I recently enrolled on a S.A.L.T. course (now called C.C.I. Academy) which I attend one day a week in Dublin. The programme offers personal leadership development and training for the local church. One of my assignments is to write a blog on any subject I choose and post it over the next five weeks.
I can’t remember when I first became aware of the fact that many Christians all over the world are persecuted for their faith. I do remember reading an article in ‘Release International” which totally shocked me and made me want to know more. I then read the story of Andrew van der Bijl (Brother Andrew) called ‘God’s Smuggler.’ I love to read about adventurers and explorers like Ernest Shackleton and Ranulph Fiennes, but here was another chief adventurer and lead risk taker…..Brother Andrew.
He’s best known for courageously putting his life on the line to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. One of his most well-known stories tells of a very risky incident when Brother Andrew approached the Romanian border in his VW Beetle, which was packed with illegal bibles. The cars in front were all searched by guards, taking off hub caps, taking the engine apart and even removing seats. ‘Dear Lord what am I going to do?’ Brother Andrew prays. He realised he could not rely on his own ‘cleverness’ to get through this border search, realising he had to truly depend on God. So he put some bibles out where they could be seen! Then the almost unbelievable happened – the guard looked at Brother Andrew’s passport and abruptly waved him on. ‘Surely thirty seconds had not passed.’ God had cleared the way for Brother Andrew to smuggle the bible to Christians who had no access to God’s Word.
I needed to find out more……….
