I went from a world of color to a world of black and white–and mostly gray in a matter of just a few feet. I saw very few people, but– I know it’s hard to understand–the ones I did see even looked gray. The sky was gray, the grass was gray, the houses were gray. It was as if every bit of life was sucked out of that part of the world. It was deathly still. The heavy, dead despair was palpable. I remember looking back to where I had just crossed over, trying to figure out what had happened in such a short time.

Even though I didn’t know what spiritual oppression was back then, the word oppression popped into my mind as I grappled with what I was seeing and feeling. When we finally were safely in the apartment of the person we were visiting, I started to say something about what I noticed. Max quickly shushed me. “You never know who is listening here,” he said.

On our trip back, we were pulled over by the East German police. They took Max away into a building while I waited in the car with an armed guard circling around and around the car. Twenty minutes passed before I decided to go find him. I started to get out of the car, only to see him striding back and waving me back into the car. Because I Was an American, they made up false charges and fined him. We were pulled over and fined again before we made it back to the border.

I never took freedom for granted again.