Unsure of Gods will for his life, Andrew spent a Sunday afternoon alone with God, speaking aloud with God. Through this time, Andrew realized that he needed to say ‘yes’ to God who was calling him to mission. Before this, Andrew had been saying ‘Yes BUT I am lame.’ ‘Yes BUT I have no education’. Andrew said yes. In an amazing instant, Andrew made this step of yes, and in God’s grace he healed Andrews lame leg. Andrew goes to England Astonishing anecdotes of complete trust in the Savior repeatedly brought tears to my eyes. I want to trust God and love people like Brother Andrew does.

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. Brother Andrew, who in 1993 was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, married Corrine in 1958. She died in 2018 and he is survived by their five children. Cornelia van der Bijl Passes Away at 86". missionsbox.org. 3 February 2018. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018 . Retrieved 17 November 2018. It's easy to forget how dangerous it was to go behind the "Iron Curtain." The book captures the excitement and danger of smuggling Bibles and tracts to various countries in Eastern Europe, as well as to Russian. (For example, in the chapter, "For Russian with Love.") Many of the stories involve his worn Volkswagen beetle, which one mechanic claimed could only be running through God's miraculous intervention.He was haunted, after, by the sight of a young mother and nursing boy killed by the same bullet. He started wearing a crazy straw hat into the jungle, hoping it would get him killed. Van der Bijl adopted the motto, “Get smart—lose your mind.” 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. He would tell us as he has told many others, “The Bible is full of ordinary people who went to impossible places and did wondrous things simply because they decided to follow Jesus.”

Andrew, like everyone, did not start out life as a Christian, he was struggling with life-purpose into his early adulthood. He became a Christian and had a growing desire for knowledge of the Word of God and an eagerness to put into practice what he learned and to share the Gospel with others. I also enjoyed the special features at the end of the book, especially the interview in which Andrew talked about his recent ministry in the Middle East. The number of adventures and close calls he has had is astounding. (You'll have to read the book to find out!) But his fearlessness and unquestioning obedience is certainly inspiring. John and Elizabeth Sherrill's dedication to this carefully written and inspiring story touched my own faith-nerve--to live more by faith from day to day. Brother Andrew's openness to sacrifice and prayer were just two topics exemplified in this true thriller of a Bible smuggler's life.

He spent two years studying to be a missionary at the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade school in Glasgow, Scotland. Brother Andrew's story remains as inspiring today as it was thirty-five years ago, and with these new releases it will motivate a whole new generation to risk everything to follow God's call.” It redirected me completely,” Fouad said. “He knew how to slowly enter the presence of God, and only then find answers to prayer.” As the work grew he was joined by others and began a work of smuggling Bibles to believers in Communist countries. And today, Brother Andrew's small Dutch mission has become an international ministry working in more than 60 nations to strengthen the Persecuted Church. Anne van der Bijl, a Dutch evangelical known to Christians worldwide as Brother Andrew, the man who smuggled Bibles into closed Communist countries, has died at the age of 94.

Leaving bible college in 1955, God guided Andy to attend a Communist trip to Warsaw. This would be the first of many trips into Communist countries. The world first became aware of Brother Andrew’s ministry when his biography, God’s Smuggler, written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, was published in 1967. It was translated into 35 languages and sold 10 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling Christian books of all time. A comic-book adaptation was published in 1972. During the Second World War he became involved with the Dutch Resistance, undertaking acts of sabotage against the occupying Germans such as adding his mother’s precious sugar ration to the petrol tank of a general’s car. 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.

The Wonder and the Mystery of ‘The Incarnate Deity’

Within a year, Mao Zedong had died and most of the conference participants were able to start working once again in the People’s Republic of China. It gives you an overview of the life of 'Brother Andrew, as he later became known, he was a Bible smuggler. 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. When the doors to communist Europe were opened in the 1960’s, Brother Andrew began to serve and strengthen the churches in the Middle East and Islamic world. Brother Andrew receives religious liberty award in 2007 I do not often say that something has changed my life, but the nonfiction book God's Smuggler has changed my life. The man called Brother Andrew (name changed for safety) who lived in Holland before and during the Iron Curtain years, impacted Europe with his faithfulness like no other person I'm aware of.