My Story 29

In 1975 I was still operating my little sign business from the home, or rather, from the basement. I received a call from a lady involved in various charismatic ministries. She told me a famous person was coming to Winnipeg for meetings, and she was looking for somebody to drive this man to his various appointments. Well business was slow and I got to meet a famous person.....I said OK.

That person turned out to be Richard Wurmbrand. His ministry was to draw attention to the suffering of Christian believers who were being persecuted in various parts of the world. He did so forcefully and with great dedication. His sweet wife Sabrina, demonstrated equal dedication in supporting him and cleaning up after him. He had a magazine for which he wrote articles all day, unless he had to go out to preach. Typewritten pages were spread all over the floor. Sabrina would quietly come in and sort them out. Both Richard and Sabrina had suffered for Christ in Romania, in prison, and doing hard labour. There was also torture from time to time under the communist regime.

He had an amazing list of appointments, Radio and Television interviews, meetings with the press, with pastors and with substantial audiences. It was a busy week for me. He treated me abruptly, as if I were in his employ. And who paid for the gas? I did. And I had no income at all that week. I prayed: "Lord, I will do this, but you will have to supply my needs, and that of the family."

The next week I got back to work, and I received a call to quote on a set of signs. Just off Notre Dame Avenue I stepped in the office of Bill B. He stared at me, stuffing his pipe, one eye looking straight at me, the other one looked at an unspecified spot 12 inches beside me. "I saw you at a Wurmbrand meeting, your wife sang....." She did indeed and Sabrina rewarded Trudy with the book she had written, and autographed it. Bill placed an order for signs, continued to do that for a few years, ....until they went bankrupt. I bought a chunk of his business and profited from that a few additional years.