Book Review: Brother Andrew, God’s Undercover Agent (1999) by Alan Millwright

Brother Andrew: God’s Undercover Agent (1999) by Alan Millwright

I’ve seen his book before, God’s Smuggler (1970), but always said, Someday, someday, I’ll read it. It’s been many years since – hundreds of books later – I finally read Brother Andrew’s biography and surely I’m gonna find and buy or borrow God’s Smuggler. What a life!

Andy van der Bijl, who became known as Brother Andrew, was born in 1928 the son of a deaf father and a religious mother. Andrew was the third of six children and they lived in the smallest house in the village of Witte in the Netherlands. Andy believes in the existence of God, but he doubts God’s goodness. Many times he asked God why He lets his brother Bass, handicapped, died.

When he was young he was rebellious, mischievous, and dreamt of adventure. During World War II, when Germany invaded, Andrew amused himself by playing pranks on the occupying troops. Soon he became an informer. Then joined the Dutch army and became a notorious commando. Andy and his friends have this motto while going to war: “get smart – lose your mind.”

As a soldier, Andy killed people. He was a drunkard too. Then in one of the combat battles, he get a shot in the ankle… his time in the army came to an abrupt end. While he was in the hospital, with nothing to do, he read the Bible that his mother gave to him before he joined the army. He was amazed and surprised by the Bible he never read before. He became curious but he still have his doubts. Only when he returned home, he developed a thirst for God. He went to Christian meetings and would read his Bible over and over again until one day he prayed: “Lord if You will show me the way, I will follow You. Amen.”

And what happened in between you got to read his biography for yourself. His (bad) past doesn’t become his stumbling block, rather, it becomes his “training ground” for what God has equipped him to do in the future. “Equipped with a fearlessness honed in the Dutch Underground and the post-war jungles of the Dutch East Indies and trust in God that nothing is impossible, Andy became one of the first westerners to evangelize behind the Iron Curtain. And as more doors to Eastern Europe began to open, Andy, now known as Brother Andrew, knew God’s purpose for his life: to deliver Bibles to people everywhere in the world who are starved for His Word!”

On his first mission as God’s smuggler, when he wants to smuggle the Bible, he was stopped by Communist armies stationed at the border of Yugoslavia. There he prayed his famous prayer: “Lord, in my luggage I have Scriptures that I want to take to Your children across the border. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see.” You know what? The armies checked all over his car and they didn’t see anything suspicious! This and many more miracles, how God protects Andy and his friends from smuggling Bibles to Communist countries and even Muslim countries – the Persecuted Church – become a norm for them. God continues to work thru Open Doors International founded by Andy or now known as Brother Andrew.

Four (4) quotes from Brother Andrew that give encouragement and challenge me in my Christian faith:

#1 “The bigger the darkness, the easier it is to spot your little light.”

#2 “Of course it’s dangerous. But it’s a lot more dangerous for all of us if we don’t do it. Even in a conquering army, there are casualties. Safety is not the issue when we look at the Great Commission. The purpose of the church cannot be to survive, or even to thrive, but to serve.”

#3 “Christians need a new filling of the Holy Spirit to love those who disagree with them. And the greatest expression of love is to share with them the most precious thing a Christian has, which is the good news of the salvation of Jesus Christ.”

#4 “God does not choose people because of their ability, but because of their availability.”

Please, please, get to know this man of God.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Freaks: Dominggus Kenjam of Indonesia, "It is Not Time For You Yet..."

Dominggus Kenjam - watch YouTube for testimony.

1999

“Allah-u-Ahkar!” (Allah is Almighty!) “Allah-u-Ahkar!”

Dominggus awoke with a start out of his bed as someone grabbed him and dragged him to the ground. His screams were muffled as they continued to shout and rain blows down on his body. He couldn’t see anyone of them, and he could see no means of escape. “We will allow the women to live, but the men must die!” someone shouted.

            As Dominggus struggled to escape, a sickle came down on the back of his neck, cutting deeply. He went nearly unconscious but sensed that his assailants had left the room, leaving him for dead. He felt ill as the growing pool of his own blood began soaking through his t-shirt.

            Rather than lapsing all the way into unconsciousness, though, Dominggus reported that his spirit left his body and was escorted up by two angels. As he rose, he could look back down on where his body lay huddled on the floor in the dark room. He was sure that he had died.

