God's Smuggler in Generation Joshua

May 22, 2009 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: faith, sonlight, former-favorites

What would it be like to live a life unreservedly sold out for God? What would it be like to never know where the Royal Way may lead? What would it be like to trust your Heavenly Father so completely that you willingly walk into danger to share His Word?
Andrew van der Bijl, also known as Brother Andrew, knows. Traveling into communist countries during the 1950s and ‘60s, he risked his life to bring God’s Word to the spiritually starving. His book “God’s Smuggler” is an autobiography, an answer, What would it be like to live a life unreservedly sold out for God? What would it be like to never know where the Royal Way may lead? What would it be like to trust your Heavenly Father so completely that you willingly walk into danger to share His Word?
Andrew van der Bijl, also known as Brother Andrew, knows. Traveling into communist countries during the 1950s and ‘60s, he risked his life to bring God’s Word to the spiritually starving. His book “God’s Smuggler” is an autobiography, an answer, and a hope in the knowledge of what God is doing in spite of what seems to be going on around you.
“From the time I first put on wooden shoes…I dreamed of derring-do.”As a boy Andrew lived through the German invasion of his hometown in Witte, Holland; as a young man restlessness drove him to join the army and fight a losing battle in the Dutch East Indies. By the time a bullet in the ankle ended his military career, Andrew was depressed, spiritually lost, and facing the possibility of being a cripple for life. God, though, was not done with him. A ‘strange compulsion’ began driving Andrew, he began to devour his Bible and attend church services every night, until finally God got him to the point where he could go no farther. As Brother Andrew says, “I turned myself over to God – lock, stock, and adventure. There wasn’t much faith in my prayer. I just said, ‘Lord, if you will show me the way, I will follow You. Amen.’ It was as simple as that.”
Little did he know how far God would show him the way into the ministry, into the workplace, and finally behind the Iron Curtain. With God providing and never quite knowing where he would be lead next, Brother Andrew’s story is of a man whose dependence on God would enable to him to strengthen persecuted believers all over the world.
The book is filled with adventure, but my favorite parts are not the near death experiences as much as the joy of those who received the Bibles. One of my favorite parts was Andrew’s visit to Rumania, where, unable to find a translator, he communicates by Bible verse. For example, 1 Corinthians 16:20, “All the brethren greet you.”
This is a book that challenges your faith, your thinking, and your life.
One question continued to plague me after reading God’s Smuggler: what now? It is encouraging to read about what God did during the Communist control of Germany and Russia, but the Iron Curtain has fallen. A reality to my parents and grandparents is simply a fact in the history books for my generation. Did Andrew’s ministry crumble with the Berlin Wall?
As fascinating as the book was, I was equally amazed with what I found when I did a little research on Open Doors International, the ministry that came out of Brother Andrew’s work. In 2007, Open Doors had offices in 27 countries. In 2008, 3.9 million pieces of literature, including Bibles and training materials, were delivered from Open Doors USA to countries and regions around the world, including Vietnam, Egypt, Central Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Besides distributing Bibles, Open Doors provides pastors with discipleship training, sponsors Bible colleges, offers legal aid, and helps get printing presses, radios, cassette players, photo copiers, etc. to those who need them and so much more!
With the fall of communism in Europe, Brother Andrew’s work took a new turn strengthening the heavily persecuted Christian believers in Muslim countries. Now at age 81, he continues to speak and write. His latest book was published in 2007!
Perhaps one of the most appealing things about Brother Andrew is his very ordinariness. In the beginning of “God’s Smuggler” he says, “I can’t imagine why you’d want to write about me…who’d be interested? I’m the son of a village blacksmith, never even graduated from high school. I’m just an ordinary person.” And yet through him God was able to strengthen and encourage His people, millions of Bibles were smuggled to the persecuted, and God’s love was told around the world.
He was just an ordinary person...like you and me?
I strongly encourage everybody to read this book and check out Open Doors International’s website at http://sb.od.org/. More than encourage, I insist. You can never forget it. It will change your life, strengthen your faith, and lead you in a new realization as the wonder of our God.

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Sep 03, 2009 Tori rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, for-genj-book-club

Written for book club:
It's a beautiful Fall day. You're driving your car across a boarder into another country, a country you have always dreamed of going to. But you don't feel carefree and lighthearted. Beads of sweat have formed on your neck, and you are praying constantly asking God to hide the hundreds of Bibles that are in your car from the boarder patrol. You know that if someone finds out about your cargo, you are in for a lot of trouble - and worse yet, churches around the country will Written for book club:
It's a beautiful Fall day. You're driving your car across a boarder into another country, a country you have always dreamed of going to. But you don't feel carefree and lighthearted. Beads of sweat have formed on your neck, and you are praying constantly asking God to hide the hundreds of Bibles that are in your car from the boarder patrol. You know that if someone finds out about your cargo, you are in for a lot of trouble - and worse yet, churches around the country will never see the precious Bibles that they are forced to go without.
Most of us don't know that feeling - the suspense, and the relief when you get through - but a few people in this world do. One of these people is Brother Andrew, and very fortunately for us, he has written an amazing book about his adventures, called God's Smuggler. You feel like you really are about to cross that boarder with Andrew when you pick this book up!
The book starts with Andrews boyhood. He tells of a little town in Holland where he grew up. The life of this boy who went on to become a person to change the world for God was spent, surprisingly - skipping Church. He would sit in the back and slip out, coming back in time so that no one knew he was gone. If he caught enough of the chatter between people leaving afterwards, he was able to talk with his parents about the sermon so they would have no suspicion that he was gone.
Then came life as a soldier, and slowly Brother Andrew's life sunk into drinking and course language. Then there was a hard shock to him: a bullet wound in his leg and a medical discharge. What was he to do now? Providentially, a letter found it's way to his sweetheart back home telling her of how horrid he was, how he drank and cursed. Through the mail, they began studying the Bible together. This would be one of the first steps the would turn Andrew's life around forever. And what a wonderful thing it was that his life changed! He would go on to do what could be nothing but the work of God.
He finally read his mothers Bible. He went to church, not just on Sunday, but on every opportunity he could get. He went to meetings, and then, one day, he found himself talking in front of a group of people telling of his conversion and what it had done in his life.
He felt God's calling into the missionary field, and he started down that path. First he started witnessing in a factory, then in meetings around his town, and finally he attended missionary school. There he learned faith in God and how the Lord would provide for his needs in His ways. God used a simple magazine to direct Andrews life. The magazine mentioned Warsaw and a youth conference to which everyone would be invited.
Andrew went, and he was amazed. He knew that he had found God's calling there. He knew that the believers sorely needed encouragement and most of all, they desperately needed Bibles. The day finally came when he crossed the first Iron Curtain boarder with the precious books. Would his faith be strong enough for the daunting task ahead?
God's Smuggler is an amazing book. It is one that is easy to pick up and yet hard to put down. With it's action and suspense and strong Christian theme, it is a wonderful novel about an inspiring true story.
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