God's Smuggler [Paperback]

Brother Andrew (Author), John Sherrill (Author), Elizabeth Sherrill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0800793013 | ISBN-13: 978-0800793012 | Edition: Anniversary

As a boy he dreamed of being a spy undercover behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself undercover for God. Brother Andrew was his name and for decades his life story, recounted in God's Smuggler, has awed and inspired millions. The bestseller tells of the young Dutch factory worker's incredible efforts to transport Bibles across closed borders--and the miraculous ways in which God provided for him every step of the way.

Revell and Chosen now reintroduce this powerful story with two new releases: a 35th anniversary edition and The Narrow Road, an expanded youth edition. Both contain a new foreword and afterword. The youth edition also features information about ministry to the persecuted church today, including country profiles, quotes from Christians in underground churches, "what if" scenarios based on real-life threats they face, and stories from others who have participated in Brother Andrew's Bible-smuggling work.

Brother Andrew's story remains as inspiring today as it was thirty-five years ago, and with these new releases it will motivate a whole new generation to risk everything to follow God's call.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A true-life thriller that will leave you breathless!

As a boy, Brother Andrew dreamed of being an undercover spy working behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself working undercover for God. His was a mission filled with danger, financed by faith, supported by miracles.

Told it was impossible to minister behind the Iron Curtain, Andrew knew that nothing was too hard for God. Crossing "closed" borders, he prayed, "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. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see." And they never did.

For thirty-five years, Brother Andrew's life story has inspired millions to step out on their own journeys of faith. This young Dutch factory worker's near-incredible adventures testify of God's step-by-step guidance and hour-by-hour provision--available to all who follow His call.

Far from being over, Brother Andrew's current adventures are his most challenging yet. In a new prologue and epilogue, his story is carried into the new millennium with an account of Andrew's work in the "closed" societies of Islam.

About the Author

Brother Andrew began his work in 1955 as a one-man mission--visiting, teaching, and taking Bibles to Christians behind the Iron Curtain. That work has since developed into Open Doors International, a nondenominational organization with bases around the world. When not traveling, Brother Andrew makes his home in the Netherlands.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chosen Books; Anniversary edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800793013
• ISBN-13: 978-0800793012
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Evangelism > Missions & Missionary Work

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith, Trust, Prayer, and Sacrifice... September 21, 2006

By Drew B. Moser

Format:Paperback

I just finished the missions classic, God's Smugger, by Brother Andrew. Holy cow...read this book! It takes the reader through the journey of Brother Andrew's early life as an 'adrenaline junkie-heavy drinking-reckless Dutch soldier' turned Bible smuggling missionary to the nations of the Iron Curtain.

Each chapter is a gripping real life account of Brother Andrew's travels. It's like reading a good suspense novel. Brother Andrew doesn't gloss over his own shortcomings, nor his fears and trepidations about his work. He simply just tells the miracles as they happened, and gives God the complete credit.

I won't spoil the story for you but I will say that certain books have come into my life at certain times. I believe it's for a reason: to encourage me, teach me, and strengthen my faith. God's Smuggler is serving as one of those books. There are a few themes that run through the entirety of the book:

* The power of faith--The book is so full of miracles...There are countless occasions when Brother Andrew should've been arrested, or killed, or stranded or (you get the picture), but God intervened in a miraculous way.

* The power of prayer--Prayer was undoubtedly the fuel for this dangerous work serving God under Communism's oppression. Brother Andrew and his coworkers were prayer warriors.

* The power of trust--Brother Andrew didn't, upon sensing God's call to work in the Communist countries, apply to an already established missions organization. He simply trusted God, day by day, to provided for his needs, so long as He was following His call. His trust for provision is incredible, and would probably be considered crazy by today's standards....

* The power of sacrifice--Brother Andrew has lived a life most today would deem unlivable. He gave up multiple chances for 'the good life', and forsook even the most basic items that we today take for granted, all so that we could continue the work he felt called to.

Faith, prayer, trust, and sacrifice...much needed lessons for me in the 'here and now'. Read more ›

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Transparent, unflinching account of one man & his God May 2, 2005

By Sean R. Strickland

Format:Paperback

This book has inspired me greatly! There have been times I have read this book and felt the uplift of inspiration. The best thing about the narrative is that its real to life with a transparency that is familiar to anyone who has ever prodded through life wandering about life, God, purpose, and destiny. Let me share from one story in the book. I truly believe there is no other book that has inspired me to be challenged in my faith as this by Brother Andrew.

"One night I went out for a long, solitary walk. On several occasions students had warned me not to 'go into Patrick.' Patrick was the slum sitting at the bottom of our hill. It was, they said, the home of addicts, drunks, thieves, even murderers, and walking its streets was unsafe. And yet this area drew me now as if it had something to say.

