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Brother Andrew
Brother Andrew (1928–2022). Born Anne van der Bijl on May 11, 1928, in Sint Pancras, Netherlands, to a poor blacksmith and an invalid mother, Brother Andrew was a Dutch missionary and evangelist renowned for smuggling Bibles into Communist countries during the Cold War. After limited schooling, disrupted by Nazi occupation, he joined the Dutch army at 17, serving in Indonesia, where he was wounded and began reading a Bible, leading to his conversion in 1950. In 1955, attending a Communist youth congress in Poland, he discovered isolated churches desperate for Scriptures, inspiring his lifelong mission based on Revelation 3:2, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains.” Using a blue Volkswagen Beetle, he smuggled millions of Bibles across the Iron Curtain, founding Open Doors in 1955 to support persecuted Christians, now active in over 60 nations. Andrew authored God’s Smuggler (1967) with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, selling over 10 million copies, and Light Force (2004), detailing outreach to Islamic groups like Hamas. He ministered globally, from China to Cuba, and was knighted by Queen Beatrix in 1993. Married in 1958 to Corry, with five children, he died on September 27, 2022, in the Netherlands. He said, “The real calling is not a certain place or career but to everyday obedience.”
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Sermon Summary
Brother Andrew shares his journey of failures and setbacks as he pursued his calling in ministry. Despite being rejected by the World Evangelization Crusade school and facing debilitating health issues, he chose to leave the school honorably rather than graduate under circumstances that would reflect poorly on the institution. With no degree, no job, and no clear future, he felt compelled to follow a bold vision of attending a Communist youth conference in Poland. His story illustrates the importance of faith and perseverance in the face of adversity, trusting that God has a plan even when our paths seem uncertain.
Failures
In 1953 Andy intended to begin study at the World Evangelization Crusade school in Scotland. Still in Holland, he was informed WEC had no openings. He went to England anyway. His English was not only unintelligible but laughable. After he was finally allowed entrance to the school, within days his back 'went out'. Often he would crumple from excruciating pain and just lie wherever he fell until someone found him. After two years he realized his graduation was going to put the school in a very awkward position. Because of his disability the WEC could not offer him a position as a missionary. Word would spread that the school betrayed its own graduates. Andy loved the school and its mission. There was only one honorable thing to do. Andy left without graduating. At the age of 27 he returned to Holland with no degree, no position, no money and no future plans - other than a wild notion of going behind the Iron Curtain to a youth conference in Poland - a Communist youth conference at that!
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Brother Andrew (1928–2022). Born Anne van der Bijl on May 11, 1928, in Sint Pancras, Netherlands, to a poor blacksmith and an invalid mother, Brother Andrew was a Dutch missionary and evangelist renowned for smuggling Bibles into Communist countries during the Cold War. After limited schooling, disrupted by Nazi occupation, he joined the Dutch army at 17, serving in Indonesia, where he was wounded and began reading a Bible, leading to his conversion in 1950. In 1955, attending a Communist youth congress in Poland, he discovered isolated churches desperate for Scriptures, inspiring his lifelong mission based on Revelation 3:2, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains.” Using a blue Volkswagen Beetle, he smuggled millions of Bibles across the Iron Curtain, founding Open Doors in 1955 to support persecuted Christians, now active in over 60 nations. Andrew authored God’s Smuggler (1967) with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, selling over 10 million copies, and Light Force (2004), detailing outreach to Islamic groups like Hamas. He ministered globally, from China to Cuba, and was knighted by Queen Beatrix in 1993. Married in 1958 to Corry, with five children, he died on September 27, 2022, in the Netherlands. He said, “The real calling is not a certain place or career but to everyday obedience.”