            Every feeling of fear and pain left him immediately as an indescribable peace flooded his being. I am going to be with Jesus, he thought.

            Then Dominggus heard the words, “It is not time for you to serve me here.” Then he felt himself floating back toward his body.

            Suddenly Dominggus could feel that someone else was in the room with him. They were discussing which morgue to take his body to, because they didn’t know if he was a Muslim or a Christian.

            “I am a Christian,” he was able to say weakly. The two emergency medical workers must have had quite a start when the “corpse” they were discussing answered their question for itself!

            Dominggus was back. His work on the earth was not through.

……………………………………………………

Today, Dominggus has fully recovered. He still bears the scar of the attack on his flesh, but not in his spirit. He has forgiven his attackers and has a deeper commitment to pray for Muslims in Indonesia than ever before. Not only that, he now knows he has a purpose to fulfil on the earth or Jesus would not have sent him back. His faith is now stronger than ever, and he is eager to follow God’s will daily as it is revealed to him.  

            And Indonesia gravely needs people with hearts like that if Dominggus. The government has promoted a belief called Pancasila – meaning that all may freely choose to follow Christianity, Islam, Buddism, or Hinduism – but in reality Muslims receive preferential treatment. The political strength of Islam has been used to limit evangelism and reduce Christian influence on public life. Islamists’ stated aim is the complete elimination of Christianity in the country. In recent years there has been an orchestrated jihad, or “holy war,” against Christians – with over six hundred churches destroyed by mobs. Some areas have been subjected to outright military attacks and killings.

            Over the last forty years, evangelicals have grown from 1.3 million to 11.5 million. The increase of Christian persecution has brought about a greater unity among the Body, the growth of a national prayer movement, and a commitment to outreach in Indonesia and beyond. The vision for the evangelization of Indonesia has grown despite the tremendous persecution.

[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

“[Be] truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purified gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world”
(1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Freaks: Zhang, Shen, Xianfeng, and Zhen of Mainland China, Placing Themselves as Targets for Chirst

A student is proudly holding a Chine Bible. 

1999

Zhang Rongliang, Shen Xianfeng, Zhen Xianqi, and other house church leaders, representing roughly fifteen million underground believers, signed and published the “House Church Confession of Faith” that called on the Communist government to stop treating the members of house churches in China as criminals. Officially, to give the appearance of freedom of religion in China, the government there recognizes its state-controlled church, the Three-Self Patriotic Church, as a freely worshiping assembly but allow no other Christian gatherings this protection. At the same time, the state makes sure that little within the meetings of the sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church is Christian or free. According to official state documents, house churches are identified with the Chinese word that means “evil religion,” a word that has occult connotations for the people of China. The “House Church Confession of Faith” called for changes to this reference as well as real religious freedoms within the nation.

            Only months after making the document public, several of the signers, including Zhang, were arrested and placed in prison. In December of 1999, Zhang was sentenced to three years but was released on a seven-year probation providing that he “behaved” himself.

            Shen Xianfeng, who was arrested around the same time as Zhang, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. This condition has forced him to walk with the aid of crutches. During his arrest, the officers used his own crutches to beat him. Zhen Xianqi also suffered arrest and harassment.

            By signing the document and meeting with Western journalists, Zhang and the others knew that they were placing targets on their back, yet this didn’t concern them. They felt called of God to make a statement of faith to the world and to use any means of their disposal to proclaim Jesus Christ to their fellow countrymen and women.

            Pastor Zhang still travels by car and train to minister to his various flocks, but he never sleeps in the same bed more than four nights in a row to avoid arrest.

………………………………….

China continues its “hard strike” policy, which is supposed to be a crackdown on organized crime and petty criminals, but it has put more Christians behind bars than are presently in prison in any other nation on the earth today. Any Bible found by a Public Security Bureau (PSB) Officer is immediately confiscated, even if it is a version authorized and printed by the Chinese government.

            Recent statistics have revealed that from 1983 to 2001 there have been at least 23,686 Christian arrests in China for religious reasons, and of these, 208 have been beaten to the point of being crippled for life. Because of such things, world leaders are starting to speak up.

            Despite this, an estimated 1,200 Chinese come to Christ every hour.