All around me were the dirty gray streets of Patrick. Litter blew across the cobblestones. The September air was already raw. Before I had gone five blocks I was accosted two times by beggars. I gave them all the money I had in my pockets and watched as they moved without pretense toward the nearest pub. I knew that these drifters, begging in the streets of the Glasgow slums, would receive a better income than the missionaries-in-training at the top of the hill.

I could not understand why this bothered me so. Was I greedy? I didnt think so. We had always been poor in my family, and I had never worried about it. What was it then?

And suddenly, walking back up the hill toward the school, I had my answer.

The question was not one of money at all. What I was worried about was a relationship.

At the chocolate factory I trusted Mr. Ringers to pay me in full and on time.... Surely I said to myself, if an ordinary factory worker could be financially secure, so coud one of God's workers.

I turned through the gate of the school. Above me was the reminder 'Have Faith In God.'

That was it! It wasn't that I needed the security of a certain amount of money, it was that I needed the security of a relationship.

I walked up the crunchy pebblewalk feeling more and more certain that I was on the verge of something exciting. The school was asleep and quiet. I tiptoed upstairs and sat by the bedroom window looking out over Glasgow.

*******************************************************

If I were going to give my life as a servant of the King, I had to know that King. What was He like? In what WAY could I trust Him? In the same way I trusted a set of impersonal laws? Or could I trust Him as a living leader, as a very present commander in battle? The question was central. Because if He were a King in name only, I would rather go back to the chocolate factory. I would remain a Christian, but I would know that my religion was only a set of principles, excellent to be followed, but hardly demanding devotion.

Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in the sense that He communicated and cared and loved and led. That was something quite different. That was the kind of King I would follow into any battle.

And somehow, sitting there in the moonlight that September night in Glasgow, I knew that my probing into God's nature was gong to begin with this issue of money. That night I knelt in front of the window and made a covenant with Him. 'Lord,' I said, 'I need to know if I can trust You in practical things. I thank You for letting me earn the fees for the first semester. I ask You now to supply the rest of them. If I have to be so much as a day late in paying, I shall know that I am supposed to go back to the chocolate factory.'

It was a childish prayer, petulant and demanding. But then I was still a child in the Christian life. The remarkable thing is that God honored my prayer. But not without first testing me in some rather amusing ways."

The story continues in a fascinating exploration of faith in God:

"The first semester sped by. Mornings we spent in the

classrooms studying systematic theology, homiletics,

world religions, linguistics--the type of courses

taught in any seminary. In the afternoon we worked at

practical skills: bricklaying, plumbing, carpentry,

first aid, tropical hygiene, motor repair. For several

weeks all of us, girls as well as boys, worked at the

Ford factory in London, learning how to take a car

apart and put it back together. In addition to those

standard trades, we were taught to build huts out of

palm fronds and how to make mud jars that would hold

water.

And meanwhile we took turns in the kitchen and the

laundry and the garden. No one was exempt. One of the

students was a doctor, a German woman, and I used to

watch her scouring garbage pails as though she were

preparing a room for surgery.

The weeks passed so fast that soon it came time for me

to head out on the first of several training trips in

evangelism.

'You're going to like this, Andy,' said Mr. Dinnen.

'It's an exercise in trust. The rules are simple. Each

student on your team is given a one-pound banknote.

With that you go on a missionary tour through

Scotland. You're expected to pay your own

transportation, your own lodging, your food, any

advertising you want to do, the renting of halls,

providing refreshments--'

'All on a one-pound note?'

'Worse than that. When you get back to school after

four weeks, you're expected to pay back the pound!'

I laughed. 'Sounds like we'll be passing the hat all

the time.'

'Oh, you're not allowed to take up collections! Never.

You're not to mention money at your meetings. All of

your needs have got to be provided without any

manipulation on your part--or the experiment is a

failure.'

I was a member of a team of five boys. Later when I

tried to reconstruct where our funds came from during

those four weeks, it was hard to. It seemed that what

we needed was always just there. Sometimes a letter

would arrive from one of the boys' parents with a

little money. SOmetimes we would get a check in the

mail from a church we had visited days or weeks

earlier. The notes that came with those gifts were

always interesting. 'I know you don't need money or

you would have mentioned it,' someone would write.

'But God just wouldn't let me get to sleep tonight

until I had put this in an envelope for you.'

Contributions frequently came in the form of produce.

In one little town in the highlands of Scotland we

were given six hundred eggs. We had eggs for

breakfast, eggs for lunch, eggs as hors d'oeuvres

before a dinner of eggs with an egg-white meringue

dessert. It was weeks before we could look a chicken

in the eye.

