew when we 11:34 would have to walk and travel 11:36 on and when we could stay. 11:39 That was never our choice. 11:41 The Russian soldiers might 11:42 come along and say, "It's time 11:44 to move on, you're in our road 11:45 here, the battle is coming, 11:47 you need to move." 11:49 And as we would go, it was 11:50 very interesting, we would 11:52 take shelter in the evening 11:54 wherever we could find it. 11:56 Many of the refugees were 11:58 forced to leave their home and 12:00 in one case they had to leave 12:02 their home while they were 12:03 eating and the soup was still 12:05 on the table and warm and we 12:07 were the next one that 12:09 followed, we were hungry and 12:10 we ate the soup. 12:13 So it's amazing how God 12:15 watched over us. 12:16 And as we travelled, rain or 12:18 shine, many times it rained 12:22 like it did here yesterday and 12:25 we were wet. 12:26 We had our clothes on and a 12:28 few other clothes to change in 12:30 a little bundle that we 12:32 carried and so what would 12:34 happen is as soon as the sun 12:36 came out, we would take off 12:38 our wet clothes, we went in a 12:40 ditch, took off the wet 12:41 clothes, took the dry clothes 12:43 out of the bundle, and the wet 12:45 clothes we hung on a fence and 12:48 the refugees that came 12:49 afterwards, they took our dry 12:51 clothes that we had left there. 12:53 Life was interesting, it was 12:55 the survival of the fittest, 12:57 but God saw us through in a 12:58 marvellous way. 12:59 At this time my father was not 13:01 with us, we were separated 13:02 from him, not because of our 13:04 choice, but because of the 13:06 communist leaders. 13:08 The first time he was gone 13:09 from us for six months and the 13:11 second time he was gone from 13:13 us for a year and three months. 13:16 At this time we did not know 13:18 whether he was alive, where he 13:20 was, or anything about him and 13:22 it was especially hard for my 13:24 mother since she took up the 13:26 challenge of being the head of 13:28 the household. 13:30 >> Jacob, it must have been so 13:32 terrible for your family to be 13:34 separated from your father. 13:36 Can you please share with us 13:38 some experiences of your 13:39 heavenly Father taking care of 13:41 your family while your earthly 13:43 father was away? 13:46 >> Yes, there were challenges, 13:48 but God came through us every 13:50 day and I must say that God's 13:53 timing was precise. 13:56 We were hungry, yes, but we 13:59 were never-- we never did 14:01 starve and we might not have 14:04 had a choice of certain foods, 14:07 but we always survived and God 14:09 took care of us. 14:11 And my mother did a tremendous 14:13 job in caring for us. 14:16 One of the greatest challenges 14:18 was my sister and her welfare. 14:21 The Russian soldiers did not 14:22 have any concern about life in 14:27 general or concerns of people 14:31 and a lot of the ladies, girls 14:35 in that area were mistreated. 14:39 And so my mother prayed and 14:41 she said, "Lord, save my only 14:44 daughter that nothing would 14:46 happen to her." 14:47 And so on one occasion as she 14:50 was there with these burdens, 14:55 one of the soldiers came along 14:58 and he wanted to know whether 15:01 there were girls there and in 15:02 this home that we stayed at, 15:05 there were several families. 15:07 Quite often if we had a bigger 15:09 home there would be several 15:12 families that would live there, 15:15 some would have one room, 15:16 others two, and so forth. 15:18 And so many times as the 15:21 soldiers came to molest the 15:23 girls, the older ladies would 15:28 sleep in front and have the 15:30 young girls in the back and 15:33 many of the girls resorted to 15:35 putting some ashes on their 15:37 face to make them look a little 15:39 older and that saved in 15:41 some cases. 