God’s Smuggler is an inspirational story about a missionary named Andrew. Andrew grew up in a small village in Holland, and as a child, always had a sense of adventure; seeking them out, and creating some when none existed. One day, his town was taken and occupied by the Nazis. Andrew would go out and try to disrupt them in any way possible; whether it was throwing fireworks and cherry bombs at passing patrols, or pouring sugar into the commander’s car engine.
When the war ended, Andrew, 17, decided to join the army to create yet more adventures in the East Indies. He ended up leading a very immoral life in the army; going to pubs and drinking his worries away, having no problem killing innocents, and, despite his friends and families wishes, refusing to turn to God. After spending 3 years in the East Indies he was ambushed and shot in the ankle. His friends carried him back to camp, and put him in a hospital. Before he had gone into battle, he had written a letter to a friend in Holland named Thile that he never intended to send. After he was shot, one of his buddies found the letter and sent it. Inside the letter, Andrew had written about all the immoralities he had committed.  While in the hospital, a nurse came in and gave him a bible he had brought with him, saying she had found it at the bottom of his suitcase. He took it and began to read and realized just how significant God’s word was. A few days later, he got a response from Thile, saying that his heart could be fixed by the word of God.
After months of being in the hospital, he was allowed to return home, crippled, and never able to run again. After being welcomed home, he went and told Thile that he was a changed man, and had turned to God. He decided to become a missionary, even though Thile tried to convince him otherwise.
He decided to go to a missionary school in England called the WEC. There, he learned English and learned to trust God to deliver his needs. One day, Andrew found a magazine, and in it, an article about a gathering in Warsaw Poland. He decided then and there, that his first stop was Warsaw. It was his first trip behind the Iron Curtain, and there, he discovered how the communists tried to replace love of God, with love of Government. After the visit, on his way back to Holland, Andrew was contemplating what should be done about the countries behind the Iron Curtain. He opened his bible to Revelations, and saw God speak to him for the first time, his finger rested on the verse “Awake and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death…”Andrew realized that his life as a missionary, belonged behind the Iron Curtain.
When he got back, he started giving sermons in Holland about Christians in Warsaw. A group of communists saw his sermon and disliked what he had to say, so they invited him to come with them to Czechoslovakia, in an attempt to prove that communist countries aren’t oppressive to Christians. He accepted the invitation and began his second trip to a communist country. While there, he discovered that the government was not allowing the printing of Czechoslovakian bibles, and therefore, it was very difficult to find bibles there. He eventually met a man named Antonin, who told him that Christians were oppressed in Czechoslovakia and invited him to come to multiple churches and speak. There he saw just how hard it was to be a Christian in communist countries. After he had finished speaking at the churches, he went to a restaurant when a black government limousine pulled up and asked him to come with them. They told him that he was to leave the country immediately and would never be allowed to return.
When he got back to Holland, he felt unsatisfied with the trips he had taken. He wanted to learn more, help more, and teach more the word of God. He began writing articles for a magazine called the Kracht Van Omhoog, talking about his trips behind the Iron Curtain. As a result of this, he began getting donations from Christians who had read the article, and so was able to get enough funds to pay for his own basic necessities. In 1956, the Hungarian Revolt came, causing hundreds of thousands of people to seek refuge in the west. They were herded into camps with terrible conditions. Andrew took a bus to West Germany to help the sick and hungry, as well as preach God’s word to them using the German he had learned under the occupation.
It was there he met a Yugoslavian man who told him about oppression of Christianity, and their need for bibles. Andrew realized his ministry was to serve Christians in countries behind the Iron Curtain. After returning from the refugee camps, Andrew was given a car to use in his travels in the Iron Curtain, he loaded it up with Yugoslavian bibles, and began his first real missions trip. It was illegal in many communist countries to bring in an abundance of literature, in fear that they may sell it on the black market. As he was approaching the border into Yugoslavia he said a prayer to the Lord saying, “Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture that I want to take to Your children across this border. 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.” After he finished the prayer, the guards went to his car, checked his luggage, and did not notice any of the bibles as they let him through.
So began Brother Andrew’s mission, to smuggle in God’s word, to give to His children, behind the Iron Curtain. He would go on to visit many other communist countries, such as, Russia, Bulgaria, Rumania, and even China, spreading God’s word, and helping those less fortunate to have their own bible.
This story impacted me in many ways. What really struck me was how God assisted Brother Andrew in his ministry in tangible ways. I was also intrigued by the way God “spoke” to Andrew, giving him specific guidance. God’s smuggler is an incredible story about the power of faith in God’s works.