Group Watch: Open Doors with Brother Andrew

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Acronym/Code: OPEN
Principals: Brother Andrew, founder and president.

Categories: Religious

Background:
Open Doors is an international organization founded by a Dutch evangelist who goes by the pseudonym "Brother Andrew".  The organization gained its reputation by smuggling Bibles into areas it considers "closed" or "restricted" in terms of religious freedom. In surveying Open Doors activities, such areas turn out to be primarily communist countries. The organization also conducts seminars and training sessions and provides Christian literature and training materials to countries which are thought to be "threatened" or "free. " Prior to his involvement in religious activities, Andrew fought as a Dutch soldier against the independence movement in Indonesia. In that capacity, he participated in a massacre of civilians. Open Doors' ministry to the "Suffering Church" in restricted countries began in 1955 when Brother Andrew packed his Volkswagen with Bibles and delivered them to Eastern Bloc countries.  Brother Andrew later popularized his work in the 1967 book, God's Smuggler. The philosophy of Brother Andrew and of the organization is that "the Bible changes people, and changed people change the situation. " Christians in the "free world," according to Brother Andrew, were put there by God in order to use their great resources and freedoms to help persecuted believers in other countries. The organization is motivated by the commandment of Christ to "go into all the world and preach the gospel," known as the Great Commission.  It adds to this mission an anti-Communist analysis. In a televised special on Central America (which showed an Open Doors fundraiser being introduced by Ronald Reagan), narrator and actor Dean Jones described the group's perspective: "The revolution now in Latin America," he explained, "is only a foretaste of what will happen once the Russians have a strong foothold in Africa. Once they can afford the men and military power, they will move into Latin America in full strength, concentrating on Central America. " Jones went on to express Brother Andrew's belief that the Soviet intention "is to first cut off North America from South America, then to engulf all of the southern hemisphere in revolution. And then, finally, to isolate North America from the rest of the world. . . . " The film shows Brother Andrew with U. S. -backed Salvadoran troops on a search-and-destroy mission against guerrilla forces. "Better to go to them before they come to us," Andrew declared. ". . . If we do not go to the heathen with the gospel," he warned, "they will come to us with revolutionaries and occupation armies. " Latin America is seen as "the battlefield for the hearts and minds of young people who face an uncertain future," according to Brother Andrew. "Unfriendly political systems," he advises, "just as untaught religious sects, are the unpaid bills of the church. It's time we pay. . . now or later. . . ." Open Doors now has seven regional bases and 13 sub-bases in what it calls "the most strategic areas of the world. "

Countries: AB, AN, BL, CI, CU, CZ, ES, ET, GT, MZ, NI, PO, PU, SF, UD, UR, VN.

Funding:
Total support and revenue for Open Doors with Brother Andrew, Inc. (USA) amounted to $5,030,370. Of this total, $1,260,548 was spent on Bible and literature distribution; $209,148 on field research; $848,660 on public awareness and education; and $888,941 on other forms of ministry.

Activities:
Open Doors carries out a number of ministry support activities in "restricted," "threatened," and "free" countries. Its most widely known operations are those which involve transporting Bibles and other materials into "closed" or "restricted" countries. It claims to have delivered 70,000 Bibles to Poland while martial law was in effect. It carried out similar programs in Ethiopia, Cuba, Vietnam, and the Soviet Union.  In one clandestine late night mission off the coast of China, Open Doors spirited ashore one million Bibles weighing 232 tons. More recently in China, Open Doors has delivered 63,000 Bibles and New Testaments. In addition to the Bibles, Open Doors has delivered aids such as hymnals, cassette tapes, study materials for pastors, and even food and clothing to its "contacts" in restricted countries.   It has also distributed 50,000 Christian newspapers to soldiers fighting in Angola and has provided tape recorders for pastors in Latin America. The group also works in countries which it considers to be threatened by revolutionary movements. In such areas, Open Doors provides training and leadership seminars in order to prepare local Christian groups for the "persecution and suffering which may be imminent. " It has conducted training camps along these lines in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America. These provide intensive study of the Bible and of church building techniques. It has sponsored "Survival and Victory" seminars and training conferences in Southeast Asia and Latin America, including Central America and the Philippines. The seminars focus on Biblical messages about persecution and the importance of discipleship and fellowship. They stress not only physical survival but "victorious Christian living" in all situations and are designed to help believers prepare for persecution. The sessions also stress the idea that communism is actually a religion, an "atheist philosophy" which uses "religious symbolism to put over its revolutionary theories. " Its radio ministry in Latin America, known as Al Punto, is broadcast over 500 stations and provides what Open Doors calls "a daily alternative to revolution. "

• Mozambique: The organization delivered 15,000 full color flip charts to help evangelize illiterate groups.

