God's Smuggler

Product Information

Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to Your children. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” During Easter 2018, the then-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote to Brother Andrew, saying, “I would like to express my personal thanks for the extraordinary and courageous support you have provided to the persecuted Church throughout the years. While recuperating in a Catholic hospital he began to read the Bible. As he continued his recovery in the Netherlands he committed his life to following God – wherever that would lead him. With the end of the Cold War and the relaxation on religious freedoms in former Communist countries, Brother Andrew turned his attention to delivering Bibles to the Middle East and Muslim-majority nations such as Pakistan. After he graduated from the college in 1955, his first trip behind the Iron Curtain came when he had the opportunity to attend a Communist youth rally in Warsaw, Poland. He wasn't there to learn about Communism though. He was there to find out firsthand what religious freedom was really like there and spread the gospel wherever he went. After this trip, his interest in the Christians behind the Iron Curtain grew into a calling to serve them.

Brother Andrew's zeal to preach Christ and His Word above all else led him to make a statement that has convicted me about the way I sometimes write and speak to others. He said when we have more to say about certain evils than we have to say about the goodness of Christ, then we are ill equipped for faithful service.The real calling,” he has said, “is not a certain place or career but to everyday obedience. And that call is extended to every Christian, not just a select few.” After the war, van der Bijl joined the Dutch army and was sent to Indonesia as part of the colonial force attempting to quash the Indonesian struggle for independence. He was excited about the adventure until the shooting started and he killed people. By his own account, van der Bijl was involved in the massacre of an Indonesian village, indiscriminately killing everyone who lived there. Morgan, Timothy C. (18 March 2013). "Brother Andrew's Prophetic Plea: Stop Murdering Terrorists". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018 . Retrieved 12 November 2018.

Anne van der Bijl, the Dutch missionary known for smuggling Bibles into communist nations and founding the Christian persecution watchdog group Open Doors, has died at age 94. Andrew, Brother (2004). Light Force. London: Hodder & Stoughton. pp.204/ Chapter 25. ISBN 9780340862711. God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John and Elizabeth Sherrill: Young Reader's Edition is quite an interesting read. In God’s Smuggler, van der Bijl related a prayer that he uttered, which he would later call “the Prayer of God’s Smuggler.”If you would like to, you can make a gift to continue Brother Andrew’s legacy of supporting the persecuted church. MAKE A GIFT Brother Andrew was born on 11 May 1928 in Sint Pancras, the Netherlands. He joined the colonial army of the Dutch East Indies, and converted to Christianity during a period of convalescence, where he spent much of his time reading the Bible.

In 1957, van der Bijl travelled to the Soviet Union's capital, Moscow, in a Volkswagen Beetle, which later became the symbol of Open Doors. [3] An older couple, the Whetstras, had given him their new car because they had prayed about it and believed that van der Bijl would need the car. A man who lived in Amersfoort, Karl de Graaf, claimed that God told him to teach van der Bijl to drive. Later, when van der Bijl was in a refugee camp in West Germany, Philip Whetstra called van der Bijl to come to the Whetstras' new house in Amsterdam.In my early days of walking with Christ, it seemed every Christian was recommending this book. Thirty years later, I've finally read it. All I can say is: What took me so long? In the book God’s smuggler, Andrew describes the impact that the death of his oldest brother ‘Bas’ had upon him. Bas, who was severely handicapped died when Andrew was just 11 years old. Andrew had wanted to die with Bas, but God hadn’t let him. Thirst for adventure I first read God's Smuggler as a teenager years ago and am glad there is now a concise version for young readers. This version is especially written for young readers. ages 9 - 12. It is a book sure to hold the interest of any reader, inspiring them to trust God and live boldly. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. Really, except for that one part of the story my mother censored, this book is acceptable for any age. The risks taken and the price paid for the faith are very delicately shown. Only as I grew up and learned more about the Soviet Union did the full implications of those hints start to gain their full force. On Andy van der Bijl’s 69th birthday, he was honoured by being awarded ‘The Religious Liberty Award’ which was presented by the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). The chairman of WEF’s Religious Liberty Commission stated:

Over time, he came to include what Open Doors labeled a “ trademark prayer” to go with the Bibles: “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to your children. When you were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” If you have a heart for missions, this is a must-read. I regret not having read this book sooner, but having read it now, I will not ignore its powerful message and example. He spent two years studying to be a missionary at the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade school in Glasgow, Scotland. It is so important for believers to know and therefore be strengthened by the stories of the Lord's faithfulness. This is an amazing true tale which gave me a shot of hope where faith has been limping along like Brother Andrew's war-torn foot. After a failed missionary attempt, I have spent years struggling with the aftermath of how that failure affected my faith. Reading this book has reawakened my trust in the Lord and strengthened my soul. Shortly after the end of World War II, van der Bijl enlisted in the Dutch army. He was sent to fight in Indonesia where he was selected for special commando training. But his career as a soldier was ended by a bullet, which shattered his ankle and led to a crisis of faith.Over the years, it was a joy to work together on a number of joint projects, including in Angola and Sudan. Frontline Fellowship helped deliver and distribute thousands of Bibles for Open Doors in war-torn Islamic Sudan. We hosted Open Doors workers and recovered and towed one of their vehicles thousands of kilometres after it was abandoned in a flash flood, in what had been a dry riverbed inside southern Sudan. Brother Andrew and I regularly corresponded. We promoted and sold his books.