15:44 One time a soldier came while 15:46 my mother was in charge there 15:48 and, actually, there were a 15:50 couple soldiers that came, and 15:52 they insisted that they would 15:55 see the girls that are there. 15:57 Now, there were about five 15:59 girls in that area and what we 16:01 found out later was that a 16:04 lady, well in her years, 16:08 across the road, decided that 16:10 she needed to have some 16:11 favours from the Russians. 16:13 So she told on us and said, 16:16 "In that house over there, 16:17 there are at least six girls, 16:19 young girls." 16:20 And so the soldiers came and, 16:23 of course, by this time we had 16:25 hidden my sister and the other 16:27 girls up in the attic and 16:29 there was only a ladder going 16:31 straight up to the attic and a 16:33 trap door and as long as the 16:34 soldiers didn't detect 16:36 anything, nobody one would 16:38 know that the girls were there. 16:40 And so they searched 16:41 everything and found no girls. 16:44 Then they left and went back 16:46 to this lady and said, "You 16:47 lied, you told us that there 16:48 are girls there, there are no 16:50 girls there." 16:51 She said, "You go back. 16:52 They are there." 16:55 And so they came back and they 16:57 shot with their guns in the 16:58 ceiling and, of course, the 17:00 girls screamed and then they 17:02 realized the girls were up 17:04 there and they ordered all of 17:06 the girls to come down, to 17:08 drop down. 17:10 They took the ladder away and 17:12 my sister was one that dropped 17:14 down and there was a crate and 17:16 she hit that crate with her 17:18 back and she has, throughout 17:20 her lifetime, she's had a 17:21 problem with her back. 17:23 But as that happened, then of 17:26 course, again, it was God's 17:28 leading, my sister was very 17:30 sick after that, they took the 17:32 other girls and dear knows 17:34 whatever happened with them. 17:36 But my sister was in pain and 17:38 the Russians had no sense for 17:42 that so they left her alone. 17:44 But afterwards they came back 17:46 and checked on her and one 17:48 soldier in particular came 17:51 and he-- it was obvious what 17:53 he had in mind and my sister 17:56 then, I think God gave her the 17:58 words to speak, my sister 18:00 said, "You know, I have read 18:02 about Mr. Stalin and Mr. Stalin 18:05 loves children and if he knew 18:08 what was in your mind today, 18:10 he would not approve of this 18:12 and you should be ashamed of 18:14 yourself to do this." 18:16 Well, he listened to that and 18:17 he then turned his mind around 18:21 and he said, "Oh," he said, 18:23 "I will protect you." 18:25 And so, as he stayed there, my 18:27 sister came up with a plan 18:28 that I thought was really 18:30 unique, she gave him a Bible 18:32 study and he listened and my 18:35 sister was waxing eloquently 18:38 in her Bible study and so as a 18:40 result of this, the soldier 18:43 made a complete turn-around, 18:44 he said, "Look, I'm sorry. 18:47 We will not hurt you and I 18:48 promise I will protect you." 18:51 And after that, several 18:53 soldiers came and he made sure 18:56 that they did not molest 18:57 my sister. 19:00 And so it's marvellous how God 19:03 led in this experience. 19:07 Shortly after this, we were in 19:09 the area of Poland, we were 19:11 getting close to the East 19:13 German border and we had a 19:16 remarkable experience that 19:18 pertained to my sister in 19:20 particular. 19:21 For some reason or other, two 19:23 large sores developed on her 19:26 leg and her shin and they 19:28 became putrefying and they 19:30 were deep, right into the bone. 19:33 We managed to find a doctor to 19:35 check her out and he said, "We 19:37 may have to amputate her leg 19:39 because the sores are so bad, 19:42 in order to save her life, we 19:44 may have to amputate." 