• Nicaragua: A volume published by Open Doors included a chapter which gave a surprisingly compassionate account of the Nicaraguan revolution, the motivations of the people in overthrowing Somoza, and the revolutionary Sandinista regime. It also discussed Sandinista social programs, specifically focusing on the literacy crusade. Brother Andrew discussed the implications of changes underway in the country and the role for Open Doors: "Cesar wants to create a completely new man in this country," Brother Andrew observed, "and we should help him. We know that only God can make a man completely new, so we, in Open Doors, should help provide the Word of God to those who are learning to read and write. Then there will be many new people all over Nicaragua. Jesus will have made them new through His Word!"

• Philippines: Open Doors has conducted "More Than Conquerors" and "Survival and Victory" seminars.

• South Africa: Open Doors has for years maintained a base in South Africa from which to launch projects in countries such as Angola and Mozambique. In South Africa itself, Open Doors works primarily with independent black churches. The organization believes that, by mixing Christianity and African traditions, these independent churches dilute the gospel. According to Open Doors, the resulting confusion--combined with inadequate pastoral training--make both the black clergy and their congregations receptive to revolutionary thought and/or activity. An October l988 article on South Africa in the group's newsletter frames unrest in the country as the work of thugs, bullies, and intimidators. It does not consider the impact of apartheid or other structural mechanisms of oppression and repression on popular sentiments or activities. Open Doors argues that "the battle for South Africa is essentially a spiritual one, and must be fought with spiritual weapons. The gospel is the only cure for revolution!" As part of its work in the country, Open Doors conducts "Project Timothy," a Bible training course aimed at black pastors. The course is designed to help those ministers repudiate the "theology of revolution" by exposing "doctrinal errors" in the independent churches. The group's goal is to train 3000 leaders of these churches.

• Soviet Union: Open Doors gave one million New Testaments in celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Christianity in the Soviet Union at a total estimated cost of $1. 75 million. Unlike previous operations, this one was conducted openly and not through couriers. Nonetheless, the organization continues its regular Bible deliveries to the USSR through "unofficial channels. "  Open Doors sells an eight card Christmas postcard pack printed in Russian. The organization believes changes which have taken place in the Soviet Union were the "direct result" of the group's "Seven Year Prayer Campaign" for the USSR begun in 1984.

Government Connections:

• Ronald Reagan was shown introducing a fundraiser by Open Doors
• The board of directors included a retired U. S. army general, Raymond O. Miller and former Secretary of the Navy, J. William Middendorf, who was later to be named by Ronald Reagan to be the U. S. representative to the Organization of American States.

Private Connections:

• An Open Doors film, "Inside China: The Unseen Church," is hosted by Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
• The Open Doors News Service promoted a critic of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. These publications accuse the Sandinistas of religious persecution and reportedly were financed by the CIA, receiving logistical assistance for the production of the book, Nicaragua: Christians Under Fire.

Misc:

• Brother Andrew believes that "God has his hand especially on the United States of America because in America there is all the potential for world evangelism, and world evangelism is God's primary purpose. I don't have to agree with its president or its way of capitalism, but I have to learn to look at that country the way God looks at it. "
• The Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (EFMA), an umbrella organization of faith missions and conservative denominations, turned down Open Doors for membership because of the latter organization's policy of publicizing its illegal activities.
• David Stoll, a researcher on evangelicals and the religious Right in Latin America, describes Open Doors as among those "agencies which refrained from explicit support for the [Nicaraguan] contras but identified so closely with North American interests that they made evangelism sound like a geopolitical insurance policy for North American churchgoers. . . "

This presentation is a summary of files available through GroupWatch: Profiles of U. S. Private Organizations and Churches as compiled by the Interhemispheric Resource Center, Box 4506, Albuquerque, NM 87196. < http://www.irc-online.org/ > See note at top of page.