He walked slowly, falling behind the group. Once they were seated he crept noiselessly away, praying they wouldn’t see his escape. Sweating, he skimmed through the door, into freedom.

He is Brother Andrew, not on one of his dangerous missions through the Iron Curtain but instead he is sneaking out of church. As a child Andrew perfected his scheme to get out of church. Since the church pew was not quite big enough for his family, Andrew always managed to “sacrifice” his own pleasure and sneak away instead. During the first part of his life anything semi-spiritual made Andrew very nervous, from his mother’s hymns to praying before a meal.

During WWII Andrew managed to play the pranks he had perfected on his brothers to the Germans. In their own way, he and his friends fought their fight. A certain general once had some problems with his car. The mechanics were never sure quite what the problem was, some suggested that there was sugar in his gasoline…Andrew’s mother never mentioned the sugar she noticed missing from her cupboards.

When the war finally ended Andrew was well into his life, years wise yet he wasn’t going anywhere with his work. After some pressure from his parents he came upon a brilliant idea! He would join the army. Soon he was sent off to the East Indies, now known as Indonesia. There he commenced to kill the “rebellious” people, which consisted of almost everyone. The constant killing hardened his heart…leaving him a cold person. He got a death wish, wearing a bright yellow hat whenever on a mission. Shouting to the enemy “Shoot me if you can!” One day they could. His team was surrounded on three sides; they were starting to get desperate when a burning pain shot through Andrew’s ankle. He was hit. Luckily the doctors didn’t have to amputate his leg, however Andrew was faced with the rest of his life as a cripple.

During his stay at the hospital and through his recovery Andrew began to read his bible. Eventually he became a Christian fanatic: reading the bible cover to cover, going to all the church services he could, getting as much religion as he could. Finally he was “smacked in the face” to use a cliché, and his father thought he was going crazy. That night in bed, he pondered what had happened to him. He recalled a story one of his nurses had told him. If you cut a hole in a coconut just big enough for a monkey’s hand then put a stone in the coconut, a monkey will try to get the stone out however the hole isn’t big enough for the monkey’s fist with the stone in it. However the monkey won’t let go of the stone therefore getting his hand stuck in the coconut forever. Brother Andrew realized he needed to let go. To give himself up to God. From that day on Andrew’s love for God has been as real as possible.

Soon after this Andrew applied to a Bible school in England. His application was rejected and that afternoon he went to a secluded place to pray. There he agreed to go to England anyway, despite the language barrier and his lameness. Then and there he took what he called the “Yes step” as he stepped onto his weak ankle it twinged. At first Andrew believed he had injured it again but as soon as he saw his ankle it became clear that God had healed him. So, on faith he traveled to England, telling the seminary that he would wait but there would soon be a place for him. And so there was. Andrew became the first student at the school to graduate without a diploma, not because he didn’t do well enough but because he didn’t want the help of a diploma to get him onto the mission field, he only needed the help of God.

Andrew’s first trip behind the Iron Curtain was rather ironic. He saw an article in a magazine featuring a Communist youth festival in Warsaw, Poland. After sending a letter asking permission to come as a missionary, surprisingly he got a positive answer. The festival touched all the good parts of the Soviet Union, displaying the beautiful city of Warsaw. One day Andrew was separated from the group. As he wandered around by himself he found a whole different part of the city. A part where people lived in holes and boxes. Their lives were a mass of rubble. He also found that there were almost no bibles in the Soviet Union. After visiting a few churches to bring “greetings” from the west (and the Lord), Andrew was convinced that this was his mission field.

Thus began his mission. His first trip through the Curtain was into Yugoslav and was an immense success. At the border he began the tradition of muttering a quick Smuggler’s Prayer. “Lord, please make seeing eyes blind.” With a car full of bibles and tracts, the Lord covered the guards’ eyes and let Brother Andrew through. The whole time in Yugoslav he drove on very dusty roads, praying all the while that his car would bear up under the conditions. When a mechanic finally checked his car, he gave the surprising announcement that there was no way this car could actually run. Dust clogged everything that could be clogged. Here is an example of one of the many ways God took care of Brother Andrew. Saving him from many near escapes and other minor things such as car problems.

From then on the Open Doors Mission, which started with one man and a suitcase full of literature grew into a huge mission bringing the Word to “more than 60 countries” reports Open Doors. The mission continues to grow as they spread the Word behind all the “Iron Curtains” in the world.

Sources:

Brother Andrew, Dec. 12, 02. <www.opendoorsusa.org>

Dan Wooding, Brother Andrew. Bethany House Publishers, 1983

Brother Andrew (with John and Elizabeth Sherrill) God’s Smuggler, Chosen Books, 2001