            Political pressure, though it is constantly needed in such cases, has had little effect on counties such as China in recent decades. What is needed are equipped Christians to fight the same spiritual fight that brought down the Berlin Wall and crumbled the Soviet Union.

            Pray for these believers in China. Pray for their protection and that God will sanctify the Word in their hearts for their encouragement and strength.
[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

“We don’t obey people. We obey God” (Peter’s declaration in Acts 5:29)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Freaks: Adrian of Nicomedia, Put Down My Name to Be Tortured for Christ

“Love… rejoices with the truth; bears all things,

believe all things, hope all things, endures all things”
(The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:4, 6-7).

A.D. 303

During the tenth and last major Roman persecution under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, a young military officer who loved honour and courage distinguished himself to his superiors by faithfully and efficiently carrying out the letter of their orders in trying to suppress the Christians. His skill and daring in both this and in battle had led to one promotion after another.

            But Adrian’s task of torturing Christians bothered him. In the face of pain and death, Christians were repeatedly peaceful and unrelenting in their commitment to their Lord. He saw in these men and woman a courage greater than any he had ever seen in battle.

            Adrian was so intrigued by this that one day as he was bringing a group of Christians before a judge for sentencing, he asked one of them, “What gives you such strength and joy in the midst of your sufferings?” “Our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we believe,” the man replied.

            Suddenly Adrian saw it as he never had before. The Roman gods he was defending could never give a person such courage! They were nothing compared to the God of these Christians.

            He made his way to the front of the line of prisoners and stepped before the judge. “Put down my name with those to be tortured. I also have become a Christian.” The emperor’s son Galerius, who served as Diocletian’s Caesar (or junior emperor) and had been present at the trials with his father, tried to persuade Adrian to strike his name from the list of Christians and to beg for forgiveness. Adrian assured him that he had not lost his mind but had acted thus according to his own conviction.

            What Adrian did not know at the time was that his wife, Natalia, had secretly become a Christian some time before and had been praying for him. When she heard that he was in prison, she went to him and encouraged him by telling him of her conversion and more about the God who loved him.

            The group of Christians Adrian had put his name down with were soon sentenced to die. Before this, because of his former status in the empire, Adrian was allowed to go home that he might make his peace with his wife before he was killed. When Natalia saw him coming down the road, she at first thought he had renounced Christ in order to be freed and wouldn’t let him into the house!

            Though this might have been an opportunity for Adrian to escape, he did not. He soon returned to the prison. When he did, he watched as others were subjected to terrible tortures: their arms and legs were broken with heavy hammers until they died from the agony and internal bleeding. When Adrian’s turn came, his wife feared most of all that her husband would become fainthearted and renounce Christ, but he finally knew the courage that could only belong to Christians and never backed away from his commitment. She strengthened Adrian and held on to his arms and legs while the executioner broke them with the hammer. Adrian died together with the rest.

            When they began to burn the bodies of the Christians, a thunderstorm arose, the furnace was extinguished, and lighting killed several of the executioners. The attempt was abandoned and the rest of the bodies were released to their families. Sometime later, after Adrian’s body had been moved to the city of Byzantium, Natalia’s body was found lying on top of her husband’s grave. She had died while attending it.

            His sacrifice has stood as a shining example for the last eighteen centuries. During that time Adrian has been knowns as one of the patron saints of soldiers.

[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

“O loving Christ, draw me, a weakling, after Yourself;

for if You do not draw me I cannot follow You.

Give me a brave spirit that I may be ready and alert.

If the flesh is weak, may Your grace go before me, come alongside me, and follow me;

for without You I cannot do anything, and especially,

for Your sake I cannot go to a cruel death.

Grant me a ready spirit, a fearless heart, a right faith, a firm hope, and a perfect love,

that for Your sake I may lay down my life with patience and joy.”

John Huss,

as he lay in chains in prison before being burned at the stake, Bohemia @ Czechoslovakia

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Freaks: 'Asif' of Pakistan, How Could I Not Have an Interest in this Prophet?

This is not 'Asif.' A Christian was beaten by police men.

