When in September 2022 the Dutchman Andy van der Bijl, better known as Brother Andrew, died, many obituaries emphasised his dramatic role in the Fifties and Sixties as ‘God’s Smuggler’. Yet Andrew was a man who did far more than merely take Bibles to closed lands.
Andrew was born in the Netherlands in 1928 into a poor churchgoing family. His teenage years were spent under the bitter German occupation which limited his education but gave him familiarity with oppression. He became involved with the Dutch Resistance, undertaking perilous acts against the occupying Nazis.
When Holland was liberated in 1945, Andrew joined the Dutch army and, without any faith to restrain him, was involved in brutal action in what is now Indonesia. Shot, he was discharged and, while recuperating in hospital, began to read the Bible. He underwent a profound conversion to Christ, accepted a call to mission and studied at the Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ college in Glasgow.
In 1955 Andrew felt he should attend a World Youth Congress in Poland, designed to proclaim the triumphs of communism. We may need reminding that after the Second World War, all of Eastern Europe had become communist regimes under the control of Moscow. Choosing to believe the propaganda which said that freedom and prosperity continued, Western Europe had little interest in the state of individuals and churches beyond the ‘Iron Curtain’. Andrew took a Bible and hundreds of gospel tracts and, exploring beyond the facade presented to him, found isolated and demoralised churches with persecuted believers who hungered for Christian literature and support from the West. Andrew had found his calling and ministry.
For the next ten years, Brother Andrew (as he chose to call himself for security reasons) undertook a succession of visits to Eastern Europe carrying Bibles and Christian literature and, importantly, bringing support to oppressed Christians who felt they had been forgotten. Trusting that God was big enough to protect him, he often had the material openly visible in his vehicle praying simply, ‘Lord, when you were on earth, you made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind.’ Despite difficulties, Andrew found himself extraordinarily protected. Attracting growing support in finance and willing co-workers, he founded Open Doors, a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians.
In 1967, with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, Andrew produced God’s Smuggler. An inspiring, challenging book, it became an enormous success, ultimately selling over 10 million copies. The book had mixed consequences for Andrew. As the world learnt about the appalling state of Christianity in Eastern Europe it brought support for Open Doors. Nevertheless, Andrew was now labelled as ‘God’s Smuggler’. With his cover blown, he found he could no longer visit the communist world himself.
Andrew adopted the role of organiser and speaker but now also looked beyond Europe. Turning to China, where Bibles were in desperate short supply, he came up with an audacious project. In 1981 a million Bibles were landed secretly on the Chinese coast in a single night. Rapidly distributed, they contributed to explosive growth of the house churches in China.
In 1989 European communism collapsed and Brother Andrew turned to the Islamic world. He made numerous visits to support suffering Christians but also to reach out with the gospel to those who were most hostile to the West. He talked with extremist Palestinians, members of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Taliban in Afghanistan and embittered refugees everywhere. As gracious, gentle and approachable as ever, he made friends, gave away Bibles and spoke about Jesus.
Brother Andrew was married in 1958 and was knighted in 1993. In a world in which technology changes but persecution persists, Open Doors continues its many ministries in over sixty countries.
Brother Andrew would have hated being considered a hero. ‘I am not an evangelical stuntman,’ he once said. ‘I am just an ordinary guy.’ Nevertheless, he was a hero and let me suggest three reasons.
First, he was a man who combined vision with compassion. Throughout his life Brother Andrew clearly saw not only the challenges faced by God’s church but what could be done to help overcome them. Yet his clear-sighted vision was always tempered by love. Brother Andrew did it simply in loving solidarity with suffering Christians.
Second, he was a man who combined conviction with determination. Many of us know what we have to do but somehow never get around to doing it. Brother Andrew did. He would see a need, feel compelled to respond and then act. In his early years, Brother Andrew’s bold voyages into communist Europe saw him risk beatings, prison and worse. Later, he showed a different type of courageous determination in rejecting physical threats abroad and criticism at home to reach out to those who were seen as the enemies of the West.
Finally, Brother Andrew was a man who combined action with expectation. Andrew acted with a confident faith that God would not fail him. His trust was not in himself, but in God. He set out believing that God would act to protect and provide, guide and hide. And that’s exactly what he found God did.
This side of the Second Coming there will always be both a suffering church and those who appear to be our enemies. We need to be those who, like Brother Andrew, are prepared to reach out to both.
J.John
Reverend Canon