19:45 Well, we didn't want to 19:46 hear that. 19:47 And so around that same time, 19:51 we found ourselves, of course, 19:53 in German occupation at this 19:55 time so Hitler and his 19:57 soldiers were in charge and 19:59 you might say that we should 20:01 have had nothing to fear from, 20:03 but war is bad no matter who's 20:05 in charge, whether it's the 20:06 Germans or the Russians, war 20:08 is hell, as they say. 20:11 And so the Germans had a rule 20:13 that they needed to uplift the 20:16 Führer, Adolph Hitler. 20:18 And so in order to do that, 20:21 they organized classes. 20:22 All the youth were required to 20:24 attend these classes and my 20:26 sister was of the age that she 20:29 had to be one of them that 20:31 would attend. 20:33 In these classes they would 20:34 promote the leader, which was 20:36 Hitler, and they put Hitler 20:38 above God. 20:40 In this time we were always, 20:43 as it is customary, you would 20:45 greet each other "Good 20:46 morning," but not so, your 20:49 first greeting was, "Heil 20:51 Hitler" and the second 20:53 greeting was "Good morning." 20:55 And so in these classes they-- 21:00 there was a lot of propaganda 21:02 there about Germany, Germany 21:04 would win the war and they 21:06 even had a song, "Today 21:08 Germany, tomorrow the world." 21:11 And so the young people were 21:14 psyched up that Germany would 21:16 win the war. 21:18 My sister, of course, couldn't 21:20 attend and the S.S. officers 21:23 came to check on why she 21:24 wasn't there. 21:26 Well, they looked at her leg, 21:27 "Oh, that's no excuse, you 21:29 have to come no matter what 21:31 unless you have a certificate 21:33 from the doctor, you are 21:35 not excused." 21:36 Well, we quickly talked to the 21:38 doctor again and he said, 21:40 "This is serious, I will give 21:42 you a certificate." 21:44 So because of the certificate 21:46 from the doctor and my 21:47 sister's sores on her leg, 21:49 she did not attend one of 21:51 those classes. 21:53 Well, suddenly, almost without 21:55 notice, the Russians regrouped 21:58 themselves and chased the 21:59 Germans out and the war at 22:02 that point was almost at an 22:04 end and all of a sudden then, 22:08 as the Russians came in, they 22:10 had been told about the Hitler 22:12 youth and how these Hitler 22:14 youth were all for Hitler. 22:17 And so they decided they would 22:19 make short work of that so 22:21 they rounded up all the young 22:22 people that were in the Hitler 22:24 youth class and sent them 22:26 to Siberia. 22:27 My father heard about this, 22:29 but he didn't know where we 22:31 were and he heard about all 22:32 these young people being sent 22:34 to Siberia and he was afraid. 22:36 He said, "Lord, I hope my 22:38 daughter, my only daughter, is 22:39 not amongst them." 22:41 It was within days, literally, 22:45 that the sores on my sister's 22:49 leg were healed, dried up, and 22:52 today you can still see them, 22:54 she's 94 years old today, but 22:56 you can still see those marks 22:58 on her foot. 22:59 But everything healed up and 23:01 there was no more problem and 23:03 she still has both of her legs. 23:05 >> God protected her life by 23:07 giving her those sores on her 23:09 legs so that she didn't 23:10 actually go to Siberia... 23:12 [JACOB] Yes. 23:13 >> ...and she didn't attend 23:14 the Hitler youth classes. 23:15 >> This is why I say God's 23:17 timing is just fantastic. 23:20 >> So another miracle God 23:24 performed for you. 23:26 Jacob, can you share with us 23:28 another miraculous story of 23:31 how God reunited your family 23:34 with your father again? 23:37 >> Yes, this happened in 1946, 23:40 the war was over and it was a 23:44 real burden for my father to 23:47 find out where are we. 23:48 And, of course, as I mentioned 23:50 before, we had a plan that we 23:52 would write to our 23:53 headquarters office and so my 23:55 father decided to implement 23:57 that at this point and my 24:00 mother decided to do the same, 24:03 but somehow nothing happened. 