But money or produce, we struck fast to two rules: we

never mentioned a need aloud, and we gave away a tithe

of whatever came to us as soon as we got it--within

twenty-four hours if possible.

Another team that set out from school at the same time

we did, was not so strict about tithing. They set

aside their ten percent all right, but they didn't

give it away immediately, 'in case we run into an

emergency.' Of course they had emergencies! So did we,

every day. But they ended their month owing money to

hotels, lecture halls, and markets all over Scotland,

while we came back to school almost ten pounds ahead.

Fast as we could give money away, God was always

swifter, and we ended with money to send to the WEC

work overseas.

There were times before the end of the tour, however,

when it looked as though the experiment were failing.

One weekend we were holding meetings in Edinburgh. We

had attracted a large group of young people the first

day and were casting about for a way to get them to

come back the next. Suddenly, without consulting

anyone, one of the team members stood up and made an

announcement.

'Before the meeting tomorrow evening,' he said, 'we'd

like you all to have tea with us here. Four o' clock.

How many think they can make it?'

A couple dozen hands went up, and we were committed.

At first, instead of being delighted, the rest of us

were horrified. All of us knew that we had no tea, no

cake, no bread and butter, and exactly five cups. Nor

did we have money to buy these things: our last penny

had gone to rent the hall. This was going to be a real

test of God's care.

And for a while it looked as though He was going to

provide everything through the young people

themselves. After the meeting several of them came

forward and said they would like to help. One offered

milk; another, half a pound of tea; another, sugar.

One girl even offered to bring dishes. Our tea was

rapidly taking shape. But there was one thing still

missing--the cake. Without cake, these Scottish boys

and girls wouldn't consider tea tea.

So that night in our evening prayer time, we put the

matter before God. 'Lord, we've got ourselves into a

spot. From somewhere we've got to get a cake. Will You

help us?'

That night as we rolled up in our blankets on the

floor of the hall, we played guessing games: How was

God going to give us that cake? Among the five of us,

we guessed everything imaginable--or so we thought.

Morning arrived. We half expected a heavenly messenger

to come to our door bearing a cake. But no one came.

The morning mail arrived. We ripped open the two

letters, hoping for money. There was none. A woman

from a nearby church came by to see if she could help.

'Cake,' was on the tip of all our tongues, but we

swallowed the word and shook our heads.

'Everything,' we assured her, 'is in God's hands.'

The tea had been announced for four o' clock in the

afternoon. At three the tables were set, but still we

had no cake. Three-thirty came. We put the water to

boil. Three-forty-five.

And then the doorbell rang.

All of us together ran to the big front entrance, and

there was the postman. In his hand was a large box.

'Hello, lads,' said the postman. 'Got something for

you that feels like a food package. ' He handed the

box to one of the boys. 'The delivery day is over,

actually,' he said, 'but I hate to leave a perishable

package overnight.'

We thanked him profusely, and the minute he closed the

door the boy solemnly handed me the box. 'It's for

you, Andrew. From a Mrs. William Hopkins in London.'

I took the package and carefully unwrapped it. Off

came the twine. Off came the brown outside paper.

Inside, there was no note--only a large white box.

Deep in my soul I knew that I could afford the drama

of lifting the lid slowly. As I did, there, in perfect

condition, to be admired by five sets of wondering

eyes, was an enormous, glistening, moist, chocolate

cake."

:) It is a great book! You will not be disappointed!

~Sean Read more ›

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Penny Dropped March 5, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

In 1968 I received this book as a bonus from the Farm Family Book Club. I started to read it in the evening and read until I was finished at 4:00 a.m. The next day I said, "If Brother Andrew can trust God for 365 days a year, I can trust Him for one day, no matter how foolish it makes me look." I did, and I did look foolish. But I found out that He is faithful. My life has never been the same.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest (Spy) Story Ever Told August 8, 2005

By Jrobby

Format:Paperback

God's Smuggler is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It is told in a simple, humble, yet gripping style. Brother Andrew relates his life story in many different stages: boy, young man, soldier, Christian, missionary, and Bible smuggler behind the Iron Curtain. He has such a devotion to the Lord that it cannot help but be inspiring. I am so grateful for the testimony of such a devoted Christian. God's Smuggler is also the story of Brother Andrew's spiritual journey. Even a few chapters into the book, you feel as though you are Brother Andrew's old friend and laugh and cry along with him. This book is heartbreaking in the descriptions of the persecution Christians faced under communism's thumb despite "propaganda" stating otherwise. This is especially important today - despite the fact that many western Christians are oblivious to it, persecution of Christians still goes on all around the world. Reading God's Smuggler may inspire people to become involved in supporting the Churches in countries where religious freedom is just a dream. I would highly recommend this book to everyone from spy-novel lover to dedicated Christian. Enjoy!