“Readable” is a lightly edited reading copy; “Verbatim” stays close to the spoken words. Audio is the record of what was said.
Journey to Copenhagen
In 1935, after publishing my first book about my adventures in Great Britain, a Fleet Street newspaper suggested such events could only happen in a Christian country like England. To challenge this notion, I decided to travel to Soviet Russia without money or friends. I embarked on a coal boat to Oslo, then continued to Copenhagen with just two and a half dollars.
Arriving in Copenhagen, I faced freezing temperatures and knew no one. I remembered hearing about a Lutheran layman named Sorensen, but the phone directory was filled with Sorensens. After much searching, I found the right address and met Mrs. Sorensen, who initially mistook me for a hobo. However, she recognized my picture on a book cover and invited me in. Her husband, Nils Sorensen, had been praying for my arrival, and I was soon speaking to 500 people that evening.
God's Provision in Denmark
After the meeting, I still had nowhere to sleep. A sergeant, impressed by my talk, offered to help me find a hotel. I had been praying for a bed, and God provided not just one but four in a spacious room at a Christian-run hotel. This unexpected provision was a testament to God's faithfulness.
During my time in Denmark, I preached every night, even though no one knew I was coming. Years later, I learned that a Lutheran clergyman, Christian Holt, was converted at one of these meetings. He later became a leader in the Danish Christian underground during World War II.
The Challenge of Entering Soviet Russia
In Finland, I met a Swede who doubted my ability to enter Soviet Russia, citing strict regulations. At the Russian consulate, I faced skepticism from a communist official who questioned my lack of funds and travel plans. I explained that my "Father" in heaven provided for me, which puzzled her. Despite her doubts, I appealed to Moscow and was granted a visa.
The Swede remained unconvinced, predicting I would never get out of Russia. However, my faith and determination proved otherwise.
Closing Reflections
Billy Graham once encouraged me to republish my stories, as they inspired him as a student. Though busy with writing a history of revivals and textbooks, I continue to share these experiences. My books, meant for students, are available at a special price, reflecting my desire to spread the message of faith and God's providence.
May the Lord bless you in your own journeys of faith.
In 1935, after I'd written my first little book, "Telling of My Adventures in Great Britain," a newspaper in Fleet Street said it's easy for these things to happen in a Christian country like England where people are naturally kind-hearted. I believe God answers prayer all around the world. I thought if I were to go to Soviet Russia without money and without friends, that would shut them up. So I traveled on a coal boat. I was given a free ride on a coal boat all the way to Oslo with a load of coals. I arrived in Oslo. The Lord opened up doors there in a remarkable way.
Having time to tell you of my adventures in Norway. But I traveled on down. I forgot to say I left with two and a half dollars, about eleven kroner. I arrived in Copenhagen. The temperature was down to zero. I didn't know anyone in Denmark, but I thought, now, what shall I do? I'd been told in Norway that there was a very fine Lutheran layman called Sorensen in Copenhagen. Get in touch with him; he knows everyone. I looked up the phone directory and discovered there were more Sorensens in Copenhagen than Smiths in Chicago. Sorensen is the commonest Danish name.
I went out of the post office again and walked up and down, swinging my arms to keep warm. I don't mind telling you I was concerned about two things. One was, well, one thing in particular, a place to sleep. I didn't mind missing a meal, I didn't mind missing a meeting, but I didn't want to spend a night in the streets. For two reasons. One was you can die of cold and exposure when the temperature is down to zero, and second, if the police found me, they could deport me. Well, after walking around for a while, it suddenly came back to me, wasn't this man's name Nils Sorensen, N-I-L-S? I looked up the phone book, found only five of that name. So I made a note of their addresses.
The first one was Nils Sorensen that gave an address to Kleinsgatter, to Little Street. I walked to his house; it took me an hour and a quarter finding it. It was cold. I rang the bell; it was an apartment block. A lady came to the door. So I began on my best Danish, versus me, her, Sorensen, her. If you please, is Mr. Sorensen here? She replied in Danish, but her Danish was quite different from my Danish. So I asked her the second time, if you please, is Mr. Sorensen here? She replied the same thing again. I was going to ask her the third time she closed the door on me. I found out afterwards she thought I was a hobo. Well, I traveled all night, I'd slept in my clothes, I hadn't shaved that morning. So she closed the door on me.
