Born in 1934 in Dresden, Germany, Theo Lehmann lived through both the Nazi era and the Communist-ruled German Democratic Republic (GDR). Ordained in the Lutheran Church of Saxony, he was called to an urban parish in Chemnitz. There he introduced a youth worship service marked by contemporary music, uncompromising preaching of the gospel message, and calls to discipleship in Christ that attracted thousands. Lehmann then embarked on an itinerant ministry of youth evangelism with Jorg Swoboda, a Baptist musician and youth leader. He gained the undying enmity of the Communist regime, was under constant surveillance by the dreaded secret police, and was rejected by many of his own ministerial colleagues.
