Commonly referred to as “Brother Andrew,” Anne van der Bijl, the Dutch missionary van passed away last week, with Open Doors USA posting a statement about his death on its Facebook page.
The post read – “For more than 60 years, Open Doors’ founder—Brother Andrew—visited over 125 countries in service to the global church. It’s with mixed feelings that we share his greatest journey yet.”
“God used Andrew’s obedience and prayers to change millions of lives and eternities. We are grieving but we are equally thankful. Celebrate our brother’s homecoming with us today.”
Born in the Netherlands, in 1928, van der Bijl became known for his efforts to bring Bibles to people in countries where the sacred book was banned.
Over time, he came to include what Open Doors labeled a “trademark prayer” to go with the Bibles: “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.”
In 1967, van der Bijl wrote about his many experiences of getting Bibles to those without access to it in a book titled God’s Smuggler. Since then, the book has been reprinted in many languages and boasts over 10 million copies sold.
In 1955, he founded Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog organization that documents Christian persecution.