Well, you know it's useless to argue with a woman. She always gets the last word, and if you don't understand the last word, it's downright humiliating. I went downstairs again when suddenly she opened the door and called me back. I waited; she went into the house and came out again with a red-covered book in her hand. It was my book, published in England five weeks before. She couldn't read English, but she saw my picture on the cover and recognized it. She said, photograph, tee, tee, tee. I replied in faultless Danish, ja, ja, ja, ja. She brought me in, she talked to me in Danish. I couldn't understand her, so I talked to her in English. She couldn't understand me, so she phoned her husband. He spoke business English.
He said, Mr. Orr, this sounds incredible. I said, what does? He said, Miss Anna Christensen, one of our Danish lady missionaries in China, sent me your book just last week and told us to pray that you would come to Denmark. He said, I read your book, I enjoyed it, I thought it'd be wonderful if you could come and stir up our young people. I prayed that you would come, but I never expected to see you. And now you telephone me from my own house. Let me talk to my wife again, please. They talked in Danish, and then she gave me back the phone, and he told me that Mrs. Sorensen wanted me to stay for lunch. Now she couldn't speak English, I couldn't speak Danish, but we could both eat, so we ate.
I came back at 5:30 for supper. I was hoping this nice couple would ask me to stay for the night, but they were a married couple without children. They didn't have an extra bedroom. It never occurred to them, I suppose. But during supper, Mr. Sorensen said, tonight, Mr. Orr, you will have the opportunity of speaking to 500 people. Well, I said, how do you arrange that so quickly? Oh, he said, we have a campaign going on. We have taken the ballroom of the Technical Institute in the city to reach downtown people, and he said, I have called Pastor Eric Larson from Sweden who is to preach, and you will preach instead by interpretation.
So I spoke by interpretation. Now some of you may have heard messages by interpretation. You know, you can't use a long paragraph; otherwise, the interpreter might say, I'm sorry, I didn't catch all that. You can't use slang because they learn their English in books. A friend of mine from Philadelphia, Dr. L.L. Legters, was speaking by interpretation in Shanghai. He used an ordinary English expression. He said, my friend was tickled to death. The Chinese looked at him for a while. Then he told the congregation in Mandarin, this I do not understand myself. Mr. Legters' friend scratched himself until he died.
At 10 minutes past 10, the meeting was over. I stepped outside the Institute. It was bitterly cold. I still had nowhere to sleep. So I lifted up my heart in prayer. Sorensen came out and slapped me on the back. He said, brother, that was splendid. Now I want you to do me a favor. I said, what is that? He said, I want you to change your hotel. Now I said, what for? I should have said, what with? He said, down by the City Hall is a very excellent hotel run by Christian management. They give special rates to preachers. Now he said, I will go with you to the hotel where you are staying to apologize that you changed your plan so late at night. They may not like it.
I said, look, you wait here. I'll get my own baggage. I left my suitcase in a candy store. I ran off, came back again. He said, well, you weren't long. I said, no, no trouble. I said, no. He said, you mean they were not disappointed you did not sleep there for the night? I said, apparently not. Well, he said, that showed a nice spirit. Let me carry your bag. He said, of course, he said, while you're in Denmark, you will be my guest. That was good news. I didn't have enough money to pay in advance. I'd arrived with five kroner, five shillings, about a dollar in those days.
Well, he took me to the hotel, introduced me to the booking clerk, and then he said, well, now, good night, Mr. Orr. I come for you tomorrow morning, 10 o'clock. After he left, the clerk who was looking down his list said, I'm sorry, Mr. Orr, we don't have a single room in the house. My face must have shown a little dismay because, oh, don't misunderstand. We have double rooms. We have family apartments, but the single rooms are all occupied. The others are more expensive. But he said, Sorensen's such a good friend of ours. We'll let you have a more expensive room for the cheaper price.
