Dreaming of deeds, seeking adventures, and becoming a smuggler… of God. Brother Andrew’s autobiography

Active Christians pray for God’s will, desire to know and fulfill His calling, accomplish something beyond human understanding, seek to live by faith and be led by the Holy Spirit, and submit fully to the Lordship of Christ in their lives. Is that not so? In theory, that’s exactly how it should be, but when it comes to practical steps, excuses tend to surface. 

In Brother Andrew’s book, “God’s Smuggler,” co-authored by John and Elizabeth Sherrill, all the excuses for so-called inability to serve are “laid to rest” in the life of a famous missionary whose ministry was to smuggle Bibles into the Iron Curtain countries.  

What if someone’s excuse is lack of education? The protagonist of the book has an incomplete secondary education. Does anyone think he was born into a family that was not the right one for a minister? Andrew’s brother comes from a remote backwoods family with many children and a poor family where the mother was disabled. 

Or, as some might say, “born at the wrong time”? The hero of the book lived under the occupation of Nazi Germany during World War II, endured hunger and the horrors of war, ate tulip bulbs. “Health is not right?” Our brother was shot in the leg. 

Lack of money, car, something else? Through the example of a simple man from the Netherlands, the publication shows that nothing is impossible for God when He calls us to the ministry of spreading the Good News.

The book has been translated into 35 languages, 10 million copies have been distributed, and it is now in its 35th anniversary edition. The book “God’s Smuggler” is an adventure story, only recorded by people, but created by God in the life of a man who dedicated his life to Him.  

The true story is told in the first person. From the pages, it is as if the author himself is speaking to the reader, telling of his amazing adventures on his way to turn to God and fulfill His purpose.

There are 21 chapters in the book, we managed to get acquainted with a high-quality recorded audio version in Russian. It should be noted that throughout the text, the narrator occasionally returns to the note: “Here and in the original authors often use the name “russia”, identifying it with the Soviet Union. This reflects a stereotype in the Western world. Today, such identification is categorically unacceptable, especially against the background of the war that russia has unleashed against Ukraine”.  

Seeking adventure before he came of age, Andrew joined the army and eagerly waited to be accepted and sent to Indonesia. Having learned the realities of war, he is deeply disappointed and does not know how to live on, because at the age of 21 he is shot through the leg and meets with the misunderstanding of others. 

The hero asks himself a rhetorical question: “What happened to my great adventure?

The protagonist asks himself the rhetorical question: “What happened to my great adventure?

While still in the hospital, he meets the nuns who are caring for the wounded and is struck by their joy, the reasons for which he cannot explain to himself. These women drew his attention to God, and he remembered the little Bible his mother had given him, which he had never opened. 

A particularly moving story happened to Andrew while he was still in the Army. In Indonesia, he acquired a monkey who became his best friend, so best that his fellow soldier almost killed his furry rival in a jealous rage…

No less interesting, because of God’s guidance in the matter of personal relationships between a man and a woman, is the episode of Andrew’s meeting his future wife and their marriage. 

Before becoming a full-fledged missionary, the protagonist worked successfully in a chocolate factory, where he converted people to God with the blessing of the management. 

The author shares his impressions of his first trip to the country behind the Iron Curtain, his first meeting with a man who embraced communism, his first encounter with the perfidy of a totalitarian regime that paid lip service to freedom of religion, but in reality banned the printing and distribution of Bibles and imprisoned people for their faith.  

The Dutch evangelist recognized the great need of Soviet ministers for Bibles, for often only the pastor had a copy in the church, and sometimes there was not one for the whole congregation. Illegally smuggling Bibles into the Soviet Union became his life’s work. 

During his years of ministry, Brother Andrew traveled to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, East Germany, China, and Cuba. All countries where communism existed. But there were people who, without the help of this “smuggler,” had no chance of ever receiving the printed Word of God. 

Brother Andrew joked that God makes blind eyes see, but in his ministry it was the other way around: his most popular prayer was that God would make seeing eyes blind as he crossed borders with smuggled Bibles. 

Unfortunately, there is no Ukrainian-language version of the book yet, neither printed nor audio. The audiobook is narrated by a professional voice actor, but it is partially available for free. To listen to the full version you need to subscribe for a fee. 

The book is sure to inspire those who aspire to be missionaries, who have dreamed of real adventures, will help to see God’s principles in ministry, gain valuable experience in missionary work, and strengthen in faith.  

CITA Press-center.