One person knows the soul-sustaining value of these practices and for 40 years has risked his life time and time again to make them possible in countries where they are forbidden or restrictedÑBrother Andrew. This native of Holland is known worldwide among Christians for undertaking the "mission impossible" as he distributes Bibles in parts of the world where they are not allowed.
In The Calling he not only recaptures the breathtakingly exciting stories of smuggling God's Word all over the world, but also makes us aware of the freedoms we must protect and extend to bring salvation to all people.
Brother Andrew first visited the communist world in 1955. His message has not changed since that time: "If we do not go to the heathen with the gospel, they will come to us as revolutionaries and occupation armies." Many of those early experiences were told in God's Smuggler, the 1967 bestseller which now has sold more than 10 million copies in 30 languages. In it he described driving his now famous little blue Volkswagen into nearly every country in the Communist bloc to single-handedly smuggle Bibles and to encourage persecuted believers. That work has since developed into Open Doors International, a nondenominational organization with offices around the world.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the official opening of the Soviet bloc, the focus of Andrew's efforts has turned to the Muslim world. In The Calling, he tells of going to Saudi Arabia with two companions about the time God's Smuggler was first published. The events of the trip convinced him of the need to take the gospel to Muslims. Today that area of the world is even more militant in its opposition to Christianity and has become Brother Andrew's primary passion.
Brother Andrew always keeps an ear open to God's Word himself. He is not simply taking Scripture to others for their solace and benefit; he is listening to and obeying the Word of God for his own life. He has developed compelling views of what it means to be prophetic, and he believes any of us is prophetic when we meet three conditions. He also believes biblical prophets were usually sent into areas where their message would not be well received. The question for us is whether or not we are willing to carry God's message to that kind of place. You may be persecuted or you may be called a fool. Andrew has decided he's ready for either for Christ's sake.
His willingness to be a fool for Christ leads him from one incredible situation to another. Sometimes he responds by organizing the smuggling of a million Bibles into China or by proclaiming his Christian faith to Latin American guerrillas--to name two specific situations. The Calling is really an inspiring adventure story as Brother Andrew is led from one incredible situation to another. And readers are inspired as they hear how God has opened doors through the Iron, Bamboo, and Sugarcane Curtains.
Brother Andrew does not see these curtains as big obstacles. The biggest obstacles, he says, lie in our own hearts--fear, doubt, selfishness, materialism, complacency, etc. Andrew wages constant battle with them in prayer. He often describes being in prayer about something or at a particular time, but never in an obtrusive way. Each chapter concludes with a brief heartfelt prayer, and a special appendix includes prayers based on ten powerful but simple steps for fulfilling God's call on your life.
An additional appendix gives information about the Open Doors organization and its addresses in 15 countries around the world. Open Doors is an "end time" ministry, and Brother Andrew feels it is imperative to be involved with the Middle Eastern countries that will figure so prominently in the last days.
Somehow Brother Andrew has managed to have a home and family. He married Corry in 1957, and they have three boys and two girls. He experienced the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands at an early age. After the war ended, he enlisted as a volunteer soldier and was sent to Indonesia where he was wounded in 1949. The personal testimony of Christ's love and kind smile from one of the hospital staff led him to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Andrew makes light of his lineage and occupation--he tells people that he is a dumb Dutchman, the son of a blacksmith, who works for a Jewish carpenter. But for all who read The Calling, he is a man who believes with every fiber of his body in the power of God's Word for these times.
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