Born in the Netherlands in 1928, Andy van der Bijl, was an unlikely candidate to become one of the world’s most famous missionaries. Known today as Brother Andrew, Andy, still alive today, is known for his mission of bringing the Gospel behind the Iron Curtain and to many other persecuted nations around the world. One of his main tools for spreading the Gospel was to smuggle Bibles to places where, if he were caught, could mean a prison sentence or even death. This humble man of God was willing to put his life at risk daily by sharing the Good News and Bibles in places where Christianity was forbidden.
Andy was born into a very poor family that took him to church on a regular basis. However, he didn’t care much for church and in his early life showed little interest in God. Then in 1939 World War II began. When the Nazi’s took over the Netherlands Andy spent much of his time running from the Nazi’s and grew to hate tyranny. After the war in 1946 he decided to fight against all those who opposed freedom and enlisted in the Dutch Resistance Army as an 18 year-old. Seeing and participating in the horrors of war and the untimely death of his mother, while in the army, caused Andrew to drink heavily. Despite showing little interest in God, Andrew still always kept his mother’s Bible with him. If this were not bad enough at age 20 he was shot in the ankle thus, ending his military career.
But as providence would have it being shot in the angle turned out to be the beginning of Andrew’s search for God. You see while laying in a hospital bed recovering, his caregivers happened to be Franciscan nuns. These nuns were always so happy that it caused Andrew to ask them why they were so joyful all the time. One of the nuns, motioning towards his mother’s Bible said: “It’s the love of Christ. Why it’s right here in the book beside you.”1 This experience convicted Andrew and became the turning point in his life because it caused him to wonder about the Gospel.
After being discharged from the hospital Andrew started going to church seeking to find his purpose in life. He also began to read his Bible and one night while speaking to God he prayed: “Lord if You will show me the way, I will follow You. Amen.”2 As a new convert, Andrew was hungry to know what God wanted him to do with the rest of his life.
The answer came as Andrew was attending a missionary meeting in his home town of Witte where evangelist, Arne Donker shared on the importance of missions. From that day forward he knew that missions was his calling. Andrew felt led to attend Glasgow Bible College in Scotland but was questioning how his lack of education and his crippled leg would allow him to go. But after a day of prayer in which Andrew surrendered everything to God his ankle was miraculously healed. After attending Glasgow Bible College for two years, he felt that the biggest lesson he learned was how to live by faith.
After completing college, Andrew saw a magazine ad for a youth rally in communist Poland and just knew he wanted to go. Desiring to share the gospel in communist Poland – off he went. While in Poland Andrew wandered from his group, which could have gotten him arrested, but nonetheless, decided to explore Warsaw on his own. What he saw broke his heart. He saw the extreme poverty of the Polish people and even worse, their spiritual poverty; not knowing about Jesus. Communism had a devastating effect on everyone he met. As a result of what he saw, Andrew decided that his mission in life was to bring Bibles and the Gospel into communist countries behind the Iron Curtain to the world’s most persecuted people.
At first Andrew went out alone to the countries behind the Iron Curtain – a most dangerous mission. He would first share with the churches in Holland the plight of the persecuted church in the communist countries he planned to visit in order to enlist their prayers and financial support. He would then use the funds to purchase and smuggle Bibles, as well as to share the Gospel, with these imprisoned persecuted people. He drove his Volkswagen Beetle from communist country to country packing Bible in his car. These Bibles were provided to the many people who were hungry for God’s word. In addition, Andrew shared the Gospel with those who had no exposure to Jesus.
Living in constant danger from guards and government officials, Andrew learned to rely totally on God’s gracious protection. His famous prayer to God was: “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to your children. When you were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.”3 And praise God, the Lord answered his prayers – many times the guards missed the Bibles he packed in his Beetle’s backseat.
After several years of traveling alone a man named Hans joined Andrew in his missionary endeavors. Soon a group of people joined his team and this wonderful ministry called Open Doors was born. The ministry today is on the ground in over 60 countries sharing Bibles and the Gospel to some of the most persecuted people on earth. According to the Open Doors website: “For over 60 years, Open Doors has worked in the world’s most oppressive regions, empowering and equipping persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries by providing Bibles, training, and programs to help strengthen the church.”4
Can one man make a difference? Just look at this single Dutchman and his dedication to the cause of Christ. Today millions of persecuted believers are being supplied with Bibles and millions more are hearing the gospel for the first time thanks to the boldness and fearlessness of Brother Andrew. The least we can do is pray for the persecuted church around the globe. Why not adopt a persecuted country today and add it to your daily prayer list – I guarantee you will be blessed and only time will tell the impact your prayers will have.
If you are interested in learning more about the persecuted church today then watch this short 4 minute video and order The World Watch List, which shares the top 50 countries where it’s most difficult to follow Jesus. Just click on the link below for the video and information on getting the free watch list.5
1 Brother Andrew: God’s Smuggler for Missions (bethanygu.edu)
2 Brother Andrew: God’s Smuggler for Missions (bethanygu.edu)
3 Brother Andrew: God’s Smuggler for Missions (bethanygu.edu)
4Meet President and CEO of Open Doors USA, David Curry – Open Doors USA – Open Doors USA
5World Watch List 2022 | Learn More | Open Doors USA – Open Doors USA