The Faithfulness of God, Even as Nations Rage
From The Archives: Winter 2012
By Edward Fenske, Avery County
I was born in Cempa Celjewska, a German settlement located in Poland, in 1936, the third of eight children. In 1940, as World War II swept across Europe, my family was resettled in West Prussia, Germany. We were only permitted to take our clothes and bedding, and it was months before we settled on a farm that was in total disrepair. Through hard work and ingenuity, with an old horse and a cow, our family was able to make a new beginning. However, this was not to last, since the war was raging and the area’s stability was deteriorating.
Trying To Escape
In early 1945, when I was eight years old, the Russian army began its advance into Germany, and we had to flee for our lives. Belongings were packed onto a canvas covered wagon and backpacks were sewn for each child. Then, three days prior to departure my father was drafted into the army, and our family was separated. The plan then was to reunite in the western part of Germany. All was left behind, and the women and children took a wicker basket of food, knapsacks, and the clothes, and traveled by wagon to the train station, refugees of the war. We were waiting with a throng of other refugees for a train to take us from eastern to western Germany. As the train arrived in the station the mass of refugees surged forward, pressing and shoving to get onto the already overcrowded train. My tiny little mother, all of four foot ten inches tall, feared that in the crush she would lose contact with her five small children, two of whom were still toddlers. Suddenly, a man appeared who towered head and shoulders above everyone else on the platform. Bending down, he volunteered to assist my mom. He then swept up the two infants in his arms, told me and my brother to grab a hold of his coat pockets, and this giant then waded through the crowd with all of us in his wake. He placed all the five children and our mom safely aboard the train, but when she turned to thank him for his assistance he was nowhere to be found. Our family is convinced that he was an angel of mercy sent to help us in our hour of need. Packed for days on a train crammed with wounded soldiers and frightened refugees, we were hungry for days on end as food became increasingly scarce. Because the train tracks had been bombed by the allies, the train reversed course, headed east and fourteen days later it arrived at a town near the Baltic Sea. After several weeks we finally arrived at Wiswar, a northern German town along the Baltic Sea which had not yet been overrun by the war.
Later in the year, as the Red Army advanced through Wiswar, my older brother took a Bible from a host family’s looted house. That Bible became our family’s mainstay of hope and support through the dark days that were to come. The anchor verses in those hard years became, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:3-5)
The Bible Was Our Source Of Comfort
As the war continued, renegade German and advancing Russian troops occupied the area. There was constant danger and turmoil with soldiers spending the nights pillaging and raping. The Bible was the source of my mother’s salvation and sanity. She would bar the door at night, climb into the cranny in the chimney used to smoke meat, read the Bible, and pray. Many atrocities were committed all around us, but God was the shield and protector of the Fenske family. I remember my mother’s words, “John’s Gospel is God’s love letter to us. His Word speaks to our spirits, and that makes all the difference.” Food was scarce and I and my brothers went into the fields to scavenge for remnants of the harvest. We made rude bread and preserved it by letting the bread dry by the chimney until the loaves became hard as bricks. We would then chop off a piece and boil it in water or milk for a soup. We were blessed with nourishment, and God sustained us all.
After the winter passed we received word that Father had been reunited with other family members. They had all miraculously made their way into the western zone. Once more, God had watched over our family.
My mother determined to make another attempt to take us children west. She secured the proper papers and we boarded a train, which, after many days, dropped us near the border. We walked to the border crossing and began our wait. Since the border was only open for two hours a day, there were many, many people waiting ahead of us. It was very difficult for the younger children to walk quickly, but we were able to get across the border just before the gates closed. Immediately, the Red Cross aided the family and soon Father and Mother were reunited. God had brought us through a trying two-year ordeal of separation.
Once, I was trapped in a huge snow drift as winter set in. As a result, I became ill with rheumatic fever and was sick for a very long time. The local doctor traveled weekly from village to village by horse and wagon since gasoline was rationed. Through his insistence, I was taken to a town thirty miles away and hospitalized for the next six months. The disease damaged two of my heart valves but I made a slow, steady recovery. God was watching over me.
Moving To America
The family decided that we should immigrate to America, and Lutheran World Federation accepted us as candidates. Since we were such a large family, we waited nearly two years for a sponsor. A Swedish couple living in Illinois finally sponsored us, paying for our travel expenses in exchange for a year’s indentured service on the farm. We all worked on the farm for two years, the children coming to consider the host family as our grandparents over the years, before we moved to Chicago. I graduated from high school and began junior college.
It was during this time of young manhood that I realized my need for a living relationship with Jesus Christ, and I accepted Him as Lord and Savior. I remembered my mother’s words, “Christ is the one who changes our lives.” I recognized that God had a call on my life and went to Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada. My intent was to become a missionary, but my heart condition prevented my acceptance by the mission board. After graduation, I returned to the United States and continued my education at Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina and then at Trinity Bible College in Clearwater, Florida.
God Remains Faithful
While in Florida I met my wife, Julie. The Lord told her immediately upon her seeing me for the first time that I was to be her husband. When Julie learned of the seriousness of my heart condition, she prayed for my healing and told God that she did not want to become a young widow. God then gave her the promise that He would keep me in good health. We were married in 1967, after my graduation. God blessed us with three sons and a daughter. My heart condition never interfered with any activity I have decided to pursue. The diseased heart valves were replaced with mechanical valves in 1982, but I contracted hepatitis C from one of the operation’s blood transfusions. Still, through it all, I’ve remained ‘in health’ just as God promised Julie. I have never had a sense of being ‘sick’, nor have I been hindered in any way from any path that God has put before me.
To support our growing family, I’ve worked during the week as a cabinet maker, a plumber, and for the local parks department. I’ve also always been very actively engaged in ministry for the Lord. I have spent years ministering on the docks of the Port of Tampa, bringing deck hands to bi-lingual services to hear the Gospel. I have taught Sunday school classes and mentored groups conducting church services at nursing homes and hospitals. I’ve served as youth pastor and as associate pastor at churches throughout the Tampa, Florida area. I want to always be available to help build, repair, and fix anything. I’m always ready to visit, listen, and pray with anyone who has spiritual needs. My life and my history is a living testament to the loving faithfulness of God across the years.