Pakistan, 2001

“Asif” was carefree as he sped his motorcycle down the street of his Pakistani town. He enjoyed being noticed by the young women as he sped by. In the traditional Muslim culture of Pakistan, overt glances would have been very inappropriate, but still Asif could tell when he had been seen. He was young, and he felt powerful as he drove past, relishing the murmur of the motorcycle’s engine in his ears and the feel of the tires gripping the road. He smiled to himself and twisted the accelerator to give the bike a quick burst of speed.

            Suddenly where the beautiful sky had been he saw only dirt, and where his motorcycle had raced along beneath him, it now felt like it was flying over his head. For the next few seconds all was clouds of dust and spinning. The next thing he knew he was lying on his back with his motorcycle next to him on the ground, its engine coughing and then dying. He heard the echo of the squealing tires as the car that hit him sped away. He had never ever seen it.

            Then he noticed the splitting pain shooting up his leg. When he looked at it, he could tell from the way his foot lay off to the wrong side that it was broken. He tried to stay calm, but panic was gripping his heart and he wanted to scream.

            Before he lost his composure, though, he felt a reassuring hand upon him. A woman had come out of the crowd of passers-by and knelt beside him, laying her hand on his leg. He was calmed for the moment and surprised as she began to pray.

            Through the pain, Asif heard the name of Jesus in her prayer. Despite his immediate thankfulness that someone had stopped to help, a wave of anger came over him at the mention of that name. How can this woman pray to Jesus, a mere prophet? Doesn’t she know that I am a Muslim, a follower of Mohammed, the greatest prophet? Why isn’t she praying to Allah?

            Yet Asif was suddenly distracted from his anger by an energy he felt running through his body as she prayed. It was different from anything he had ever felt before. His anger began to fade as his leg straightened itself and the bone came back into place. Eventually he sat up and carefully examined his leg. It was completely whole.

            As he stood, he noticed that there was no more pain either. He picked up his bike and walked it home.

            Sometime later, the same woman brought him a Bible. He never saw her again after that.

            Hungry to know more about this prophet who had healed his leg, he began to read the Bible, especially the New Testament and the miracles of Jesus. Asif’s question weighted heavier: If Jesus was truly only one of many prophets, how could he perform such amazing works? As Asif lay on his bed, he wondered, Who is Jesus? I know many prophets have come to earth, but none has had the power of Jesus.

            Asif was so perplexed by how a minor prophet such as Jesus could heal him two thousand years after His death that he took his questions to the mulvi (religious leader) at his mosque.

            “Why are you talking about Jesus?” the mulvi sneered. “Do you have an interest in him?”

            “How could I not have an interest?” Asif responded incredulously. “He healed me.”

            The mulvi and others at the mosque took Asif and locked him in a room. They forced poison down his throat thinking that if he died before fully accepting Christ, he would still make it to Paradise. They left him there overnight for the poison to do its work. Asif felt sick and thought he was dying. He vomited repeatedly and threw up blood.

            However, around midnight Asif found himself still barely alive and lying in the dust, caked with his own blood and vomit. The room was dark and he didn’t have the strength to get up. He didn’t know what else to do, so he prayed. He called out to Jesus and told Him he wanted to see Him before he died.

            Before he knew what had happened, a bright light had filled the dusty room. Asif suddenly felt a little better and forced himself up to see what was causing the light. Before him stood Jesus. It was at that moment that Asif surrendered the rest of his life to the Lord, saying, “God, this life is for you; as long as I am on earth, I will work for you.”

            Sometime before dawn, Asif managed to escape and made his way home.

            When he tried to tell his parents of his experience the next morning, they were not impressed. “You are a Muslim,” his parents told him. “If you accept Jesus, you must leave this house.”

            So Asif had no choice. He took his Bible and left. He went to a larger city where he met a pastor at a Christian bookstore. The pastor disciple Asif and later baptized him. From the first moments of his newfound faith, Asif felt a strong desire to share who Jesus was and what He had done for him with those around him, regardless of their religious backgrounds. Because of this, his troubles with the police and city leaders began almost immediately.

            “A landlord [city leader] came to me and said, ‘Where are you going? And why are you preaching this “gospel”? These are Muslim people. Why are they accepting Jesus?’”

            Seeing that Asif was undeterred, this landlord and some other Muslims took him and beat him with heavy sugarcane stalks. They stomped on his leg and broke it again. As they pounded his body, they shouted, “You dog! You low-class scum! Why did you come here and make our people Christians?” They ordered Asif to leave the city immediately.