He took me upstairs. I followed him along the corridor. I was thanking God in my heart for the bed, which I hadn't seen yet. He threw open the door and switched on a light. There was a room as large as this room, with a piano, piano stool, a sofa, four easy chairs, and four other chairs. I should say an easy chair, four other chairs, and four beds. And that man that knew nothing about my praying for a bed all day said, you sleep in them, turn about if you like. We charge the same price. He thought that was a joke, but I didn't. I slept in all four beds. Well, if you had been walking around a foreign city all day, not knowing where you're going to sleep at night, and asking the Lord to send you a bed, and he sends you four, you might as well do something with them.
Next morning when the maid came up to make the bed, she said, here is the rest of your family. You said, well, what were you doing? Just traveling around, having a good time. No, no, I preached every night. Nobody knew I was coming, but I preached every night. I went back to Denmark after the war. I met a Lutheran clergyman who became leader of the Danish Christian underground after the Gestapo murdered Kai Munch. He was the equivalent of Bishop Berggrav in Norway. His name was Christian Holt. And he told me, I was converted to God in your meetings in 1935. He had been editor of a daily paper, and I'd given him an interview. I didn't know he'd been converted then.
So you see, I don't think that God gives us these answers to prayer just for fun, as it were, but for a purpose. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. When I got to, I'll have to skip Sweden, but when I got to Finland, I met a Swede in the YMCA there.
When he heard that I was going to Russia, he thought I was crazy. He said, Mr. Orr, they will not let one Bible into Russia, let alone one preacher. I said, Well, I've come from Ireland. Here I am in Finland. He said, Mr. Orr, you will never get in. You will never get in. You will never get in. I said, I've been praying about it. Perhaps the Lord will get me in. He said, I tell you, you will never get in. You will never get in. You will never get in. Well, I'm going to try. He said, I tell you, you will never get in. You will never get in. You will never get in. It seemed useless to argue with him further. He had a one-track mind.
But when I went to the Russian consulate to get a visa and my passport, the young lady said to me, Have you a ticket back to London? I said, No, I don't. She said, Have you traveler's checks to show us? I said, I don't have traveler's checks. She said, How do you travel? Do you carry your money loose? Aren't you afraid of being robbed? Oh, I said, You mean, do I have enough money to take me back to London? Yes. I said, No. She said, Then how do you travel? Well, I said, You see, my father is very wealthy and he sends me whatever I need, whatever I needed. She said, Well, can we get in touch with your father? I said, I'm referring to our Father who art in heaven. That stumped her for a while. Then she, her lip curled and she said, I am a communist. I do not believe in religious superstition. But that is your affair. This is my affair. The regulations say unless you have a ticket back to the country of origin, you cannot enter the Soviet Union. I said, Could I appeal to Moscow? She said, On what grounds? Well, I said, I've written a book. I'm going to write another one. Well, she said, All right. If you'd like to appeal to Moscow, a letter will take one month for a reply. If you pay for telegram both ways, it will take one week. I paid for the telegram. The answer came back. They gave me a visa.
I went to the Sweden, the YMCA. I said, What do you think of that? He wasn't impressed. He said, Mr. Orr, you will never get out. You will never get out. Well, some other time, by the way, Billy Graham said to me last time I saw him, last time I was in Montreat with him, he said, Edwin, I wish you'd republish your stories and adventures. He said it really helped me when I was a student in 1940. So I've been too busy. I'm working on a history of revivals and just working on a little book, textbook for students and so forth.
Oh, that reminds me. Some of the fellows asked me to bring the books along tonight. They didn't have the money with them last night. I should say to those who were not there last night that saying that I know that navigators don't have money for very long, put that way. I wouldn't say they don't have money, but they don't have it for very long. I don't like to, shall I say, make any profit out of them, but my publishers, for instance, won't let me sell a book under the published price, but they told me you can always give a book away if you want to. One of my little books, which is meant for students, costs $1.45. The other clothbound one on the deeper life costs $3. If you want to have the two of them, you can have them for the price of one, the larger one, $3. That's $4.45 worth of $3, so if you want to, you can help yourself. That'll have to do for tonight, so the Lord bless you.