Brother Andrew

Over Sixty years ago, God spoke to a young Dutch missionary with the words, "Strengthen what remains and is on the point of death" (Revelation 3:2).  From that very day in 1955, Brother Andrew believed that no doors could be closed.  No borders, no barriers, no armies could withstand the power of prayer ... and no power on earth could ever stop God's Word.
Brother Andrew was born on May 11, 1928 in Alkmaar, a town in northwest Holland.  He was raised in a Protestant home in the nearby small village of St. Pancras.  His father was a blacksmith and his mother was a devout "prayer warrior."

At the age of eleven, Andrew's formal education was cut short by World War II and the occupation of the Netherlands.  The horrible deprivation and persecution of war seen at this early age shaped Andrew's young life.  After the war ended, Brother Andrew enlisted as a volunteer soldier and was sent to Indonesia where he was wounded by a bullet in 1949.  Seriously injured and facing a lengthy convalescence, Andrew discovered that the greatest battle he faced was the one raging within his soul.  The kind smile and personal testimony of Christ's love from one of the hospital sisters led him to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior shortly thereafter.

Andrew studied the Bible voraciously, prayed continually, and finally traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, where he attended the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade's Missionary Training Center for three years. Returning to the Netherlands in 1953, Andrew led Bible studies and worked at Ringer's Chocolate Factory where he met his future wife, Corry Van Dam.
Inspiration for his life's work began on a package tour of Poland, he was astounded by the zeal and organization of young Communists. His heart ached for these teenagers so desperately seeking purpose and meaning.  At that time there were no missionaries working in Eastern Europe, Churches had been closed, Bibles had been banned, Communism and atheism were the only alternatives offered to young men and women with empty souls.

More trips followed in his now famous little blue Volkswagen to nearly every country in the Communist bloc: Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria...then finally into Russia itself, the center of the Soviet union and the very stronghold of atheism.  At a time when pastors were being arrested and tortured, and Communist leaders were intent on eradicating every sign of God and Christianity, Brother Andrew quietly continued his work.  He smuggled in more and more Bibles to more and more countries, and encouraged the persecuted believers that remained behind the Iron Curtain.

Often Brother Andrew's trips were miraculously guided and protected. As one ruthless border guard looked over the boxes of Bibles in his car, Andrew prayed, "Father, You have made blind eyes to see -- now I ask you to make seeing eyes blind."  The guard then simply waved Andrew through the border crossing as if he had seen nothing!  "I'm not brave. I'm often scared stiff. I drive my car to the Iron Curtain border in the past and I have not the guts to go on. So I pull back ten miles, find a small hotel, I begin to pray and fast until I have the courage, or the liberty or the boldness to go in and that always works. But I would not go if my heart is beating with fear."

Then in 1965 Brother Andrew made his first trip behind the Bamboo Curtain to deliver Bibles and supplies to Chinese believers.  He found the situation to be horrendous. Mao's fanaticism had attempted to crush Christianity out of existence.  Andrew's efforts expanded in China and eventually into Vietnam and other restricted parts of Asia.  Brother Andrew soon began to visit Africa, Cuba, and Central and South America, providing Bibles, training, and prayer support for persecuted Christians in over 60 countries.

God's Smuggler, the account of these early years, was published in 1967, selling over ten million copies in over 30 languages.  For the first time, Western Christians became aware of the struggles and suffering of their fellow believers.  Many felt called to the ministry or mission field after reading of Brother Andrew's experiences.  Still others found salvation after hearing about God's faithfulness on his travels.

Through God's Smuggler, Brother Andrew's small Dutch mission became an international ministry with offices in 20 countries, 200 full-time workers, and thousands of volunteers.  Millions of Bibles have been taken into countries where Christianity is still either prohibited or severely sanctioned.  Several years ago, one million Bibles were smuggled into China in a single night on a custom-built barge carrying 232 tons of the Word of God!
By the year 2000, over 80 percent of the world's population will live in areas where the Gospel is forbidden or restricted.  For this reason, Brother Andrew has traveled extensively to the Middle East since 1985 and is gravely concerned about the conditions of Christians living under Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world.  In some Muslim countries, it is illegal to own a Bible, pray aloud, or to wear a cross, and punishment may range from flogging to imprisonment to execution.

And so, sixty years later, the need is greater than ever.  Because open Doors is an "end time" ministry, Brother Andrew feels that it is imperative to get involved with the Middle Eastern countries that will figure so prominently in the last days.  Until the Great Commission is fulfilled, Brother Andrew has every intention to continue being "God's Smuggler."