            Despite their further threats, he refused.

            As they were beating him, he prayed for them, “Please, God, change their minds and their hearts.” Then he cried out to God to help him and give him strength.

            Many weeks later, after Asif had recovered from his injuries, the landlords and the police closed down a meeting where Asif was sharing about Jesus again. Asif was taken to the police station, where he was severely beaten.

            When Asif was asked how he could endure this and not be discouraged, he quoted Philippians 1:29 (NAS), “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

            Asif continues to evangelize whenever and wherever he has the opportunity.

[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

The cost of serving Jesus Christ is your life.

What are you doing with your life now? For Christ and His Kingdom? or for self?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

         

Jesus Freaks: 'Kim' of North Korea, Friend's Died, Faith Alive!

North Korea publicly executes 80 people, some for reading the Bible

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”

(John 8:36, NIV).

Kim had come home, unable to speak. His mother could tell he was in shock and sat with him, soothing him and trying to find out what had happened. Finally he began to open up to her.

            “I was with one of my best friends today when two police officers approached us. They grabbed my friend and accused him of being a Christian. One of the officers knocked him to the ground while the other took out his gun. My friend didn’t get angry or curse anyone. He… he didn’t even try to defend himself.

            “Even as the gun was pointed directly at him, his face remained peaceful. He looked straight into my eyes, and without speaking a word, I knew exactly what he was saying. He wanted me to believe the same thing he did. And then he just said, ‘Bless them.’

            “He was executed right in front of me – because he was a Christian. I do not even know what a Christian is. I don’t understand any of this.”

            Kim’s mother held his head in her hands. There were tears in her eyes. Now it was she who was in shock. She then told him simply, “I understand.”

            “How could you possible understand why they would kill my friend?”

            She slowly began to tell her son about her Lord Jesus Christ, how He had miraculously been born of a virgin and crucified on a cross to save all those who would believe in Him. As she continued sharing with her eldest son, she began to sob. Now it was she who couldn’t go on. She felt the pain of never daring to tell her son about Jesus Christ, lest his fate would be like that of his friend. She also felt the overwhelming joy of knowing that God had not forgotten her son, but allowed someone else to bring him the Gospel.

            Finally she told him, “God allowed you to witness the martyrdom of one of His brave children. As those bullets hit his heart, a seed of hope was planted in yours.”

            The son prayed that night and received Jesus Christ into his heart. He was filled with joy as he embraced his mother and thanked her for telling him the truth. But suddenly he began to weep again and appeared distraught. Confused, the mother asked, “Now what’s wrong?”

            “My brothers,” Kim cried, “they do not know Jesus. We must tell them!”

            His three brothers soon came home and discovered their older brother and mother crying together. Their first thought was that something terrible had happened to their father, and they quickly knelt down beside their mother, asking what was wrong.

            With unnatural boldness the eldest son stood up and responded, “You should also receive Jesus Christ.” Before the evening had passed, all three had done exactly that.

            The mother was filled with joy. Although she had never dared to speak to her children about her Christian faith, she had diligently prayed for them every day. Now that her children had accepted Jesus, she began cautiously looking for a Bible so they could learn more of God’s Word. But she could not find any.

            Eventually her oldest son secretly crossed the Yalu River into China in search of Bibles. You can imagine the look on his face when he finally came across a miniature Bible in the Korean language. He pleaded with the Christians in China, asking how he could obtain some of these Bibles. Regrettably no more were available. Refusing to admit defeat, he told the Christians the dramatic story of how he had witnessed his friend’s death and how he and his brothers had learned of Jesus Christ. Before departing for North Korea, he said, “I am in need of five thousand of these Bibles to share with my family and others in North Korea. I will be back in one month to pick them up.”

            Hearing of her request, some Christian workers hurriedly printed five thousand copies of the miniature Korean Bibles. Over the next year or so, Kim returned on several occasions to smuggle the Bible back across the border. All four of these brothers are now actively sharing their faith, knowing first-hand the consequences if they are discovered. Since their last pickup of these Bibles some months ago, no one has heard further news of them.

[Taken from Jesus Freaks: Revolutionaries (2002) by dc Talk. Title mine]

The cost of serving Jesus Christ is your life.

What are you doing with your life now? For Christ and His Kingdom? or for self?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.