pastor de bijl reflects on his time smuggling for the gospel

by Susan Fletcher

Picture of Pastor De Bijl

Years after the height of his daring missions, Andrew de Bijl—widely known as Brother Andrew—would often sit quietly and reflect on the extraordinary path his life had taken. What began as a simple calling to serve God had led him into some of the most dangerous regions of the world, where carrying a Bible could mean imprisonment—or worse. Yet for him, the risks were never the focus. It was always about obedience.

In the early days of his ministry, Brother Andrew became deeply aware of the spiritual isolation faced by Christians living behind the Iron Curtain. In many of these countries, Bibles were scarce or outright banned, and believers were forced to practice their faith in secrecy. Churches operated under constant surveillance, and access to Scripture was limited to worn, handwritten pages—if it existed at all. It was this reality that stirred something within him: a conviction that no Christian should be without the Word of God.

What followed would become the foundation of a remarkable and often dangerous mission. Traveling across heavily guarded borders, Brother Andrew began smuggling Bibles into countries where they were forbidden. He would later recount moments of intense tension—cars searched, guards watching closely, and boxes of Bibles hidden in plain sight. Before each crossing, he prayed a simple but profound prayer: “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.”

Time and again, he described what felt like miracles. Border guards would wave him through without inspection, or overlook the very bags that contained contraband Scriptures. While some may have attributed it to luck or timing, Brother Andrew saw it as something far deeper—a testament to faith in action. These moments would later be captured in his well-known book, God’s Smuggler, which brought global attention to the plight of persecuted Christians and inspired countless others to act.

But as he reflected in later years, it wasn’t the danger that stayed with him most—it was the people. He spoke often of the quiet strength of believers who gathered in secret, who risked everything for the chance to read a single page of Scripture. He remembered their gratitude, their resilience, and their unwavering faith in the face of oppression. “They didn’t ask for comfort,” he once said. “They asked for Bibles.”

His work eventually grew into the international ministry Open Doors, which continues to support persecuted Christians around the world today. What started with one man and a car full of Bibles became a global movement—proof that small acts of faith can have far-reaching impact.

Looking back, Brother Andrew never framed his life as extraordinary. Instead, he saw it as a simple response to a calling. “God didn’t ask me to be successful,” he reflected. “He asked me to be faithful.” And in that faithfulness—carried across borders, hidden in suitcases, and delivered into eager hands—he helped bring hope to countless believers who had long been waiting in the shadows.