A God-Given Ministry
“Our prayers can go where we cannot. There are no borders, no prison walls, no doors that are closed to us when we pray.” (Brother Andrew)
This man came to be known as “God’s smuggler.” His divine call is to help the suffering, persecuted church in every country.
A History Lesson
In 1955, Brother Andrew took a giant leap of faith. For the first time, he crossed the border into a repressed, communist country.
His entry visa was approved by the Polish government.
His secret God-given mission was not.
In 1945, Hitler committed suicide and the ruling Nazi Party collapsed. Peace finally came and everyone celebrated. But within a few short years, the Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe. By the end of 1948, East Germany, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia all came under communist rule and Russian influence.
In each communist nation, state-sponsored persecution broke out against the Christian churches.
All the governments had the same goal; to destroy the Christian faith within their borders.
Brother Andrew’s Call
While reading Revelations one day, the Lord spoke strongly to Andrew’s heart.
2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die… (Revelations 3:2 NIV)
Brother Andrew immediately knew that God was calling him to help the hurting body of Christ behind the Iron Curtain. He soon attained the visas and started traveling into the communist countries, to find out the condition of the local church.
When he started, this Dutchman:
- Didn’t speak any of the native languages.
- Had no contact with the Christians in those countries.
- Found out that few believers owned a Bible.
- Started smuggling Bibles into each communist country, printed in their native language.
- Risked deportation, fines, imprisonment, torture and death if caught by the authorities.
- Often spoke words of encouragement during church services behind the Iron Curtain.
- Gave the believers hope that they had not been forgotten by the larger body of Christ.
- Traveled alone, being away from his family for months at a time.
Brother Andrew understood the power of heartfelt, desperate prayer. Many times his life depended on God answering and guiding him clearly during a crisis.
Gradually the work expanded. Other Christians joined him and learned to travel and minister in restricted countries too.
The Work Goes On
Today, Brother Andrew is in his 90s, but his organization Open Doors ministers to persecuted believers in sixty countries.
They provide food, emergency shelter, trauma counseling, Bibles, focused scripture-based training, legal aid and other resources to the suffering church worldwide.
I downloaded these images from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
In 1981, Open Doors pulled off a secret operation code-named “Project Pearl.” In a single night, believers outside of China used a barge to smuggle a million Chinese Bibles into the hands of the Chinese Christians. Click on the link to read more details about this miraculous Bible smuggling operation.
The book God’s Smuggler about Brother Andrew’s life and ministry is a Christian Classic.
Learn more about Open Doors USA and God’s work in the lives of persecuted Christians.
