Imagine! The author of a book that sold ten million copies and was translated into thirty languages had to remain anonymous for several years. That’s because he was a non-profit smuggler known affectionately as Brother Andrew. His contraband goods were Bibles and Christian literature. His territory was behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains.
Andrew’s book was God’s Smuggler, written in collaboration with John and Elizabeth Sherrill of Guideposts magazine fame, who also served as ghost writers for David Wilkerson, Demos Shakarian, and Corrie ten Boom. It was published in 1965 and should be read before any subsequent volumes about Andrew. The book is popular not only for its page-turner action but also for its priceless mentoring in the school of obedience and trust in the Lord as the believer lives out his faith. (See example in excerpt below.)
Only God could have foreseen that the mischievous, risk taking little Dutch boy, Andrew, would grow to manhood and assume the challenging role described in God’s Smuggler. His boyhood and schooling were interrupted by the German occupation of Holland in WWII. He had no interest in God.
After the war, Andrew’s thirst for adventure led him to join the Dutch army’s struggle to keep Indonesia under Dutch control. He lost many comrades in the conflict and saw himself become a hardened soldier familiar with atrocities. He escaped several encounters with death but eventually was wounded in one ankle and walked with a limp. He returned home a broken man with broken dreams. At last, God reached his rebellious heart. He took his “step of yes” in full surrender. As he literally stepped forward as he prayed, his injured ankle popped. Instantly, it was restored. The limp disappeared.
Andrew’s surrender began a journey of faith-filled adventures. After Bible school training in England and marriage to Corrie, God led Andrew to take Bibles and literature to the Suffering Church in Communist or Islamic countries. His mission was to “strengthen what remains.” (Rev. 3:2) As he crossed border after border with his forbidden goods, he prayed the Bible smuggler’s prayer: “Lord, you made blind eyes see. Now I ask you to make seeing eyes blind so that they won’t see these Bibles.” It worked.
After God’s Smuggler was published in 1965, Andrew van der Bijl could no longer go into closed countries, but the surge in funds from book sales enabled his organization (Open Doors) to train, supply, and send many, many others. For a parallel and fuller account of Andrew’s life and work after 1965, see Brother Andrew, God’s Undercover Agent by Alan Millwright in the Heroes of the Faith series. Millwright shares one of the highest compliments ever given to Andrew in the following account.
It was 1988, the 1000th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church. An Orthodox priest had once asked why Andrew he distributed Bibles only to the Protestants; the Orthodox believers wanted them as well. At last, one million Bibles were offered to the Russian Orthodox Church as an anniversary gift. Andrew was officially invited to be present as the gift was received. One priest, Father Vitali Borovoi, said, “The gift of these Bibles is given by Open Doors and Brother Andrew. How symbolic that is. According to tradition, the Apostle Andrew was the first to preach the Gospel of our Lord in Russia. You, Brother Andrew, continue that apostleship.” p. 184
I highly recommend these books for spiritual growth and suggest they be included in any church or personal library. Both are available on Amazon.
=====================================================================
Example of mindset for trust in God:
If I were going to give my life as a servant of the King, I had to know that King. What was He like? In what I could I trust Him? In the same way I trusted a set of impersonal laws? Or could I trust Him as a living leader, as a very present commander in battle? The question was central. Because if He were a King in name only, I would rather go back to the chocolate factory. [place of previous employment] I would remain a Christian, but I would know that my religion was only a set of principles, excellent and to be followed, but hardly demanding devotion.
Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in the sense that He communicated and cared and loved and led. That was something quite different. That was the kind of King I would follow into any battle. God’s Smuggler, p. 65
While in Bible college, a team of students started out on a four-week evangelistic tour of Scotland with a one-pound note. They were not allowed to take collections but trust God for all their needs, then return with the note. They operated under two rules: they never mentioned a need and they tithed anything they received, usually within twenty-four hours. The experiment was a success. Ibid, pp. 66-67
When Andrew sought God for a wife, God brought to Andrew’s mind a special woman. He won her hand in marriage, and she has been a devoted helper over the years.
Bibliography
Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co. 1967.
Millwright, Alan. Brother Andrew, God’s Undercover Agent. Heroes of the Faith.