This recent Christmas Eve, I shared the story of the 1914 Christmas Eve Truce on the Western Front during World War 1.
After the second service, a woman came up to tell me that her great-grandfather had been one of the men in those trenches, and that a German soldier had secretly crossed no-man’s land on Christmas Eve to give him a Bible in Old Slavonic. This German soldier was a Baptist, and this woman’s great-grandfather became a Christian, joined a Baptist church in his hometown in Ukraine, and it has led to a legacy of faith lasting generations, all the way to her and her children today.
It was an incredible story. This woman, named Diana, is the wife of one of our pastors at White Fields. This week, I sat down with her for our “Sermon Extra” video, to discuss her great-grandfather’s experience, and to talk about what it was like for her, growing up in a Christian family in the Soviet Union, and then in independent Ukraine.
Below are two videos: first, the Christmas Eve sermon, where I tell the story of the 1914 Christmas Eve Truce, and what it reflects about the meaning of Christmas, and then the second video below is my discussion with Diana. Enjoy!
Theology for the People 