Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors and known around the world as ‘God’s Smuggler’ (also the title of his best-selling book), has died aged 94.
Brother Andrew was born 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 1955 he travelled to Poland, with a suitcase full of Christian tracts, ostensibly for a Communist youth rally. There, he discovered that churches behind the Iron Curtain were isolated and in need of encouragement. He then started smuggling Bibles to them in a blue Volkswagen Beetle.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands knighted Brother Andrew in 1993. In 1997, he received the World Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Award, recognising his lifetime of service to suffering Christians and his passion for evangelical ministry.
Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, said: ‘When Brother Andrew started his ministry, little did he imagine that within 60 years it would embrace millions of Christians worldwide. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy.’
Former City banker turned author and speaker Jeremy Marshall said: ‘My late father, a pastor in a small church in Hertfordshire, was inspired by Brother Andrew. Most summers in the 1970s he took my mother and four children Bible smuggling to the USSR and other Iron Curtain countries. Some of his ministerial friends urged him not to take his small children as it was far too risky. But Dad ignored this as he thought it would do us good. Also, having cute (well, my sisters were anyway) small blonde children was good cover.
‘Bible smuggling appealed to my father’s buccaneering instincts and – with Gods help – nothing bad ever happened. The biggest risk was not the border guards but the state of the roads. Occasionally Dad got hauled off for questioning by the police, but people regarded us strange Westerners with fascination.
‘I found church exceptionally boring as a teenager and often said so. Part of that was sinful rebellion, but part was that church felt very much like school: sitting for hours listening to people talk. Bible smuggling was utterly different: it was engaging, adventurous, exciting and made a huge impression on me. It made me ask “why are these people willing to suffer for their faith?” The only answer that seemed to make any sense was because the Christian faith was true and transformational – otherwise it made no sense at all.
‘Brother Andrew inspired Dad who inspired me to become a Christian. We can inspire each other even from beyond the grave. We can all with God’s help make a difference, even in a small way, within our own sphere and in our own generation.’