24:06 The letters did not seem to 24:09 get there and we didn't hear 24:10 anything about what happened 24:12 to my father and some of us, 24:14 my brother said, "Well, maybe 24:16 he's not alive anymore. 24:17 How do we know where he is?" 24:20 But anyway, one day my father 24:25 decided that he needs to go in 24:28 earnest to look for his family. 24:30 Now, at this point, after the 24:32 war, a year after the war, the 24:34 Russians being in charge, they 24:36 assigned everyone to a job and 24:40 my father was assigned to a 24:41 certain job as well and it was 24:44 miraculous, it was God's 24:45 leading where he was placed. 24:48 He was placed by a factory 24:49 owner that had a factory that 24:54 made chocolates and jams. 24:58 But during the war, it was a 25:01 free-for-all and so they had 25:03 to be very secret because some 25:05 of the Russian soldiers would 25:07 come and they would help 25:09 themselves to some of 25:10 these things. 25:11 So when my dad was assigned to 25:13 this place only to find out 25:16 later on that this was also a 25:19 Christian, a Seventh-day 25:20 Adventist Christian that-- the 25:23 factory owner. 25:24 And so when he found out who 25:26 my dad was and everything, he 25:28 said, "I think you are like an 25:30 angel, God sent you to me." 25:32 And so he gave him the keys of 25:34 the whole operation there and 25:36 he did his work and everything 25:38 went well for a while, but 25:40 finally one day my father said 25:43 to the factory owner, "Look, 25:45 I'm not happy here, I need to 25:47 find my family. 25:49 The war is over, I need to 25:50 know where they are." 25:52 And so he had written to 25:54 Berlin and my mother had 25:57 written to Berlin without any 25:59 results, but then my father-- 26:03 my sister decided one day, she 26:06 came from the field at work, 26:09 and she said, "Mother, today 26:11 I'm gonna write to Dad and Dad 26:13 is gonna write, too, we're 26:15 going to-- both letters will 26:16 arrive at the church 26:18 headquarters office in Berlin 26:20 and Dad will know where we are 26:21 and we're going to find 26:23 each other." 26:24 >> Jacob, unfortunately I'm 26:25 gonna have to stop you, we've 26:27 come to the end of our program 26:29 and we've run out of time. 26:31 Mike, I wonder if you can 26:32 please pray for us? 26:33 >> Oh, sure, absolutely. 26:35 Let's pray. 26:36 Father in heaven, we wanna 26:38 thank You for the way You 26:41 blessed Jacob's life, his 26:43 entire family, leading them 26:45 through a time of war, through 26:48 a time when they were under 26:50 persecution for their faith 26:52 and just showing them Your 26:55 freedom, the freedom that 26:56 comes from trusting in You. 26:58 Thank You for his life, for 27:00 the way You have led him as a 27:02 pastor and his brother as a 27:04 pastor, his father and just 27:06 being a blessing to so many 27:07 people through their lives and 27:09 we thank You, in Jesus' name, 27:11 amen. 27:13 Jacob, thank you so much for 27:16 joining us again on It Is 27:17 Written Canada to share your 27:19 story with us. 27:20 >> It's been an honour for me 27:21 to be with you. 27:25 >> Friends, our free offer 27:26 today was written by Pastor 27:29 Jacob Hiebert. 27:30 It is his story entitled, 27:32 Freedom's Journey. 27:34 This book details the full 27:36 story of how Jacob and his 27:38 family were determined to 27:40 follow God, no matter what. 27:43 >> Their heart-stopping 27:44 journey displays the signs of 27:47 God's hand leading His 27:48 children in such a 27:50 faith-building story. 27:54 Freedom's Journey reveals how 27:56 we serve a great God who is 27:58 able to lead you, too, when 28:00 you put your trust in Him. 28:03 >> We want you to experience 28:04 the truth that is found in the 28:06 words of Jesus when He said, 28:08 "It is written, 'man shall not 28:10 live by bread alone, but by 28:12 every word that proceeds out 28:14 of the mouth of God.'" 28:16 ♪♪ |
Revised 2022-03-23